District offers new smartphone app for shelter seekers
Local, multilingual and free of charge - the district now offers a new online service for refugees: The Integreat app bundles local and integration-relevant information at a glance and makes it available to those seeking protection via smartphone. This is intended to make it easier for people to arrive and settle in Waldeck-Frankenberg.
Users will find important addresses, contact persons and tips in the application that can help them find their way around the district. The app consists of six areas with various sub-topics: There is general information about the district, but also about important authorities, relevant advice centres, education, work, health and everyday life. In addition, the app supports both volunteers and full-time staff in the field of integration to make it easier for people to find the right contact points in Waldeck-Frankenberg.
Reaching refugees directly
"With the additional offer, we want to reach refugees even more directly to make their arrival in the district easier," says the First District Commissioner of the district Karl-Friedrich Frese. "The content of the Integreat app can be accessed via mobile devices as well as via the web view of the district website. It therefore also serves as a bridge function to convey the relevant information in a good and targeted way." Language barriers could thus be overcome and information poverty reduced
The content of the app will initially be available in German, English, French, Arabic, Farsi, Ukrainian and Russian. Users can also use the app offline if they have no internet access. When they are connected to the internet again, the app will update itself automatically. "Important events such as the assessment and counselling days of the district adult education centre in the area of German language courses can also be shared via the app," report Theresa Habich-Lerch and Latif Hamamiyeh Al-Homssi from the district's migration and integration office, who are supporting the project. "Relevant places and institutions are shown on a map. Telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and websites are directly linked."
In order to constantly improve the service and adapt it to the needs of the refugees, the district is dependent on feedback from the users. This feedback can be given directly in the respective native language at the push of a button. The feedback is evaluated by the Migration and Integration Unit and the service is adapted accordingly. For this purpose, the office invites people who would like to and are able to translate smaller passages into English, French, Arabic, Farsi, Ukrainian or Russian on a voluntary basis to send an email to fmi@lkwafkb.de - and to actively participate in the working group.
In order to inform the refugees about the app, they are made aware of the offer directly upon their arrival in the district - in a personal conversation, via social media or via multilingual postcards. Volunteers are also to be informed about the offer in this way in order to serve as multipliers for the integration project. The app can be downloaded quickly and easily onto a smartphone from the App Store or the Google Play Store in just a few seconds. All you have to do is enter the keyword "Integreat" in the search function.
Background:
The digital integration platform Integreat is used by more than 80 cities and districts in Germany. The district of Waldeck-Frankenberg has also joined the project, which is thus used on average in every 5th municipality nationwide. Integreat is a 3-in-1 solution (smartphone, computer and brochure) that makes it possible to prepare relevant information for the integration process of immigrants in several languages without much effort. Integreat was developed by the non-profit association Tür an Tür in Augsburg, which has been carrying out integration projects since 1992, and the Technical University of Munich. The introduction of the Integreat app in the Waldeck-Frankenberg district is financially supported by the Training and Qualification Budget (AQB) of the Hessian Ministry for Social Affairs and Integration (HMSI).