Integration - the Stuttgart way

Responsibility for successful integration lies both with the migrants themselves and with the host community and its institutions.

Duties of "new Stuttgart residents"

"New Stuttgart residents" arriving from other countries have a duty to take advantage of all integration promotion programs offered to help them assume an equal role in community life. This includes first and foremost acquiring a good command of German. Active participation also entails assuming responsibilities within society. Alongside entering the world of work, voluntary civic commitment and political participation help the process of integration into the community, engender a sense of belonging and encourage new residents to forge a bond with Stuttgart as their new home.

Duties of the host community

Successful integration depends not only on the willingness of migrants to fit in, but also on the quality of schemes designed to promote integration in the various institutions. Promoting language tuition and education in nurseries and schools helps ensure the success of all children in the education system, irrespective of their social or ethnic background. The integration process is additionally facilitated by competent advice and support in the social and health services. The appointment of qualified migrants as officers in the public services and in companies helps promote intercultural competence in both the administrative and commercial fields. Consequently, the intercultural orientation of institutions forms a key focus of Stuttgart's integration policy.

Integration is not only a cross-sectional task transcending the barriers dividing administration and the economy, it must also be jointly tackled by the community as a whole. Other essential aspects of Stuttgart's integration policy include involving honorary officers in the work of integration and also qualifying its associations to perform these tasks.

Good integration policy will help secure the future of our city as an attractive location

By embracing and promoting cultural, language and religious diversity, we are building a tolerant and cosmopolitan ambience in our international city, and so enhancing Stuttgart's ability to attract creative minds and investors. Innovative technologies, talents from around the world and tolerance are all attributes of economically resilient cities offering a high quality of living. Good integration policy always has the effect of securing the future attraction of a location.

Stuttgart's integration policy continues to grow and evolve. This makes the inter-community exchange of ideas and experience an important aspect of quality development, particularly within the context of the European CLIP (Cities for Local Integration Policies) network.