The Competence Centre for Immigration represents a lively interface between migration research and practical integration work as well as a dialogue between the three programmes "Integration through Qualification (IQ)", "MobiPro-EU" and "ESF Federal Integration Policy - Integration of Asylum Seekers and Refugees (IvAF)", all three of which are funded and coordinated by the Federal Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS). Here, the focus is on connecting the partners of the three programmes, quality development within MobiPro-EU and the transfer of skills and experience between IQ and IvAF regarding labour market integration of asylum seekers and refugees. Furthermore, the Competence Centre for Immigration has developed recommendations, instruments, methods and concepts for practitioners and stakeholders in politics to improve the integration of migrants and refugees into education and the labour market. The main fields of work are:
The generation of knowledge and analysis of target group-specific challenges (such as service-oriented processing and evaluation of the state of immigration research)
Exchange on the labour market integration of immigrants between academic experts and representatives of politics, migrant organisations, public authorities, social partners and civil society
Empirical research
The development of recommendations, instruments, methods, concepts (e.g. policy recommendations for practitioners and stakeholders in politics to improve the integration of people with refugee and migration backgrounds into the labour market)
Collection, assessment and publication of successful practice instruments, methods and concepts for further dissemination
Networking, discourse and public relations work as a nationwide dialogue agency (e.g. networking with the IQ sub-projects and other stakeholders and in national as well as international committees as well as conferences)
Treatment of process-oriented key issues (e.g. disseminating new laws)
Project-oriented exchange and the development of joint solutions as well as joint strategies and the transfer of good practice between the projects and other key stakeholders in the analysis of participants
Provision of relevant expertise: Consultations, education and training for labour market actors and municipal institutions; for the stakeholders in the regional IQ networks, the MobiPro networks and the IvAF networks; for quality development by companies (especially SMEs)
Quality development and assurance: (further) development of quality criteria in the MobiPro-EU programme and, if necessary, standards for dealing with new immigration
Organisation of expert groups and participation in steering groups and other committees
