The International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID) presented its new Toolkit for refugee integration to the Austrian community at a launch event held May 13 at the Centre’s headquarters.  

The event welcomed nearly 100 guests, including members of the diplomatic community, partner organizations, and the general public, and included discussions with the Toolkit’s developers as well as integration experts.   

KAICIID dialogue facilitators outlined the Centre’s one-year pilot project with Austrian organizations and government agencies, in an effort to identify gaps and needs within European integration services. The resulting Toolkit offers complete resources for an interactive 13-module dialogue session which introduces people seeking refuge to health services, education and training opportunities, and Austria’s legal rights framework.

Andrea Pfanzelter, KAICIID senior adviser, thanked project partners, including Caritas Vienna, Human Relief, and Red Cross Vienna, for providing access to their clients and providing expert recommendations during the toolkit’s development.

“This project aims to improve social inclusion and the process of two-way integration in Europe,” Pfanzelter said. “Through it, we seek to build the capacity of multi-cultural dialogue facilitators and empower people seeking refuge to confidently and proactively approach integration.”

Based on recommendations from partners, the Toolkit emphasizes language learning as the key to successful integration and is intended to be taught in conjunction with certified language courses.

“Language brings people together and through language we find that we are not alone,” said panellist Dr. Ingeborg Gabriel, Professor at University of Vienna and Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination, also focusing on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians and Members of Other Religions. “Building dialogues across language barriers is a huge challenge, and the Toolkit emphasizes this aspect of learning over and over again.”

KAICIID and its project partners have developed the Toolkit to be easily adapted and used in organizations around the world. It is available for free download on the KAICIID website. 

To download the toolkit click here

Additional photos in APA photo gallery