After the crisis is before the crisis: resilience of local authorities in the face of the challenges of flight, return and circular migration

Immigration, emigration or circular migration offer German local authorities some opportunities. At the same time, local governments face the challenge of constantly adapting to the needs of newly arrived groups and their specific requirements regarding housing, childcare, schooling, integration into the local labour market or health care. Refugee movements, such as those in 2015/2016 from Syria or the current immigration from Ukraine, confront municipalities with new challenges, even if cities fundamentally benefit from immigration and often perceive it as an enrichment.

Resilient municipalities can respond quickly and flexibly to such crisis situations, drawing on the necessary resources, institutional infrastructure and knowledge, if they learn from previous events to anticipate new ones. This includes quickly recognising the needs of newly immigrated or otherwise marginalised groups. The current war situation in Ukraine offers German municipalities precisely such a moment of "stress test" that can prompt rethinking, and which we have accompanied with scholarly research.

Our project examined local governments' experiences and strategies with regard to supporting the arrival of different groups of newcomers, and it fostered exchange among selected municipalities in Germany and elsewhere in Europe (including Poland and Sweden). The aim was to jointly develop policy recommendations for local integration policy— addressed to the federal government, which can create the framework conditions for such policies.

Local governments play a central role in managing arrival infrastructures in Germany, as integration work happens locally: it is in the municipalities that accommodation must be provided, educational and childcare services expanded, language courses organised, and administrative processes adapted—often under great time and financial pressure. But how can they fulfil this role when political and financial framework conditions, along with an increasingly negative societal discourse, work against a positive climate of welcoming newcomers?

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 forced several million people to seek protection abroad, including in Germany. As a result, municipalities were put to the test. Against this background, we analysed the perceptions of relevant integration actors—in order to discuss these findings with local integration officers in a curated dialogue format. We then formulated policy recommendations collaboratively with participants to strengthen municipal integration work and make it more resilient.

The project carried out a series of research and knowledge-transfer activities to better understand potential tensions between the long-term integration efforts of local-level institutions and the needs of their clients, starting from the case of newly arrived Ukrainian protection-seekers. In a multi-stage process, we analysed local experiences in supporting arrival and settlement to reflect upon administrative practices in an online dialogue format with local government representatives.

Our research shows that a sustainable and resilient infrastructure is decisive in allowing for needs-based provision for protection-seekers and other immigrant groups. This requires:

Long-term financial support from the federal and state governments:

• permanent financial support from the federal government and the states (Länder);
• reliable, low-threshold advisory services that can flexibly adapt to changing target groups;
• placing needs-oriented policy for newcomers at the centre, along with its practical implementation on the ground.

A shift towards a positive integration discourse:

• advancing a fact-based and solution-oriented discourse on forced migration, migration, and integration;
• emphasising the opportunities of integration and focusing on potential.

Strategic networking of municipalities with one another:

• promoting efficient integration work through the pooling of resources and clear responsibilities;
• creating a "community of practice": stronger networking within their administrations and with other actors, to forge alliances and further tap into existing potential.

To create resilient arrival infrastructures, 11 municipalities across Germany have formulated their needs:

Good structures for everyone

• Understanding migration and integration as an opportunity.
• Understanding integration work as a task for society more broadly, municipal politics and administration.

Public perception

• Recognising how bottlenecks in housing, childcare, education and healthcare place a burden on both newcomers and existing residents.
• Resilient integration work requires not only specific services for newcomers but also functioning social infrastructure for everyone.

Acting together

• Establishing a shared understanding of integration across different administrative units.
• Fostering sustainable cooperation with civil society (in particular migrant self-organisations) to create activatable networks that can be drawn upon when needed.