The Share Network has supported and funded 10 innovative and grassroots pilot actions located in rural regions in France, Greece, Poland and Spain in 2021 and 2022. Following an external evaluation, we share the results of this successful experience and reflections on the future of integration in small and rural areas.

Share’s new policy brief builds on the research and work carried out within the Share SIRA project, which piloted place-based, innovative integration actions in small and rural areas. It provides an overview of existing EU funding mechanisms, challenges to accessing these, and advocates for improved access to funding for better integration of migrants and refugees in rural areas.

This November, our Share SIRA transnational conference in Brussels offered a unique opportunity to gather rural grassroots stakeholders from different EU Member States to discuss recent policies, research and practices on migrant and refugee integration in rural territories.

The Share Network and Entraide Pierre Valdo organised a Look & Learn visit in Notre-Dame de l’Osier and Grenoble (Isère, France) on 27 and 28 September 2022 to exchange best practices and bottom-up approaches for the reception and integration of newcomers in rural areas.

A leading example of regional engagement is the Auzolana (Basque for ‘Welcome’) pilot community sponsorship initiative that was launched in March 2019 to welcome five Syrian families in Basque municipalities: Bilbao, Arrigorriaga, Portugalete, Andoain and Vitoria-Gasteiz. The initiative is the first community sponsorship programme, organized and led by a regional government.

On the 6th of October ICMC Europe and the Share Network hosted the second of a series of meetings of its Refugee Sponsorship Mobilisation Platform. As the name indicates, this inclusive platform brings together a wide variety of stakeholders including civil society organisations, faith communities, volunteers, cities and regions, migrant-led organisations, universities, private actors and refugees - to exchange practices and develop strategies and advocacy initiatives to improve and expand community sponsorships under resettlement and complementary pathways in Europe.

Share’s new policy brief builds on the momentum of recent EU policy commitments and approaches for integration and participation in rural territories. It presents examples of inspiring participation practices and advocates for mainstreaming of participation for integration across the EU.

The Multifaith and wider community engagement in refugee sponsorship conference took place in Cologne on May 25, 2022. Organised in partnership with DiCV Caritas Cologne, it provided the opportunity for relevant multi-stakeholder actors to exchange and share best practices on broadening engagement beyond Christian faith-based groups, across different faith groups as well as secular actors.

By allowing an innovative socio-professional integration project to be set up in his municipality, Alex Brichet-Billet has not only opened the way for a comprehensive response to the refugees' search for stability in terms of housing, employment, and social integration. He has also given the chance to find employment to locals and refugees alike, doing so paving the way to lively village life.

As part of ongoing research conducted by the University of Birmingham’s Institute for Research into Superdiversity (IRiS) a study on the impact of the COVID-19 in the UK’s Community Sponsorship Scheme (CSS) concluded that with the advent of the pandemic and the introduction of social distancing and lockdown in March 2020 Community Sponsorship groups were challenged to offer alternative support to refugees in new ways.