Ukraine actions

Ukraine

Project

Ukraine actions

Duration

2022

Funds

Oranje Fund

Product

Help desk, action research, community building

Project description

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, we have been building a community of Ukrainians who have been living in the Netherlands for some time and Ukrainians who have recently arrived. They are the experts when it comes to the most pressing needs, the main obstacles and the best practices that can be scaled up to improve the situation.

Learning about other design of integration

From this community we learn about what they encounter in their first steps in the Netherlands. This group of people falls outside the regular integration act. This situation offers challenges and at the same time an opportunity for us as a society to show how integration can be shaped in a different way. A way that is much more about direct participation, about community and about what people bring instead of what they lack.

Results & insights

In the first two months, over 400 people offered their help through our appeal. People willing to help with housing, transportation, answering questions or simply "whatever is needed."

Help desk answers questions

In addition, we answered over 300 questions through our Helpdesk during those two months. The Helpdesk team was expanded to include team members from the Ukrainian community so that they could use both the Ukrainian language and their expertise to support people directly.

Visit House of Representatives

On May 13, we paid a visit to the House of Representatives. Together with 14 people from our Ukrainian community, we spoke with Lower House members Anne-Marijke Podt, Don Ceder, Ruben Brekelmans and Evert-Jan Slootweg. As a result, they posed questions to the relevant state secretary and ministers.