Bearing these problems in mind it becomes rather doubtful whether the identification
of indicators and the measurement of integration based on these indicators can be a
fruitful undertaking at all. It is questionable whether one can succeed in reliably
identifying a set of indicators really pointing at a progress in integration (or the need
for further measures) and covering all dimensions of integration at the same time in
order to supply a complete impression of the state of integration in a given country.
It may be assumed that local projects aimed at improving the integration of migrants
living in a given community will very well lead to some statements actually allowing
for some indicator-based measuring of integration. This is due to the limited scope
and numerically relatively small target groups dealt with in these projects. Local
projects can, for example, aim at improving the housing conditions of foreigners. By
comparing the situation before starting the initiative to the situation afterwards, the
researcher may conclude that the housing situation has improved and that
integration has advanced, because migrants no longer live in ghettos but in mixed
immigrant/non-immigrant districts.
But then again, these statements can only refer to the housing situation. They do not
give an overall impression of the cultural, economic, political or social integration of
the migrants concerned.
Starting from this - admittedly pessimistic - point of view it soon appears extremely
difficult to see prospects for a nation-wide measurement of the integration of all
migrants living in one country. Using indicators for evaluating the situation of
migrants in various countries is even more difficult: Will it be possible to find a
consensus on meaningful key indicators building the basis for common guidelines on
how to shape integration policies in the member states of the Council of Europe?
Can the definition of "alarm indicators" - e.g. a sharp decline in public opinion - be a
way out?
Answering (or even solving) these questions was the crucial task of the conference in
October. In order to achieve this goal it began with a set of introductions in the field
of concepts of integration and some remark on the problems of measuring integration
as well as difficulties concerning the availability of data. After dealing with this
theoretical background the focus of the meeting turned to practical projects aimed at
evaluating the integration of migrants in various European countries. A concluding
debate then assessed the chances for finding common ground on measuring
migrants' integration