Initiatives in Aarhus that support the integration of migrant communities
Smag à la Gellerup (Taste à la Gellerup) is a food cooperative where people share meals, recipes, and organize cooking workshops. As well as providing a neutral meeting place, the project’s website includes video recipes featuring local residents. By sharing stories about food, the project aims to strengthen the cultural and social coherence among Gellerup’s 80+ nationalities. It was initiated as a graduation project by communication designers Line Lone Kristensen and Sabrina Lund with the collaboration of Instant City, an urban development project that’s part of the Gellerup & Toveshøj masterplan established by Brabrand Boligforening and the Municipality of Aarhus.
Smag à la Gellerup website
Smag à la Gellerup facebook page
EUTOPIA, a space in Gellerup for theatre, music, circus, dance, performance and sports, was born in light of Aarhus as the European Capital of Culture 2017. It aims to experiment with culture as the supporting force in a multi-ethnic society, as a way to attach, relate and associate. The initiative was launched in July during a five-day EUTOPIA International Festival with concerts, dance performances and conversations, and continues to organize cultural events such as “the liberation of Danish women with migrant roots” and “Somali Memoirs”.
EUTOPIA website
The Warm Welcome Society is a citizens’ initiative that organizes a number of welcoming meetings throughout the year. The meetings are held within 11 themes, each representing different interests. Participants are greeted by citizen hosts who introduce them to a wide range of communities within the given theme, and appointments can be made to visit a given community with the rest of the group. Newcomers can thus visit a wide range of associations and grassroots movements in Aarhus and meet people with similar interests. The Warm Welcome society was started by the non-profit organization GIVISME with strong support from the city’s higher education institutions and from the municipality.
Warm Welcome Society website
Warm Welcome Society facebook page
