Kompan – Digital Streetwork for EU Immigrants is a project aimed at immigrants from twelve federal states that carries out information and advice on social media on social and professional integration. The goal of Project Kompan (Polish for companion) is to understand the information patterns and communication behavior of the target group in order to further develop supplementary digital services alongside established migration advisory structures.
The project is a sister initiative of the Project Nedim funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), whereby Kompan is specifically aimed at advising EU immigrants – while Nedim reaches third-country nationals. Kompan also focuses on labor market integration. Advice is offered in Arabic, Bulgarian, English, French, Persian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian and German. Twelve federal states are involved in the project: Baden-Württemberg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia. Further project partners are Office for the Equal Treatment of EU Workers at the Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration as well as the Federal Government Commissioner for Anti-Racism.
Information about migration advisory network in the federal states obtained through conventional channels is connected with many access and comprehension barriers for immigrant communities. For years, immigrants have been actively exchanging information with each other on social media. Outreach counselling and information work on Facebook, Instagram, Telegram and other platforms is therefore a central component of the Kompan project in order to understand the needs of the target group, to expand existing structures to include digital services, but also to provide information about local structures and refer to the right advisory points on site.
Furthermore, Kompan regularly runs information campaigns for the online communities to address important issues for migrants and offer practical support. Included are, for example, information on language courses, employment opportunities and legal topics. The project works on a first-language and low-threshold basis.
Kompan works closely with the participating federal states, supports and strengthens local migration advisory structures on issues relating to digitalization. Additionally the project offers training and advice on the use of digital tools to promote the digital skills of local stakeholders. A joint working group for stakeholders from all participating federal states is also used for supra-regional networking.
