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Poland has traditionally been perceived as a net emigration country. The scale of the recent inflow of foreigners to the country, however, places Poland among those states of growing attractiveness to migrants. Therefore, the main aim of this chapter is to present the Polish model of integration policy and describe the development of Poland's migration and integration policy at the national level. As the local perspective on migration and integration has become increasingly important, local policies are also presented through the example of several of the largest Polish cities. Additionally, the role of public discourse in shaping Polish society's attitude towards migrants is discussed. Finally, some aspects of economic migrants' integration are described.

Poland still lacks a long-term and comprehensive migration and integration policy that covers all areas of integration, and all categories of immigrants and so far only once, for a short period, has adopted migration policy at a national level. There is also little coordination among the different governmental bodies that deal with this issue. Therefore, only some of the crucial elements of integration policy at a national level, like the liberalization of the labour market, have occurred successfully. It seems that local policies, especially in large cities, have addressed more precisely various issues faced by immigrants, not only related to employment, and could foster the process of integration.

In line with the main idea of the book, this chapter deals mostly with the structural or socio-economic dimension of integration, with a special focus on labour market inclusion. The integration of immigrants in the Czech labour market is viewed from an institutional and organizational perspective. The main emphasis of the chapter is on immigration from outside the EU. The author first provides an outline of the general trends in labour migration since the beginning of the century and analyzes the impact of selected labour market–related migration and integration policies and practices. Based on an analysis of policy documents, official statistics and available sociological research, the text discusses some major challenges to the successful integration of immigrants in the Czech labour market, with a special focus on the main actors and institutions involved in the process. In her analysis of the integration process, the author discusses the regulatory (or rather restrictive) role of Czech employment offices, the symbolic (or rather ineffective) role of trade unions and, last but not least, the crucial role of Czech NGOs working with non-EU immigrants. The latter are seen as key facilitators of migrant integration and not only in terms of their operative function (e.g. working in the field and assisting immigrants) but also in advocating for immigrants' rights.

Countries have implemented various migration policies targeting the migrants' economic and political integration and social inclusion. However, little is known about the impact of migration policies on migrants' participation in socio-cultural activities and their link with well-being. The first aim of this study is to explore the effect of the Migration Act of 2000 in Germany on participation in socio-cultural activities of first-generation migrants. The second aim is to examine the impact of socio-cultural activities on subjective well-being (SWB), measured by life satisfaction, and how it is compared between first-generation immigrants and natives.

The Migration Act of 2000 was extended in 2005 to provide permanent residence permits to high-skilled migrants and deliver cultural orientation and German language courses. The author will implement a Difference-in-Differences (DiD) methodology comparing the relationship between socio-cultural participation and SWB of first-generation immigrants and natives.

The results show that while first-generation immigrants participate less frequently in the socio-cultural activities explored, they experience an increase in participation after the implementation of the 2000 Migration Act. Furthermore, migrants report lower levels of SWB than natives, but their life satisfaction significantly improves with the increase in socio-cultural participation.

The findings of this study have implications for researchers and policymakers, such as income, education and employment promoting migrant integration. Providing employment opportunities and a permanent residence permit, cultural participation, and thus, the integration of migrants can be successfully achieved.

While there is a long debate about the effectiveness of migration integration policies, this is the first study investigating the effect of the Migration Act of 2000 on migrants' socio-cultural participation and well-being.

This chapter reviews the integration experiences and policies in Germany before and after the so-called “refugee crisis’. Chancellor Angela Merkel's famous words ‘wir schaffen das’ (we manage this) have mobilized both policy actions and a massive grassroots engagement. In this context, we discuss the scope, efficiency and impact of German integration and adaptation policies. We review critically how Germany has dealt institutionally with immigration in the past and how it has adjusted its institutional approach to deal with the refugee crisis. Furthermore, in a case study on integration policies in higher education, we highlight the interplay between institutional approaches and grassroots engagement to achieve integration objectives. We argue that to a certain extent, the refugee crisis has acted as a catalyst for Germany to come to terms with its long-denied status as an immigration country.

The aim of the article is to discuss the challenges from immigration to Nordic (gender) politics, theories and research. The research question is to what extent Nordic welfare and gender equality politics is based on exclusive solidarity biased towards the native majorities. A key issue is how Nordic gender theory and research has addressed multiple inequalities. The article briefly revisits the academic debates about gender equality, diversity and multiculturalism, which arguably represent two different paradigms: multicultural approaches have addressed the accommodation of minorities with diversity as the key concept, while feminist approaches have focused on gender (in)equality with gender as the key concept.

