Ceremony to say thank you to everyone involved in the Municipal Integration Plan. From l to r: Deputy Mayor Wolfgang Erichson, Mayor Dr. Eckart Würzner, Baden-Württemberg Integration Minister Bilkay Öney, and Council for Foreigners and Migrants chair Michael Mwa Allimadi (Photo: Dorn)

History of the integration policy

of the City of Heidelberg

Since 2007 Heidelberg has been working particularly hard in the area of integration, and has already put plenty of ideas and suggestions into practice.

March 13, 2015: Heidelberg joins the European Coalition of Cities against Racism	Heidelberg’s Mayor, Dr. Eckart Würzner, is presented by Dr. Ursula Löbel, deputy chair of the European Coalition of Cities against Racism (ECCAR) and director of ECCAR’s head office, with a certificate confirming Heidelberg’s membership of the ECCAR. Also present at the ceremony are the Integration Minister of the state of Baden-Württemberg, Bilkay Öney, deputy mayor of Heidelberg Wolfgang Erichson, and a large number of invited guests, including many people involved in integration work in the city.
November 28, 2014: Third round of meetings of focus groups on the new Action Plan	Now for the third time, all four focus groups meet at different locations around the City Hall. The groups discuss in depth various targets and courses of action, identify performance indicators, and – as far as possible at this stage – define responsibilities.
October 9, 2014: Heidelberg states its intention to join the European Coalition of Cities against Racism (ECCAR)	Heidelberg’s City Council votes unanimously for the city to apply to ECCAR’s Steering Committee to join the Coalition.
September 4-29, 2014: Second round of meetings of focus groups on the new Action Plan	The four focus groups develop further the preliminary targets and measures defined in July.
July 23, 2014: First round of meetings of focus groups; detailed work on the new Action Plan “Openness to Diversity and Equal Opportunities – Better for Everyone” begins	Nuts-and-bolts work on the Action Plan kicks off with a first round of meetings for the four focus groups, Education, Everyday Discrimination, Human Resources Development, and Immigrants & Women as Players in the Economy. By taking part in the focus groups, more than 100 representatives of clubs, associations, city departments and the general public are able to play an active part in shaping the new Action Plan.
June 5, 2014: New public participation concept is unanimously approved	Heidelberg City Council unanimously approves the public participation concept for the creation of the new Action Plan, “Openness to Diversity and Equal Opportunities – Better for Everyone”.
29 April 2014: Kick-off event for new Action Plan	A kick-off event is held for the new Action Plan in the Hall of Mirrors in the Prinz Carl administration building and is attended by experts in the field of integration and a large number of members of the public.
March 13, 2014: New projects launched on the basis of research in the areas of integration and gender	Heidelberg’s City Council unanimously acknowledges the implementation and monitoring reports on the Municipal Integration Plan, the second Equal Opportunities Action Plan, and monitoring activities in the areas of integration and gender. At the same time a new process involving all stakeholders and interested members of the public is launched, which will include building new flexibility into activities in these areas, agreeing targets, coming up with relevant projects, and planning more detailed monitoring.
December 19, 2013: Baden-Württemberg declares its support for the new Action Plan	The Ministry for Integration of the state of Baden-Württemberg approves the application by Heidelberg’s Office of Equal Opportunities to launch a new Action Plan entitled “Openness to Diversity and Equal Opportunities – Better for Everyone”. The Action Plan will set targets and define measures to be taken by the City of Heidelberg and its partners. It will draw extensively on input from members of the public, and give new impetus to the process of making the most of Heidelberg’s diverse talent.
March-November 2013: Preparation of the first implementation report on Heidelberg’s Municipal Integration Plan	Helped by the city’s Office of Equal Opportunities, numerous city departments, key institutions and external bodies report on their success in implementing the measures and targets set out in the Municipal Integration Plan. Out of 55 projects, 50 have been completed successfully.
December 18, 2012: Office of Equal Opportunities presents new indicators to show success of activities in the areas of integration and equal opportunities	Heidelberg’s City Council is presented with new indicators to use when monitoring activities in the areas of integration and gender. These will make it possible to assess the success of the measures defined in the Municipal Integration Plan and so lay the foundation for further work developing the city’s activities in these fields, ultimately making for a fairer and more efficient city administration.
