Mörsil, a small village in north Sweden, ran a pilot “citizen dialogue” focused on social integration and how residents want to live alongside one another. The objective was to strengthen collective capacity, increase understanding and interaction between various communities, increase active participation and engagement in the local community, and for the municipality to get a better understanding of the capabilities of Mörsil as a community. In total, seventy citizens (8% of the population) were interviewed, as well as municipality staff and local politicians.
Some were recruited via local community groups, while others were recruited using the language skills of municipal staff to reach out to speakers of Arabic and Somali; in addition, interpreters were used if required. People were interviewed in their homes, workplaces, outside the supermarket, in school, during working hours and in the evening and at weekends.
In total, seventy citizens (8% of the population) were interviewed, as well as municipality staff and local politicians. Some were recruited via local community groups, while others were recruited using the language skills of municipal staff to reach out to speakers of Arabic and Somali; in addition, interpreters were used if required. People were interviewed in their homes, workplaces, outside the supermarket, in school, during working hours and in the evening and at weekends.
The answers were collated into seven topics outlined in a “perspective report”. Four dialogue meetings/workshops involving citizens (including migrants) and an external facilitator were then organised. Those events advanced three practical citizen-led projects to increase community cohesion. The participants in the citizen dialogues filled in a feedback form after the final meeting. The survey results showed that participants had felt heard, had been able to voice their opinions and had the sense that they had been able to contribute to change. You can read more about it here (in Swedish).