ACCEM: Immigration Permanent Observatories
The ACCEM is aware of the need to make research activities on reality in a continuous way to improve the quality of its actions so as they always correspond to the society real needs.
The reality of the refugees’ and immigrants’ life is dynamic and changing, and requires a continuous effort as regards the study and the creation of tools proper to research-action.
The Immigration Permanent Observatories are devices that allow the ACCEM knowing their needs, resources and the social composition of the migrant population on the territories where they were implemented. The data gathering allows analysing the socio-economic situation of the group, making diagnoses and determining lines of action to manage the socio-educational and professional insertion of the immigrant people, from the local, community and sustainable development point of view.
These cooperative tools of observation and of participative evaluation are based on the work in network, through the construction of a partnership methodology, by mobilizing the social actors that work in the same field. This network is made up of entities and institutions –public and private, NGOs, trade-unions, associations- that intervene in a direct and transversal way with the migrants group on the dimensions that are linked to their social integration.
The Accem observatories
The Immigration Permanent Observatories were implemented on these territories where the ACCEM cumulates experience on the cooperative work with other entities from the research-action point of view. Presently, the following observatories are working:
- Permanent Socio-economic observatory of Immigration in Asturies (ODINA), http://www.odina.info
- Permanent observatory of Immigration in Sigüenza, Guadalajara. (OPASI), http://www.opasi.es/
- Permanent observatory of Immigration in Guadalajara (OPEGU), http://www.opegu.es/
- Permanent observatory of Immigration in Girone
- Municipal observatory of Immigration of Alzira, Valencia
- Permanent observatory of Immigration in Sevilla
- Observation Group of Leon (GOL)
Observatories Development Phases
These Observatories work has been structured in several steps. The first phase of the project consists in the mobilization and in the construction in each area of the network of entities linked to the migrants’ group, it crystallises in the creation of several Observation Operational Groups.
In the second phase of the Operational Groups development, the tools that compose the device start functioning:
- Accompaniment, Diagnosis and Evaluation (data processing programme PRAGMA): Tool to know the needs; make the profiles and the typologies of the group and to evaluate the impact of the actions of the different entities.
- Repertory of the Actors and Actions for Insertion: Tools to structure information on the community existing resources and the actions suggested by the different groups.
- Territorial Information System: Data basis developed from twenty strategic contextual indicators, provided by external sources (INE (National Statistics Institute, census, etc.).
The external technical accompaniment for the design and development of these tools is made by the pole Territorial intelligence of TheMA (ex MTI@SHS Center), of the University of Franche-Comté in Besançon (France), specialised in the information methodologies and technologies applied to the social sciences humanities.
The third phase implies the gathering of the information provided by each Operational Group. Moreover, a Quantitative and Qualitative Diagnosis is made from exchanges of all the observations.
Eventually, the fourth phase of the Observatories development materialises in the impulsion of Intervention Workshops aiming at implementing specific actions in relation with the detected needs. The implemented workshops until now concern the following axles:
- Education Workshops: Concerning the socio-educational situation of the migrant students and of their families.
- Socio-Economic Accompaniment Workshops: Concerning the reinforcement of the formation processes and of the professional integration of the migrant population for all the unemployed population.
- Precariousness and Exclusion Workshops: Concerning the precariousness situations linked to the migratory fact (housing, health, treatment and gender equality)
Coordination between the Observatories: the POEDII (DOPIM)
From the work experience in the Observatories, the creation of a coordination structure has become necessary in the ACCEM: the Participative observation and Evaluation Device for the Immigrants’ Integration (POEDII). The main intentions of this initiative are to establish a communication, formation and accompaniment space between the operators and to make a joint follow-up of the work processes of each Observatory. The work was organised with the following flowchart:
Observation Operational Group: Composed by the technicians who directly act on the ground in each Observatory with the users, the partners and who participate to the tools management and to the information gathering in an active way.
Technical Referents Groups: It is a group composed by reference technicians from each Observatory. It is the most experienced staff as regards the observation tools use.
Technical Referent: Its main function is to accompany the technicians as regards the tools kick-off, maintenance and use.
Coordinator of the Device and Strategic Referent: It coordinates the Observatories network and the supervision of the working processes.
Steering Group: It is a group that is composed by institutional representative of the Observatories. They ensure a real follow-up of operations, their evaluation and the definition of their strategic orientations.
Network of the Territorial Coordinators: The ACCEM territorial responsibles are in charge of the observation devices. Its function consists in making a regular thinking work on the Observatories, the improvement areas and the obstacles to be overcome according to the specific characteristics of each zone.
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