DDEMOCRAEMOCRACY FOFOR CCHILDHILDREREN’SN’S FUTUFUTURE DDEMEMOKKRATRATI FFOOR BBAARNS FRAAMMTTIDID (DDBFBF) VVIISBY

The organisation applies annually to the Culture and Leisure Board for funds to cover any expenses for the Demokrati för Barns Framtid (Democracy for camp. Venues have been provided for free by Gotland Children’s Future – DBF) helps to promote the Folk High School as well as IOGT-NTO Gotland and integration of children from age fi ve upwards into the Gotland Sports Centre. Any child, whether DBF the local Swedish community. This is done by member or not, immigrant or non-immigrant, may creating meeting points for different groups through attend. In 2013, 40 children took part. Of these, 27 frequent and yearly activities, mixing social and were foreign-born and 13 were Swedish. pedagogical activities and using these as a hook to The activities at the camp included artistic workshops, engage migrant youth, thus facilitating their learning, meetings with eminent infl uential people, sea bathing, personal development and social inclusion. These visiting local landmarks, sports and musical activities, promote togetherness, as well as an understanding cooking, human rights education, and other social of human rights, democracy, equality (racial and activities. gender), leadership and social responsibilities, and an understanding of Swedish society. It brings migrant and non-migrant youth together, and involves parents in activities, facilitating their integration and Visby, the largest city on the Swedish island region developing their skills. Gotland. Sister organisations have also been established in mainland cities.

DBF provides activities throughout the year, such as swimming lessons, homework assistance, international gatherings, seminars and sporting events. DBF goes back to 2006, following Claudien Tuyisabe’s A highlight of the year is the annual summer camp, arrival to Visby as a refugee from Burundi. He formally which was the main focus of the EU-MIA mission. launched DBF in 2010.. participation of parents and families so as not to place the entire burden of social integration on children. • Migrant and non-migrant children and young people: Primary benefi ciaries are migrant children or children with a migrant background in Gotland. Increasingly, DBF works with non-migrant youth, creating opportunities for intercultural contact. • Families: Through the young members, DBF works with migrant families, involving parents as volunteers Value of local authority support and in supporting their children’s learning. The support given by the local authority, both informally • Non-Visby residents: The annual summer camp in providing help with securing an administrative and organised by DBF now recruits children and young fi nancial footing, and formally in subsidising venues as people from migrant backgrounds from the mainland part of a wider commitment to associational life in the – in particular from Sweden’s main cities – who rarely region. get opportunities to spend time in rural environments. Local political attitudes towards integration • Transnational benefi ciaries: Unusually, the practice DBF importantly seized on Region Gotland’s cross-party also has a transnational dimension, engaging in consensus on supporting integration and general ethos of development work in Vugizo, Burundi, in collaboration hospitality, linked both to a perceived need to grow the with the Burundi-based organisation Development for population for economic development and to a shared Youth Future in Burundi (DAJBU). narrative of Gotland’s history as an outward-looking, cosmopolitan Hanseatic town. The advantage of this kind of place-making strategy – building shared narratives – is one of the key lessons of the Gotland case study. DBF is a grassroots initiative, driven by its founding Grassroots benefi ts member and functioning on a voluntary basis. It has a board of eleven people who help set strategies, goals and Unusually among municipal promising practices on activities. integration, DBF is a grassroots practice initiated by migrants themselves and not by the local authority. This DBF has a close partnership with Träffpunkt Gråbo, enables the practice to understand and cater to the where it is based, and the network of organisations specifi c needs of the initial target benefi ciaries, children based there. Support is provided by individual regional from migrant backgrounds. politicians, municipal authorities and civil society groups. Municipal partners • Region Gotland’s Board of Culture and Leisure Rather Lessons through ‘fun’ provides funding for the association and several of its The practice uses “fun” activities in three ways: as a activities. hook to engage migrant and non-migrant children, as a • The Gotland Folk High School provides the summer tool for their personal development, and as a space in camp facilities free of charge. which meaningful social interaction between migrant and non-migrant children (and families) can occur. Such Civil Society partners activities are primarily non-verbal and often not culturally • Save the Children, Gotland has been involved specifi c, or (as in the case of music and dance activates) with DBF since its inception. Their support ranges draw on global youth culture shared by migrant and non- from the provision of offi ce space, to collaborative migrant children. Thus positive engagement in these activities. activities is not dependent on pre-existing language skills or cultural competences. Sport and culture have a special ability to bring people together, enable different sorts of people to fl ourish, open up spaces for positive/ meaningful contact and intercultural communication, DBF aims to enhance integration and contribute to and build specifi c skills/competences that can enhance the increased well-being of children. DBF continues to the possibility of integration. strengthen its wider communities, both nationally and globally. DBF sister organisations have started in mainland cities: Lund, Malung-Sälen, Halstahammar, Norrköping, Örebro Emphasis on individuals and Västerås. These represent a wide spectrum of The founder’s personal qualities have been central Swedish geography, and demonstrate the replicability of to creating partnerships that have made the practice the practice’s model. fl ourish. But issues for long-term sustainability are DBF plans to grow personal and strategic initiatives raised if the practice’s success or failure is dependent to disseminate the DBF model and to increase the on the continued involvement of an individual.

Please visit the EU-MIA website fi nd out more, including full report & documentary: http://www.eu-mia.eu/cases