Essen combines cultures: a festival for integration and community!

Essen combines cultures: a festival for integration and community!

On April 20, 2025, the “Essen connected cultures” project continued in Mettmann, which was launched last year. This project has devoted itself to promoting intercultural exchange and the integration of refugees. The initiators of the program are the integration council, the network integration and the Mettmann local association of Arbeiterwohlfahrt (AWO), which together organized an event for cultural exchange. The aim is to beat bridges between different cultures by cooking and eating together and promoting a common understanding.

The invitation to asparagus meal was aimed at both Ukrainian refugees and Mettmann citizens. Almost 30 people took part in this special event, including Ukrainians from urban accommodations and members of the Mettmann Senior Council. At the event, meaningful discussions about German and Ukrainian culture took place, with personal experiences and challenges with which displaced persons in Germany are confronted. Despite linguistic barriers, the participants managed to talk to each other and discover the similarities.

Integration through meals together

The project is financed by state funds from the "Komm-A-NRW" program, which supports the integration and participation of refugees and new immigrants. Such initiatives are crucial to promote cultural integration and to ensure participation. As in the discussion about the need to open cultural institutions for people with immigration history, it becomes clear that a broad “interculture work” in cultural education contexts is required. This communication between different cultures not only contributes to social integration, but is also an important step in successful integration policy. mettmann.de reports that the focus was highlighted in community and the exchange between cultures.

The importance of cultural integration should not be underestimated. It provides impulses that enable refugees to participate in social life. Cultural institutions in particular play a more central role in this than often focus on the mediation work on refugees. It can be observed that by active networking and qualification of the actors in this area, the conditions for successful cultural integration can be improved.

daily .e emphasizes that a continued dialogue between cultures is central to reduce barriers and create a common understanding. Such projects offer a platform for encounter and promote the feeling of togetherness in a diversified society.