The concept of language and integration mediation stipulates that municipal departments can call in certified language and integration mediators for important personal discussions with immigrants whose language skills are not (yet) sufficient for communication in German, in order to ensure reliable communication even if they do not have a common knowledge of the language.

 

The City of Cologne's pool of language and integration mediators provides professional support in the following areas: Clarification of complex issuesfor the Making binding agreements and the Conducting conflictual and/or particularly (culturally) sensitive conversations available.

 

This is another important step towards the intercultural opening of regular services - professionals and immigrants from Cologne can meet on an equal footing thanks to the professional discussion support. The opportunities for citizens to actively participate are significantly increased and the professional work in administration, daycare centers and schools is also improved by reducing possible conflicts due to avoidable misunderstandings. This benefits the city and citizens alike!

 

The offer includes 106 different languages and dialects. The language and integration mediators are trained and deployed by bikup gGmbH, a social organization that is also a certified training provider. Formal and financial processing is handled by the Municipal Integration Center of the City of Cologne.

 

This offer was made possible by the Intercultural Measures Program, which defines the city-wide use of language and integration mediators as a significant improvement in the participation and integration opportunities of (new) immigrants. The City of Cologne's integration budget currently provides the funding.

 

Flyer language mediator pool for the city of Cologne