PLACE accelerates and leverages the innovation newcomers bring to Europe
European societies need more and stronger voices with a recent history of migration to bring their perspectives and make their contributions to key economic sectors
We accelerate talent and match it with opportunities for new talent in 4 sectors. Find out what role you can play!
Business
Upskilling for meaningful employment
in a shifting economy
PLACE creates a pipeline that is win-win for both newcomers and the private sector: newcomers master new skills and opportunities to access meaningful work and companies get matched with the diverse talent they seek.
Entrepreneurship
From a choice by default to a self-defined life project, entrepreneurship can be a way to find a place in a new society.
PLACE offers a pathway to start and test entrepreneurial projects which takes newcomers further on their empowerment journey: successfully integrating a business incubator or starting their own business.
Public
Leadership
We need new voices of influence on the complex challenges our societies are facing. We need newcomer voices in the public sphere.
PLACE runs the first of its kind public leadership incubator, to create capacity and room for new voices on key topics and invent new leadership models. We create the conditions for eye-level interactions for emerging leaders, and provide new talent to established leadership networks for new conversations that need to happen.
Media &
the Arts
Our complex societies need new conversations and forms of dialogue that only new voices can catalyze.
PLACE develops bold proposals with diverse voices who speak for themselves, to challenge mainstream views of migration, leadership and other conversations wanting to be born.
By unlocking this new talent and matching it with organisations looking for new players in the areas of business, entrepreneurship, public leadership, and media & arts, we are shifting the perspective of migration from a burden to a unique asset for the development and growth of Europe.
PLACE champions migrant-led innovation: since 2016, we offer transformative and innovative learning experiences to newcomers and host societies, while also giving newcomers space for self-determination to find their version of power.
We do this through designing and running programs and events, from our flagship pop-up innovation labs in European capitals to 9-month fellowships online, from public events to retreats, hackathons, training of trainers, exhibitions and more. Our formats are migrant-led, apply next-generation learning methodologies and ed-tech, and involve groups from 10 to 100 people. They all share one aim: create the link in practice between migration and innovation in the sectors concerned.
Facilitation services
Knowing how to facilitate a group and lead collaboration online and offline, is a form of power. PLACE trains past learners of its programs to be Facilitators for online and offline learning, experiences and events. All PLACE events are migrant-led, and we also facilitate external events.
Interested in facilitation services?
Become a coach or an expert
PLACE monitors all learning outcomes through external experts, who assess the participants’ learning journey. We also provide a personal coach to all our participants, to help them to reach their goals.
Interested in being a PLACE expert or coach?
%
of PLACE program participants are refugees or asylum seekers
%
of learners have gained innovation skills exceeding industry standards for the future of work
learners in PLACE programs since 2017
%
of learners receive training-of-trainers and train on average 30 more people through PLACE
PLACE is working towards 5 Sustainable Development Goals
The place team
8 nationalities, 4 continents and 14 languages… we come from all walks of life, but here are a few points we have in common:
We care above all about people
We are perfectionists, self-motivated and relentless until we get results
We communicate openly and honestly
We need playfulness and challenges
We breathe through feedback
We put results and the team first
We excel at working across locations and cultures
The place team
8 nationalities, 4 continents and 14 languages… we come from all walks of life, but here are a few points we have in common:
We care above all about people
We are perfectionists, self-motivated and relentless until we get results
We communicate openly and honestly
We need playfulness and challenges
We breathe through feedback
We put results and the team first
We excel at working across locations and cultures
PARTNER WITH US
PLACE gets its strength and impact from the power of community. Our work is heightened by the collaborative efforts of our partners: forward-thinking actors from different sectors and countries, who push the boundaries so new embodiments of power can arise. Together, we’re changing the narrative of migration and transforming it into a vision of innovation. Join us today: work with us to change the game on a sector-level as a strategic partner.
Facebook feed
On Tuesday, September 9, 2025, our Director Shawgi Ahmed participated in the commemoration of the sixth International Day to Protect Education from Attack at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
The high-level event, convened by the Education Above All (EAA) Foundation with the support of the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (OSRSG-CAAC), brought together world leaders, child protection actors, and young people under the theme: “Challenging Narratives, Reshaping Action.”
The urgency is clear: the 2025 UN Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict documented over 41,000 grave violations against children in 2024, including a 44% rise in attacks on schools. Education continues to be deliberately targeted, placing children’s safety, learning, and futures under threat.
At PLACE, we believe education is not only a right, it is a lifeline. Protecting schools means protecting communities, hope, and peace itself. We echo the call from Geneva: education must never be a target.
As we stand with the #UniteToProtect and #ProveItMatters campaigns, we continue to insist: defending education is defending the future.
