22.1. Short description Although immigration rates in Germany have constantly been high for decades, many immigrants face problems with integration into social and economic life. In particular, refugees are confronted with a rather restrictive legislation regarding residence and work permissions. Without a residence permit it is hard to get a job and many employers do…
23.1. Short description Traditionally, labour market and social policies are organised and allocated separately in Germany. While labour market related issues are taken care of by local branches of the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit), communities have always been in charge of the provision of social services and welfare-related financial support. Most recently, this…
24.1. Short description The concept of prevention visits was implemented by the Youth Office9. The intention is to visit all parents in Münster with a newly born child. The prevention team, responsible for coordinating and realising these visits, started its work in August 200810. From a practical point of view, these prevention visits aim to…
25.1. Short description Each family is different and has different needs, problems and concepts of their individual family life (for example concerning child-care facilities or the reconciliation of family and job). In everyday life, it is sometimes not easy for parents to find a suitable contact person for their individual concerns and needs. “Surely it…
26.1. Short description Osthuesheide is a neighbourhood consisting of several apartment blocks with about 800 inhabitants. They were built in 1963 by a private company and have since been used by the British army. Gradually, the apartments have been sold to private investors or individual owner-occupiers since the late 1970s. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s,…
27.1. Short description The Hafenforum was a broad moderated citizen participation process carried out in 2010 and 2011, concerning a plan to reshape Münster’s harbour area and the surrounding densely populated Hansaviertel. The Hafenforum and its repercussions represent a new episode in the swelling conflict in terms of urban development projects within the city of…
The innovations presented above are not only local examples for innovative projects and undertakings in Münster, but rather contain lessons for innovators and social entrepreneurs in other contexts. Those lessons will be analysed in the following sections: first, the general context or window of opportunity for innovations in Münster will be used to generate a…
Local background of the social innovations The context of welfare innovations in Münster is dominated by the overarching logic of competitiveness and investment (see City Report Münster, WP4). This discursive frame was established in the 1990s, when a coalition involving stakeholders from local politics and administration, the university and local entrepreneurship joined forces to promote…