Problem addressed

In Belgium, unaccompanied refugee minors are entitled to subsidised housing, as well as educational and legal support from legal professionals and social workers. These services are put in place to help them to establish themselves in Belgium and navigate the Belgian way of life. When they turn 18, however, they lose some of these support services and can end up in precarious situations, without qualifications, unemployed and with a higher chance of becoming dependent on social welfare. In 2016, almost 400 young refugees were in this situation, and were not receiving support tailored to their needs.

Innovative solution

Cohousing and Case Management for Unaccompanied Young Adult Refugees in Antwerp (CURANT) aimed to meet the needs of unaccompanied young adults in an innovative and holistic way. It offered support services for education, training, employment, housing security and mental health needs through the development of a formal and informal safety network. CURANT ran between 2016 and 2019.

CURANT combined the provision of affordable housing with measures enhancing the social integration of unaccompanied young adults, aged between 17 and 22 years old, who held granted refugee status or subsidiary protection. It provided a safe living environment through cohousing units, which were bought, rented, renovated and built by the City of Antwerp. A ‘buddy’ system was established whereby Flemish ‘buddies’ (young volunteers aged between 20 and 30 years old) shared a living space with a young refugee for at least one year (sometimes extended for an additional 6 months). The role of these local cohabitants was not strictly defined, but the main aim was to facilitate informal learning and encourage peer-to-peer relationships between flatmates, as opposed to caretaker and caregiver relationships, which are prevalent in support measures aimed at this target group.

The refugees were also supported by social workers, who provided guidance on labour market integration, education, independent living, language learning, leisure time, psychological counselling and professional activation, as required.

The initiative was led by the Social Welfare Department of the City of Antwerp with a consortium of other partners providing support services. These included Jes vzw (an NGO providing youth-oriented outreach), Atlas Inburgering en Integratie (a public institution offering training and counselling to newcomers), Vormingplus Antwerpen (an NGO dealing with adult education and volunteer support), and Solentra (an NGO offering diagnostic and therapeutic support for migrant and refugee children and families). The Centre for Migration and Intercultural Studies (CeMIS) of the University of Antwerp evaluated the project.

Key results and benefits

In total, 81 unaccompanied young adults with refugee status lived with 77 ‘buddies’ in different accommodation arrangements, including two-bedroom apartments, four-bedroom houses, a twelve-bedroom student house and a cohousing site with 16 two-bedroom units. Shared living spaces created mutual trust and fostered shared learning between housemates. Four-bedroom houses were particularly effective in creating positive communal experiences. Social interactions with housemates had a positive impact on young adults with refugee status. These interactions decreased stress related to daily situations, helped them to learn new skills in a more relaxed environment, and eased their integration into society. The support provided by housemates did not replace professional help (e.g. a social worker, psychotherapist or youth worker), but rather acted to complement it.

Buddies also gained a lot from this living arrangement. They developed cultural awareness and empathy, and a better understanding of the challenges facing young refugees. A minority of relationships between housemates were unsuccessful, with obstacles such as busy schedules, language barriers and different expectations for the living arrangement sometimes posing a challenge.

Partner organisations also benefited from the project. Through working closely together, they learned from one other and developed their expertise in supporting the target group.

Potential for mainstreaming

The European Regional Development Fund’s Urban Innovative Actions (UIA) supported the project with a grant of EUR 4.8 million for the period 2016 to 2019. The City of Antwerp as well as other partners also contributed funds bringing the total budget of the project to around EUR 6.1 million.

The matchmaking between local buddies and unaccompanied minors would have high potential for transferability and scalability to other contexts. However, it can be a challenging process as it involves a number of stages, including finding interested buddies and refugees who are willing to interact, engage in collective activities and share their living spaces. The successful implementation of this approach depends on partner organisations working very closely together and adapting their way of working according to the project needs and requirements. It also requires favourable national and local legislation regulating cohousing arrangements; the juridical framework of cohousing in Antwerp was deemed an obstacle to project implementation due to its complex and time-consuming administrative procedures.

To ensure the sustainability of the project, the project management team organised several meetings with Flemish stakeholders and governmental representatives to discuss what structural-level actions are needed to develop an integrated approach and continuity of services. Cooperation with local stakeholders would, therefore, be another important condition for successful transfer to another context.