WELDI baseline report

Timișoara (RO)
319,000 inhabitants
Local coordinator: Head of Resilience and Community Mobilisation Service
from Timișoara Municipality’s Social Assistance Department
From ad-hoc cooperation to a whole-of-society approach
In the past four years, Timișoara
had to overcome two challenges:
the need to quarantine and support
migrants arriving without papers
during the pandemic, and the arrival
of refugees from Ukraine. Managing
these emergencies successfully
together with civil society and migrants
themselves has strengthened
the relationships between all actors
and helped to build trust. In this
process, the city council could build
on the Ukrainian community’s ideas,
initiative and potential for self-help.
As migrants continue to arrive, both
sides are now ready to bring this
cooperation to a new level and to
develop a sustainable whole-of-society
approach. This will involve
mapping migrant needs together
with migrants and improving coordination
of existing and news services
between the different actors.
This should lead to more efficient
support in areas such as the orientation
and advice, language learning
opportunities, professional training
and activities that bring together
newcomers with established residents.
Preliminary focus of the integrated action plan
▷ Conduct a joint needs analysis
between city authorities and civil
society, including migrants, as a
basis for a common strategy.
▷ Map existing service offer
between all stakeholders, as a
starting point for a coordination
and referral mechanism.
▷ Develop a city services map for
migrants translated in different
languages.
▷ Set up a better internal
coordination mechanism
between service providers.
▷ Provide training for people
wanting to set up a business
(this could be both for locals and
newcomers/migrants).
Partner profiles 60