France: Welcoming new foreign arrivals in a municipality

Noting that significant difficulties persist for migrants and that the quality of reception and access to rights could be improved, the city of Nantes decided to enrich its policy of reception and access to information for migrant populations. A good reception is seen as a decisive step in the promotion of migrant integration: hospitality and access to information on rights and services are considered essential. 

Project Goal

The city of Nantes has been developing a policy of welcoming foreigners for many years. In 2003, it set up the Nantes Council for the Citizenship of Foreigners (CNCE), a body dedicated to the participation of foreigners. The CNCE is composed of TCN public citizens, elected officials of the city, and organisations with expertise in issues relating to integration and the prevention of discrimination. Its objective is to allow foreigners, who are deprived of the right to vote in local elections, to exercise their citizenship locally. 

Many immigrants in Nantes have testified to the difficulty of accessing useful information relevant to their daily lives. The city of Nantes therefore decided to improve its policy of welcoming and providing access to information for migrant populations. In 2011, it contacted the CNCE on these subjects by launching two participation mandates: Welcoming and initial steps for new arrivals and Access to information for immigrant populations.

How it works

The work produced tools for diagnosing and mapping the existing situation, and allowed for the development of recommendations. It became apparent that a single tool could not address all the issues, but that a set of offers corresponding to different times, different needs, and different audiences was needed. 

The improvements concerned information (reliability, ease of reading), communication (through a partnership network), reception and orientation (training of agents in interface with immigrant users, setting up of a monitoring unit, internal to the city, and strengthening of partnerships).

Who benefits

Any foreign person arriving in Nantes.

Funding and resources

The project was supported by the European Integration Fund for the years 2012 and 2013, under the COPROD MIGRANTS I & II projects.