The intersectional approach suggests that increased migration and mobility present similar challenges for the two bodies of thought to address complex and multiple inequalities within and beyond the nation state. The main part explores “the multicultural dilemma” in greater detail focusing on the intersections between gender and etho‐national minorities in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Perceptions of diversity and gender equality/women's rights are contextual and dynamic as intersecting diversities and inequalities are embedded in national histories, institutions and policies. Scholars have demonstrated that the discourse about women's rights and gender equality has become an intrinsic part of Nordic identities and belongings. The article suggests that the new forms of inequalities among women can be interpreted as a Nordic gender equality paradox between the relative inclusion of the native majority women and the relative marginalization of women from diverse ethnic minorities in society.

The intersectionality approach to gender and ethnicity in Scandinavia is in this article combined with a transnational approach to gender, diversity and migration.

The purpose of the present paper is to describe a web-based consensus-finding procedure, resulting in an agreement among the group of participants representing global stakeholders regarding the interdisciplinary topic in a university master's seminar on “Global Studies”. The result of the collectively elaborated solution pertains to the forward-looking and jointly agreed topic of migration policies.

The core part of the web-based negotiation game “Surfing Global Change” utilised here is a controversial group discussion. A subsequent step creates an agreement among discussants. The group of participants, in this case co-authors of this paper, developed a final agreement on possible future political adaptations and guidelines to improve current standards in the global management of refugee and migration issues.

The findings offer several political possibilities for European and African states including structural recommendations as well as cooperative development policies.

The result is a catalogue of tentative recommendations to improve international policies relating to current migration problems, here focused on migration between Africa and Europe.

Considering the creativity of the entire procedural structure combined with an ordered scientific methodology, the outcome could promise an interdisciplinary result. Effects of group dynamics, cooperation, scientific research and diplomacy are integrated into consensus building.

In this chapter, we investigate race discrimination and race equality policies in the workplace at two interrelated levels of analysis in Cyprus. At the macro-national level, the effectiveness and implications of the present legal system is evaluated, and the chapter discusses whether it brought about the desirable results of safeguarding a fairer and efficient legal system, eliminating any kind of discrimination at the European Union (EU) level. At the meso-organizational level, the chapter refers to the results of research presenting a number of organizational policies and practices that safeguard or hinder the inclusion of migrants at the workplace.

The purpose of this paper is to explore problematisations of urban diversity in urban and integration policies in Denmark and Sweden; the paper aims to show how such policies express social imaginaries about the self and the other and underlying assumptions of sameness that legitimise diverging ways of managing urban diversity and (re)organising the city.

Inspired by anthropology of policy and post-structural approaches to policy analysis, the authors approach urban and integration policies as cultural texts that are central to the organisation of cities and societies. With a comparative approach, the authors explore how visions of diversity take shape and develop over time in Swedish and Danish policies on urban development and integration.

Swedish policy constructs productiveness as crucial to the imagined national sameness, whereas Danish policy constructs cultural sameness as fundamental to the national self-image. By constructing the figure of “the unproductive”/“the non-Western” as the other, diverging from an imagined sameness, policies for organising the city through removing and “improving” urban diverse others are legitimised.

The authors add to previous research by focussing on the construction of the self as crucial in processes of othering and by highlighting how both nationalistic and colour-blind policy discourses construct myths of national sameness, which legitimise the governing of urban diversity. The authors highlight and de-naturalise assumptions and categorisations by showing how problem representations differ over time and between two neighbouring countries.

This article aims to explore the gendered dimensions of the heterogeneous path of non‐native graduates in nursing and medicine in the Portuguese National Health Service, including institutional factors like the process of credential recognition, the professional integration and internal labour market segmentation.

Biographical interviews with nurses and physicians (23 males and 35 females) from Spain and from some Eastern European countries who migrated to work in Portugal were conducted, and additionally semi‐structured interviews with 12 institutional participants to contextualise the experiential data.

The research highlights complex intersections between gender and the resources for action. Institutional conditions, like legal frameworks and the self‐regulatory mechanisms of the professions, and individual characteristics shape successful translation of foreign credentials into a new social and cultural context. The specific configurations may create gender traps that push women into low status professional segments and also new forms of inequality in the professions.

The development of successful professional action and agency in a socio‐culturally different health care labour market can be differentiated by gender, place of graduation and citizenship status. The factors identified in this small‐scale qualitative study would need further investigation.

The findings highlight new demands for integration policies for foreign‐trained professionals, such as policies to promote equal opportunities for women and men in the workplace.

The article reinforces women as professional participants in the international migration process and examines the opportunities for successful integration.