Amidst a
backdrop of growing diversity, the concept of ‘mainstreaming’ immigrant
integration has proven trendy in European policy circles in recent
years even it has been invoked for different purposes and in different
contexts. Accurately used to capture the idea that integration policy
requires a whole-of-government response across national and local
levels, mainstreaming also has been cited as justification for cuts to
immigrant-focused programming and to shift away from newcomer-targeted
policies in favour of generic, mainstream ones.
In fact, a new report by Migration Policy Institute Europe for Project UPSTREAM, Into the mainstream: Rethinking public services for diverse and mobile populations,
finds that despite the intuitive appeal of mainstreaming, few agree on
its meaning. Amidst a dearth of rigorous on-the-ground testing of
mainstreaming programmes, the report synthesises case studies of five
countries (France, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United
Kingdom) and includes research at the European Union level.
‘It is not clear whether mainstreaming is well understood outside integration circles (or even inside them), and whether it is helping or hindering policymakers as they design public services to accommodate mobility and diversity’, the report’s authors write.
‘Thus far, no country has lived up to the mainstreaming ideal’, they conclude.
Instead, the authors suggest a rebranding to ‘adapting services to diverse and mobile populations’ to better focus on the twin challenges that integration policies seek to address.
The report, the final in the EU-funded UPSTREAM research project, examines how the five countries studied and the European Commission are employing the concept of mainstreaming and whether it has helped improve how public services address mobility and diversity. It then examines promising practices in the fields of education and social cohesion policy, as well as the need for funding flexibility and governance structures such as interministeral cooperation and local partnerships that can meet cross-cutting challenges. The report also underscores the importance of data collection to identify gaps and inequalities in the provision of public services and improve outcomes. And it finds that EU funding, while playing a valuable role in a time of austerity, has rarely been employed in a way that stimulates local innovation or allows local stakeholders to address challenges not in line with national priorities.
‘It is not clear whether mainstreaming is well understood outside integration circles (or even inside them), and whether it is helping or hindering policymakers as they design public services to accommodate mobility and diversity’, the report’s authors write.
‘Thus far, no country has lived up to the mainstreaming ideal’, they conclude.
Instead, the authors suggest a rebranding to ‘adapting services to diverse and mobile populations’ to better focus on the twin challenges that integration policies seek to address.
The report, the final in the EU-funded UPSTREAM research project, examines how the five countries studied and the European Commission are employing the concept of mainstreaming and whether it has helped improve how public services address mobility and diversity. It then examines promising practices in the fields of education and social cohesion policy, as well as the need for funding flexibility and governance structures such as interministeral cooperation and local partnerships that can meet cross-cutting challenges. The report also underscores the importance of data collection to identify gaps and inequalities in the provision of public services and improve outcomes. And it finds that EU funding, while playing a valuable role in a time of austerity, has rarely been employed in a way that stimulates local innovation or allows local stakeholders to address challenges not in line with national priorities.
The report makes
clear the mainstreaming ethos can provide a guiding force for
governments seeking to reform public services to meet the needs of
diverse and mobile populations. While some countries define integration
rather narrowly (either as adjustment to a new environment for newly
arrived populations or as only a cultural—not socioeconomic—process),
people of migrant background face a diversity of integration needs that
change over time. Mainstreaming can therefore be described as a process
of both ‘mobility-proofing’ and ‘diversity-proofing’ public services,
which involves rigorously auditing and then reforming services to ensure
that they are fit to serve mobile and diverse populations.
‘When all levels of government understand how public services must address a continuum of integration needs, they may be more likely to coordinate on concrete steps toward defined goals—and move away from what has been an overly philosophical debate’, the authors conclude.
The report can be read at: www.migrationpolicy.org/
‘When all levels of government understand how public services must address a continuum of integration needs, they may be more likely to coordinate on concrete steps toward defined goals—and move away from what has been an overly philosophical debate’, the authors conclude.
The report can be read at: www.migrationpolicy.org/
