The project Partizipation Digital (PaDi) is a collaboration between Minor – Project Office for Education and Research and the Office of the Commissioner of the Berlin Senate for Participation, Integration and Migration. Our goal is to make it easier for migrants from third countries in Berlin to access information, digital services and public services. In this way, the integration and social inclusion of third-country nationals in Berlin will be effectively supported.
The core of the project is the development of Berlin’s Digital Welcome Center: a multilingual, low-threshold platform that bundles key information and advisory services. It is designed to help newcomers in Berlin better understand and more easily navigate bureaucratic processes when settling in the city. The Digital Welcome Center will be user-friendly, offered in plain German as well as in several foreign languages, and will follow a consistent “mobile first” approach to meet the information habits of the target group. Interactive modules will also enable individual navigation and strengthen users’ self-determination.
The Digital Welcome Center is being developed in a user-centered and co-creative manner. As part of the specially established Community Advisory Panel, Berlin residents with their own migration experience actively contribute their perspectives. They share their wishes and experiences, evaluate content, test prototypes, and provide feedback in moderated workshops on important aspects of the platform such as content, structure, language, and functionality. In this way, it is ensured that the platform meets the actual needs of the target group – practical, accessible and trustworthy.
A central element of the Digital Welcome Center is an inter-institutional editorial network that brings together actors from public administration, civil society, and business with specialist expertise. This network ensures that information from various sources is bundled, kept up to date, and prepared in an accessible way. It also coordinates the technical and organizational interface management for the flow of information and organizes the provision of multilingual information and services for Berlin residents from third countries.
With the Digital Welcome Center, we are creating a digital service that makes the Berlin information landscape for migrants clearer, more reliable, and more accessible – thus making a concrete contribution to social participation in a digital city.
