Moving Cities
Inspiring Approaches

PotsdamThe IntegreatApp

What is inspiring?

The IntegreatApp is an overarching and multilingual digital approach that addresses questions around the welcoming and participation of migrants and refugees. Potsdam implemented it in order for newcomers to find centralised information on the asylum process, labour market, language courses, health or childcare among other things, as well as contact information of the relevant offices and advice centres in Potsdam.

Contact

Website: https://integreat.app/potsdam/en

E-Mail: Presse@Rathaus.Potsdam.de

Tel. +49 331 2890

How does it operate?

The IntegreatApp is a digital platform implemented by the municipality and other levels of public administration committed to the integration and participation of migrants and refugees in their territories. The target group of the app is any person who migrated, regardless of whether they were forced or chose to migrate. The IntegreatApp is available online and offline in German, English, French, Russian, Arabic, Farsi and Ukrainian. It includes thorough information on the relevant offices in Potsdam, from legal counselling to leisure activities.

Who initiated the project? How?

The non-profit company Tür an Tür – Digitalfabrik started out the idea of the app under the project name “Refguide+” and developed it into the IntegreatApp. Today, the complete programme and source code of the app is freely available and provided under an open source licence. The content of the various cities is licensed under Creative Commons allowing them to benefit from each other in terms of content, translations and workload in creation and maintenance. The project is financed from revenues through cooperation agreements that can be voluntarily concluded by the municipalities. The city of Potsdam signed an agreement in 2022 becoming one in more than 100 municipalities that use the app.

What is the outcome?

While the app was initially intended to support the integration process of refugees from Ukraine, it quickly became a tool for all refugees and people with a migration history. The use rate is around 130 accesses per day. The app reduces language barriers and provides transparency regarding the information needed for newcomers to feel at home. Thus, lack of information is no longer a cause for inequality of opportunities. Its implementation allowed migrants to have all the information needed regarding healthcare, housing, labour market, language, education among other things in one place. Informal feedback from civil servants indicates that the app simplifies face-to-face meetings and the sometimes complex access to the right office and/or information.

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