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Abstract |
The European Commission has promoted revisiting and developing approaches for the successful integration of migrants all over Europe. One possible response to address this challenge is using nature as an arena for social integration of newcomers, as discussed by Gentin et al (2019). The aim of the project – “Nature friend – integration through outdoor recreation and nature activities” was to enroll new volunteers and test new approaches in integration of refugees and newly arrived asylum seekers through nature based activities. Local groups of the Danish Refugee council in five different municipalities in Denmark participated in the project. The theoretical point of departure was Essers (1999) four basic forms of social integration: structural, cultural, interactive and identificational integration. Based on Esser (1999) the relationship between nature and integration can be understood in terms of: 1) Structural integration describing access to common resources and main institutions of society, 2) cultural integration with aquisition of knowledge and competences, cultural aspects, common practices, general rules of behaviour, 3) interactive integration describing friendships and social interactions, 4) identificational integration with emotional bonds to other groups and places.In this relation, “Naturefriend – integration through outdoor recreation and nature activities” focused on social interactions and language learning (interactive integration), as well as getting to know near-by nature (identificational integration). Further, the work by Rishbeth and Finney (2006) and their focus on novelty and nostalgia was found in the refugees thoughts about the nature-based activities inspired the theoretical understanding of the refugee perspective of this project. |
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