December 14, 2011: Ceremony to say thank you to everyone involved in the Municipal Integration Plan	Mayor Dr. Eckart Würzner invites everyone involved in the city’s Municipal Integration Plan to attend a special ceremony in the Hall of Mirrors in Palais Prinz Carl to thank them for their part in the process. Bilkay Öney, the Integration Minister of the state of Baden-Württemberg, is also there, and presents Dr. Würzner with a freshly-printed copy of the new Integration Plan.
May 1, 2011: Integration is brought under the umbrella of equal opportunities	Municipal integration projects will no longer be coordinated by the city departments that deal with administrative and immigration law, now instead falling under the remit of the Office of Equal Opportunities. In this way the City of Heidelberg sends out the message that enabling everyone to participate equally in society is a key element of the city’s integration policy.
February 10, 2011: Unanimous adoption of Municipal Integration Plan	Heidelberg City Council unanimously approves the Municipal Integration Plan, giving the green light to the process of implementing and further developing the measures set out in it.
March to April 2009: Results of study on the life circumstances of Heidelberg immigrants	The results of the study on the situations of Heidelberg’s immigrants are presented to the committees of the City Council, providing valuable additional impetus for work on the Municipal Integration Plan. The results are also used to inform other integration projects of the city authorities.
2008 to 2009: Five working groups meet regularly to discuss the Municipal Integration Plan	Under the auspices of the Municipal Office (Bürgeramt), the following five working groups meet on a regular basis over the period 2008-9: WG 1: Language & Education WG 2: Training & Job Market WG 3: Family, Health & Welfare Systems WG 4: Neighborhoods & Voluntary Work WG 5: Sport & Culture During the three main coordination phases, a large number of municipal offices, departments and public companies have the chance to explain their proposed targets and measures. The process is overseen from a procedural point of view by the Joint Center for the Management of Local Government (KGSt).
July to December 2008: Representative survey of immigrants’ life circumstances	The research institute Sinus Sociovision conducts a representative survey of the life circumstances of immigrants in the city. Through the study the City of Heidelberg hopes to obtain insights into the specific situations, subjective responses to problems, and attitudes, of people with a history of migration.
October 13, 2008: Heidelberg’s first naturalization ceremonies	In the Hall of Mirrors in Palais Prinz Carl, the city’s Mayor, Dr. Eckart Würzner, greets a large number of new German citizens in the city’s first ever naturalization ceremony.
December 2007 to July 2008: Survey of integration measures and projects in Heidelberg	On behalf of the City of Heidelberg, the Sinus Sociovision institute uses a questionnaire to gain insights into all of the integration measures and projects underway in Heidelberg, with the help of which a status update is prepared.
December 10, 2007 and March 5, 2008: Two initial events to promote the Municipal Integration Plan	The City of Heidelberg holds two initial events to encourage representatives of associations, clubs and umbrella organizations, and other influential people involved in integration work in Heidelberg, to get involved in the Municipal Integration Plan. The aim is to draw as widely as possible on different fields of expertise and points of view.
May 2007: SPD apply for the creation of a Municipal Integration Plan; kick-off event takes place	The SPD members of the City Council request the compilation of a Municipal Integration Plan. People with a migration background should both be involved in prepared the Plan, and should be its beneficiaries. On May 10, 2007, the City of Heidelberg holds a kick-off event to publicize its plans to develop an overall concept for intercultural activities in Heidelberg.
2006 to 2007: Focusing in on integration	Following the election of Dr. Würzner as Mayor, Heidelberg now attaches new importance to the topic of integration. Accordingly, a new, fourth city department is established dedicated to Integration, Equal Opportunities and Citizens’ Services. Within the Municipal Office (Bürgeramt), an Immigration Unit and Immigration & Public Participation Section are set up, sending out a clear message about the City’s commitment to integration issues.