as well as for the integration of asylum seekers in rural areas
The central concern is the use of local resources, especially with regard to the offer of regional organic products, as well as to analyse social processes around the integration of asylum seekers and migrants in rural areas. In this context, the accompaniment of asylum seekers/migrants by the voluntary team of "Schattendorf hilft" as well as the voluntary support activities of "Region Neusiedler See hilft" are examined. The aims of the study are:
To promote ecologically, economically and socio-culturally sustainable development in the area around Schattendorf.
Promotion of integration processes of asylum seekers in rural areas
Analysis of facilitating and inhibiting factors for integration
Analysis of facilitating and inhibiting factors of social processes with regard to local and regional economy
In the first years of the refugee crisis in 2015 and 2016, events were continuously organised in Schattendorf for the purpose of integration: Sugar festivals after the end of Ramadan, intercultural picnic, joint hike with an intercultural buffet, women's cafés, stand at the village Advent market, the proceeds of which were used as donations for the migrants, carnival procession. In addition, a meeting place in the form of an intercultural garden was created in March 2016 for the purpose of integration. In addition to the active involvement of the migrants in the social activities in the village, the accompaniment of the asylum seekers and migrants by the volunteers was also analysed and reflected upon with the help of the scientific method of action research. In August 2016, participants took part in a supervision workshop, the results of which were prepared in text form for the requirements of volunteer work. In addition, an intervision with a Caritas Burgenland employee was organised and carried out in March 2017. (Intervision is the reflection of the work in a team among each other without the guidance of a trained supervisor). These results were also incorporated into the analysis. In 2017 and 2018, interviews were conducted with two Burgenland experts in integration work (Caritas employee in Eisenstadt and social worker in Seewinkel) and processed in text form.
In the context of promoting the direct marketing of regional products, the central task from summer 2017 to spring 2018 was to describe the planning of an organic food shop in Eisenstadt and the process of creating this organic food shop in the BF 151/16 project. Several meetings were held, during which, among others, an employee of Bio Austria advised against it, as most of the regional organic farms in Burgenland operate arable farming and produce for the wholesale trade. A needs analysis was carried out among the organic farms. The organic farms were selected according to their geographical location in the districts of Eisenstadt and Mattersburg and according to the type of farm: mixed farm, permanent crop farm or market crop farm under 10 ha. Four of the twenty-nine organic farmers contacted were interested in direct marketing of their products. An interview with an organic farmer who runs an organic shop in Eisenstadt revealed that the Eisenstadt market is too small for another organic shop. She also does not buy her products from other organic farmers in the region, but from an organic wholesaler. The project was considered worthy of funding by the Northern Burgenland Leader Management Office, but funding was not granted because of the high administrative costs and the insufficient funding - especially for personnel costs. The decision not to open another organic food shop in Eisenstadt turned out to be purposeful when a branch of the organic supermarket chain "denn's" opened in the Fachmarktzentrum in Eisenstadt in September 2018.
Furthermore, part of the BF 151/16 project is the village renewal process of the municipality of Schattendorf, in which the topic of local supply plays a central role. This thematic area was analysed and presented.
In 2018, the project manager also worked on the outline and description of the results for the conclusion of the project.
The research project was concluded with a report.
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