#ProtectEducation #EducationUnderAttack #SafeSchools #ChildrenAndArmedConflict #UniteToProtect #ProveItMatters #EducationForPeace #RightToLearn #InvestInPeace #EducationIsAHumanRight
Education Above All Foundation United Nations
Last week we were in London for the Refugee Entrepreneurship Network (REN) Summit 2025 – State of the Sector: Seeing the Whole System, Supporting Every Entrepreneur in Loughborough Business School.
We came with our Erasmus+ Ambitious project (run by PLACE, Startup Refugees & Forward·Inc), which builds training tools and programs to help migrant entrepreneurs turn ideas into businesses. At the Summit, we shared what we’ve built and put it in the hands of others.
What inspired us most was not only the powerful discussions from speakers, but also the depth of reflection from the audience. Key takeaways included:
✨ Representation matters – refugee leaders must be at the forefront.
✨ Advocacy starts local – sparking change from cities to the global stage.
✨ Safety & courage – supporting leaders who take real risks to speak up.
✨ Wisdom over force – advocating with creativity and strategy.
✨ Community power – building spaces where refugee entrepreneurs and local communities co-create.
Bravery is infectious and the Summit was a reminder of what’s possible when we come together.🤝🌍
#RefugeesWelcome #InclusionMatters #entrepreneurship #EqualOpportunities #SocialImpact #FutureLeaders
To kick it off, we’re publishing a powerful piece by Ismail Alkhateeb, PLACE’s Operations Manager, a Civil Society Supporter and one of the lead program managers of Resilient Cities, reflects on his journey of exile, belonging, and resilience. From the solidarity of his small Syrian hometown during moments of crisis, to the enduring strength of his Ismaili community, to rebuilding a sense of home in France, Ismail shares how community resilience is woven into everyday practices of support, recognition.
His reflections reveal how fragility can be transformed into collective strength and how the experiences of migration hold lessons for building more cohesive and inclusive cities. In the article that follows, Ismail invites us to look closer at these lived practices of resilience and to imagine together how they can shape the future of our societies.
Read his reflection to discover how these experiences shape his work at PLACE and offer lessons on turning fragility into collective strength:
https://place-network.org/migration-transformation-lessons-from-2025-ismail-alkhateeb/
#Resilienceinaction #storiesofmigration #blogpost #placevoices
En s’appuyant sur notre groupe dédié au renforcement de la participation des personnes ayant un parcours migratoire, nous menons quatre consultations pour co-concevoir ce que pourrait être une "instance de consultation pour les résidents étrangers" s’inspirer d’autres villes, imaginer ensemble et formuler des propositions concrètes avec les résident·es, les associations et les acteur·rices locaux·ales.
Vers une ville de Lyon plus inclusive et résiliente. 💡🤝
In Lyon, our collaboration with the City is moving forward. 🌍✨
Building on our group dedicated to strengthening the participation of people with a migration background, we’re leading four consultations to co-design what a "participatory instance for international residents" could look like: learning from other cities, ideating together, and shaping concrete proposals with residents, associations and local actors.
Toward a more inclusive, resilient Lyon. 💡🤝
Learn more about the program: https://place-network.org/resilient-cities/
#Participation #Inclusion #resilientcities
Robert Bosch Stiftung Ville de Lyon
The meeting was a space to pause, align, and look forward together, ensuring PLACE continues to build impact with resilience and collaboration at its core. 💡🌍
Key reflections included:
- Wellbeing & collaboration: gratitude, care, and keeping mental health central in both personal and organizational work.
- Regional presence & partnerships: strengthening connections and ensuring representation across diverse contexts.
- Strategic focus areas: climate, technology & AI, civic inclusion, women’s leadership, and diaspora engagement as the challenges shaping PLACE’s future direction.
- Evaluation & communication: clearer communication, stronger evaluation practices, and identifying programs that can adapt across settings.
- Identity & strengths: building on PLACE’s legacy and what already works while preparing for what’s ahead.
The meeting closed with renewed clarity and a shared commitment to shaping futures grounded in resilience, connection, and collaboration.
#PLACENetwork #AdvisoryBoard #MigrantLedInnovation #NewcomerTalent #RefugeesWelcome
This week, we are hosting our RES-MOVE partners in our office in Paris to co-design the next steps for advancing inclusion across European cities. Together, we are exploring how coworking and collaborative spaces can serve as inclusive environments for people with migrant backgrounds.
✔ 13 partners • 10 countries • 20+ researchers
✔ 1,100+ people with a migration background (50% women)
✔ Call for Ideas on inclusive practices for the coworking spaces
👉 This Paris gathering focuses on partners sharing project updates, exchanging best practices, and gathering feedback to guide us until the next session in Vienna, March 2026.
Follow our Instagram Stories for Paris highlights this week.
🤝 #RESMOVE is co-funded by the EU’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), highlighting coworking spaces as essential drivers for migrant integration.
Learn more: https://www.resmove.eu/
#Inclusion #Coworking #RESMOVE #Paris #InnovationSociale #AppelÀProjets
