Cologne integration guides
Since 2009, the City of Cologne has been funding the "Integration Guides" project with the aim of actively supporting new immigrants with little knowledge of German in particular by providing information and support.
Most of the integration guides have a migration background themselves and all speak at least one other language in addition to German. Accompanying people to health services, administrative offices, authorities or schools, to banks and insurance companies, helping with correspondence and filling out forms, providing information about social and cultural activities in the district are just a few examples of the wide range of assignments that are currently carried out in a total of 17 languages.
The professional and social competence of the pilots is continuously strengthened by means of professional training and support from the integration agencies in the form of group meetings, discussions and further training, for example on the topics of intercultural competence, health prevention and aliens law.
Since the beginning of the project, numerous integration pilots have been trained. The project is supported by Five integration agencies worn:
- Arbeiterwohlfahrt-Bezirksverband Mittelrhein e.V.
Contact person: Nuran Kancok
Email: nuran.kancok@awo-mittelrhein.de, Tel.: 0221-29942871
- Caritas Association for the City of Cologne e.V.
Contact person: Shpresa Tafaj
Email: shpresa.tafaj@caritas-koeln.de , Tel.: 0221-98577134
- Integrationshaus e.V.
Contact person: Elizaveta Khan
Email: info@ihaus.org, Tel.: 0221-99745752
- –Synagogue Community Cologne
Contact: Polina Kochelaieva and Natalia Töpfer
Email: info@sgk.de, Tel.: 02203-201-554
- Vingst community center - Vingster Treff
Contact person: Patricia Duda
Email: vingstertreff@soziales-koeln.de, Tel.: 0221-875485
For organizational reasons, please submit requests for the deployment of integration guides in writing by e-mail or telephone at least one week before the planned date with the following information: Request, language requirements, date and location at the individual providers.
Note: The integration guides cannot be called in for interviews to determine special educational needs (AO-SF procedure).

