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The potential of migrant and refugee community organisations to influence policy

On 2 February 2009, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) published a report (The potential of migrant and refugee community organisations to influence policy) which looks at a partnership set up to test how migrant and refugee community organisations can change policies and practices that are crucial to the lives of their own communities.

The Change from Experience project was selected for appraisal. This particular project addresses the different ways in which migrant and community groups can draw upon their own history and experience to develop the skills to bring about change. It also challenges ideas about these organisations as ‘comfort zones’ and places them at the centre of debates about identity, gender, migration and cohesion.

The report considers:

• how a partnership based on ‘critical pedagogy’ – a learning tool used in community development – was created;
• methods and processes;
• the experiences of the various organisations involved;
• what did and did not work in the processes and why;
• core elements in the curriculum that are useful to organisations wishing to change themselves;
• why migrant and refugee organisations struggle with policy.

The potential of migrant and refugee community organisations to influence policy (PDF)