How a handful of people are driving integration in communities

The project came at just the right time for Savarino, he says during a coffee break. Now in his mid-20s, Savarino had worked as a manager for IT projects at a medium-sized company for several years after his studies. The job was okay, as was the pay. But something was missing. Savarino had the feeling he wanted to do something meaningful for society. “It was an intensive examination of myself,” he says, “I wanted to take on social responsibility.”

When Savarino discovered the Lokalprojekte program, it was still in its infancy.  He saw that the city of Pforzheim was involved, seeking someone to organize processes in the office for public order – especially in the migration bureau. Employees there were overburdened by the many demands of a city with the fourth largest share of migrants in Germany. “That could be interesting,” Savarino thought at first, only to be discouraged by an acquaintance, who told him: “If you want to make a difference, don't work in public administration.” But Savarino went for it anyway. “It sounded good,” he says.  After all, he could quit after six months if it didn’t pan out as expected.

Public agencies have a reputation for being slow, cumbersome and hostile to innovation. Especially digitalization. But at the Stuttgart event, where participants in the Integrators project have come to report on their experiences, it is clear this is not the case. One thing in particular stands out: Participating agencies are trying to manage growing challenges in a variety of ways with limited resources – and all five are open to digital innovations. Whether an app that provides information to new arrivals in Kalletal, a network for anyone dealing with refugees in the Burgenland district, or optimizing administrative processes in Pforzheim, impressive changes have been achieved in just six months. In fact, there has been surprisingly little resistance in the supposedly outdated official structures.

Of course, this is also a very special clientele: “Interested authorities had to apply with a specific challenge and a sponsor from their own ranks,” explains Romy Marquart from Lokalprojekte. As a result, they brought a great deal of self-motivation to the project – and also a certain amount of pressure from the hardships they  face, as they make clear at the meeting in Stuttgart. The migration bureau was completely overloaded, reports Jürgen Beck, head of the Pforzheim office for public order, for example. “We also experienced extreme turnover,” he says. In one year, around half of the employees left. “A lot of knowledge was lost as a result.” Often, it was not entirely clear who was responsible for what and how processes worked. That's why Beck looked for help and found Lokalprojekte. “That was exactly the right thing,” he says.

Savarino nods in agreement – even if he was initially surprised when he joined the authority: “There was no structured onboarding for new employees.” Unclear processes, different standards and thousands of unread emails in one employee's inbox alone, with more piling up every day. But he didn't waste time lecturing his new colleagues on terms like “onboarding” or “process mapping.” Instead, he sat down with them and asked them to explain how they work.

Together, they restructured their workflows, defined standardized processes and created a knowledge base as a foundation for future employees. “People took time they didn’t really have,” says Savarino today – because they understood that the changes would save time and pool resources in the long term – allowing them to get back to their actual jobs.

“A public immigration agency opens up opportunities or shuts them down,” says Anna Lena Hemmer, who stands listening at a high table next to Savarino during the lunch break. She is an integration coordinator in the Burgenland district in Saxony-Anhalt. “At our agency, we experience the fears and hopes that people bring to us on a daily basis. That's why it's so important that employees know exactly where to find relevant information to help people in the best possible way,” she says.

Hemmer is a mentor on the administrative side of the Integrators project in the Burgenland district. Her Integrator, Naemi Pfendt, came straight from studying innovation and change management. Pfendt and  Susi Neupert, also an integration coordinator, have developed a community platform, a kind of closed Facebook for everyone in the Burgenland district who is  involved with migrant issues. Integration in rural areas of eastern Germany has been particularly difficult, says Hemmer: “Many in the integration sector have the feeling they are alone in the field.” They hide their commitment because they often experience rejection from friends and relatives.

The network creates a sense of community and ensures that the minimal resources reach the right places. The public agency also benefits from the structure of the Integrators project: As the Integrators are officially only “on loan” – in the form of temporary employment through “Lokalprojekte” – the employment hurdle is much lower. “We didn't have to worry about job classification or involving internal committees, which simplified everything,” says Anna Lena Hemmer. The project thus avoids complicated bureaucracy.