Strengthening resilience instead of deepening divides – what integration policy in Germany must deliver now

On the list of political priorities in Germany, integration policy has slipped downwards. Where Integration Summits and the National Integration Plan once set the agenda at the Federal Chancellery, there is now a void. What remains, despite an overall decline in immigration, are the very real challenges on the ground. Take the integration of refugees: for a clear majority of municipalities in Germany, this remains a significant challenge, according to the findings of a survey of 900 municipalities supported by our foundation (source: Mediendienst Integration and Hildesheim University).

Our partners who support integration at the local level – like municipalities and local civil society initiatives – are being left out in the rain. Funding for integration courses is being cut, and places that enable encounters between newcomers and long standing residents are losing financial support. Even where funding exists, municipal actors sometimes do not apply for it at all because of bureaucratic hurdles. Yet, local-level infrastructure is crucial, because it fosters precisely those factors that are linked with acceptance of diversity. According to the Diversity Barometer, these include respect for the rule of law (91 percent), German-language skills (86 percent), integration into the labour market (78 percent), and social engagement (53 percent).

From our perspective, local-level infrastructure must also include spaces where people can meet easily and without pressure to consume. Such spaces make it possible to gain a deeper understanding of other people’s lived realities, to build trust, and ultimately to strengthen social cohesion. As a partner of the Dritte Orte (Third Places) initiative, we are helping to reinforce exactly these kinds of meeting spaces.

What is at stake is nothing less than the foundations of a vibrant democracy. Where social cohesion erodes, right-wing populist agitation and targeted disinformation find fertile ground. For many of our partners who are committed to an open society, diversity and integration on the local level, threats have meanwhile become part of everyday work. This was already evident in a 2022 pilot study among projects within the federal program “Demokratie Leben” (Living Democracy). Initiatives like “Schutz und Prävention im Ehrenamt” (Protection and Prevention in Volunteering), which we support, are responding to this development.

There are also broader structural factors to consider, such as demographics. We cannot afford to lose workers and skilled professionals – neither those who want to come, nor those who are already here and might turn their backs on Germany. However, hostility towards migrants is slowing the arrival of skilled workers, particularly in regions where demographic change is already well advanced.

There are many ways in which the federal and state governments could do things differently – and better. For example:

• simpler funding mechanisms for overstretched municipalities, allowing them to apply jointly for funding from EU, federal and state programs;
• greater investment in low-threshold spaces for social interaction;
• digital solutions for integration work within municipal administrations, enabling them to perform their tasks more efficiently;
• institutional funding for civil society organisations that create spaces for dialog and enable people with and without a history of migration to become active together.

Integration is a long-term task that depends on commitment, but also on predictability. We will continue to contribute our expertise on these issues and to support actors on the ground. Where social divides are widening, public budgets are under pressure, and those engaged at the local level are facing threats, efforts to build a stronger, more resilient integration infrastructure are urgently needed.