The target group for the project is women aged 18 and over who are not EU citizens and who live in South Westphalia and the neighbouring Rhine and Ruhr regions. Access to the target group is gained directly through the team’s existing contacts with associations, groups, etc., or indirectly through institutions such as the Job Centre, Municipal Integration Centres (KI), Municipal Integration Management (KIM), integration officers and councils, welfare associations, etc.

In the first step, interested women learn about the project and are trained by volunteers in low-threshold workshops. The project team provides professional support for the implementation of the workshops, depending on individual needs. The aim of these workshops is to identify the participants’ own potential, such as artistic and cultural skills, and to empower them to define individual goals and paths. Biographical work or language support can also play a role in this context. As the project progresses, the participants will then form teams of three to initiate and conduct their own workshops in social institutions such as refugee shelters, retirement homes, open all-day schools, family centres, migrant organisations and associations. The aim is to pass on individual skills or cultural content. Depending on their needs, they will receive professional support from the team’s social workers and cultural manager.

At the end of the project, participants will be trained as association guides/multipliers. This training covers topics such as getting to know the association system in Germany, organising and running events, using digital media/public relations, and recruiting new association members. The aim is to empower participants to independently recruit and motivate other interested women from their own families and circles of friends to also become active.

In addition to cultural exchange, another side effect of the project is the strengthening of a sense of community. The provision of a safe space is intended to promote discussion about integration challenges and also create opportunities for sharing personal stories. The experience of collective learning, the pooling of resources and knowledge, and the promotion of voluntary work and association structures as ‘gatekeepers’ are intended to expand and promote dialogue within the community/society, thereby strengthening the role of women in the community in the long term.