Utrecht Refugee Launchpad

The project

The Utrecht Refugee Launchpad (Plan Einstein) was an innovative solution to housing and social cohesion as a response to the increase in asylum claims during 2015-2016. Utrecht municipality, benefiting from direct European funding, built a partnership with NGOs, social enterprises and educational institutions. Between November 2016 and October 2018, the project housed asylum seekers (both with and without a residence permit) in the same complex as local young people in the district of Overvecht. It used co-learning, inviting residents from the neighbourhood to take courses together and engage in social activities in a shared social space. Courses in English and entrepreneurship were offered as subjects of “futureproof” value, useful to participants’ professional future regardless of the country they would ultimately reside in. 

The co-housing and co-learning reception facility, known locally as “Plan Einstein”, aimed to develop asylum seekers’ social networks with neighbours, while providing opportunities for participants to develop their skills, to enhance wellbeing and improve community cohesion in the neighbourhood. As such, the project aimed to engage with concerns from receiving communities (countering negative migrant rhetoric), activate asylum seekers “from day one”, as well as reverse the negative spiral of boredom, anxiety, isolation and worsening mental health that are common in migrant communities.  

The project fostered cultural sensitivity amongst host communities and asylum seekers through letting host communities and asylum seekers participate in social activities, such as co-learning and co-housing. The project is sensitive, moreover, gender and age differences. In door-to-door surveys to assess the needs of beneficiaries, for example, the research team checked representativeness in terms of gender, age, level of education and ethnicity.

The impact of the good practice

According to an evaluation done by University College London and University of Oxford, Plan Einstein had some impact in generating good relations in the target neighbourhood. However, it could have gone further by developing a vibrant, free, open community space at an earlier stage.  

Plan Einstein generated noteworthy outputs. It delivered mixed housing for local residents and asylum seekers and the many onsite activities encouraged social mixing. A lively and well-attended series of classes and business incubation stream were run from the facility. The co-learning element of the project benefited from flexibility and responsiveness to the needs of the population.