Introducing the Hello Europe program!

The language we use when we talk about refugees and migration is so often tragic. Newspapers publish heartbreaking pictures, we read statistics which boggle the mind in their numbers, learn stories which appall in their tales of suffering. At the same time running through the difficult realities are threads of potential, of optimism, resilience and of capacity for hope.

It is here that Ashoka strives to work.  

In a collaboration between Ashoka Germany and Zalando, Hello Europe was created in 2016 to identify the most powerful and proven solutions to challenges surrounding migration, integration and refugee movements with the aim of bringing them to scale in regions most in need. Over time a European, cross-border network of solutions began to emerge, and we began to identify a new paradigm around migration and integration. 

Now 3 years on, Hello Europe aims to provide a vision of the kind of work happening in Europe and around the globe, which is creating a better society for people on the move as well as for those who meet them. 

There is a lot at stake: by providing the refugees with only enforced isolation, a lost education, and half-hearted integration, nobody wins. Political will or citizen will are not enough to solve this ever-shifting, accelerating problem – we need the nimble speed of new ideas, the passion of social entrepreneurs, the weight of government and the influence of business combined to transform the landscape for refugees and migrants.

Ashoka Hungary is also part of the Hello Europe program, our team is takes part in a research conducted in 7 countries with the aim of mapping the committed citizens involved in the refugee crisis in Ukraine and visualizing their relationships, as well as to reveal the challenges of the activities of individuals and organizations that help and support refugees, as well as their ideas, experiences and feedback.

You can find more information on the programme here.