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.
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Well, good news: the European Inclusive Entrepreneurship Alliance is hosting an online workshop. The purpose? Co-creating the very first European Charter for Inclusive Entrepreneurship. ✍️
📅 Thursday, 4 December
🕒 14:00–15:30 (CET/Brussels time)
🔗 Join and sign up using this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSerJEMFWEfzGuamOX1mZtxmtn1O7RnPOqs2AfLcrdeXZoTH9Q/viewform
Whether you are part of the Alliance or not, your voice belongs in this room. This Charter is meant to be shaped by everyone, and your perspective will be valued. 🗣️
For the occasion, we're also very proud to have our Head of Programs and Advocacy, Selma Rassoul, as a co-facilitator!
Let's co-write a Charter that opens doors for everyone!
#InclusionMatters #EqualOpportunities #SocialImpact #FutureLeaders #entrepreneurship
As the AMBITIOUS project comes to a close, we’re excited to share a set of free manuals and facilitation toolkits designed to make entrepreneurship training more creative, practical and impactful. Built together with Forward·Inc (🇳🇱) and Startup Refugees (🇫🇮), these resources are ready to support the trainers and organisations empowering migrant and forcibly displaced entrepreneurs.
The toolkits focus on three essential themes:
✨ Innovation
✨ Business idea testing
✨ Online facilitation
Each one is packed with hands-on exercises, step-by-step methods and engaging activities that you can bring straight into your next workshop. They’re practical, adaptable and built from two years of real collaboration and field experience.
AMBITIOUS was created with a clear goal: to strengthen the way trainers help entrepreneurs understand customers, test ideas early and build sustainable businesses. Because when trainers have stronger tools, entrepreneurs turn good ideas into lasting ventures that grow both their income and their sense of belonging. 💪🌱
The project may be closing, but the ideas, skills and methods it shaped will keep moving forward through everyone who uses them next.
👉 Download the manuals and toolkits here: https://startuprefugees.com/ambitious-erasmus/
Last week, PLACE Director Shawgi Ahmed represented our collective at the “Avec Elles” event, held within the framework of the Global Compact on Refugees, where actors from around the world make commitments to improve the lives of refugees and migrants.
Our official pledge:
“PLACE s'engage en 2026 et 2027, d'autonomiser au moins 280 réfugiés et migrants, dont 55 % de femmes, en renforçant leur capacité à apporter des changements durables dans leurs communautés.”
We are proud to join civil society, government and private sector partners in three multi-stakeholder pledges for refugee inclusion:
1. Avec Elles – led by UNHCR France and the French government
2. Economic Inclusion and Social Protection
3. Refugee Participation
Our participation was an opportunity to present our pledge and strengthen PLACE’s visibility within French networks.
A warm thank you to all committed actors present.
Together, we move closer to long-term, meaningful inclusion. 🌍✨
Quand des voix que l'on entend rarement deviennent force de proposition, c'est tout un territoire qui gagne en résilience 🙏
Le programme Resilient Cities part d'une conviction simple : quand les personnes avec un parcours de migration peuvent enfin rencontrer les acteurs locaux pour partager ce qu'elles vivent, exprimer leurs besoins et proposer des solutions, c'est le territoire entier qui se transforme.
Au fil des des Policy Labs, c'est souvent ce même principe qui revient : l'inclusion n'est pas un principe abstrait, c'est un travail collectif qui nécessite d'ouvrir la porte, de tendre l'oreille et de reconnaître la valeur de chaque expérience vécue. Et quand ces conditions sont réunies, des idées prennent racine, des solutions émergent, et de nouvelles dynamiques peuvent se développer.
Resilient Cities, c'est un modèle où chacun et chacune a non seulement une place, mais aussi un rôle à jouer dans l'avenir de sa ville.
📖 Découvrez l’impact complet dans notre rapport final via le lien en bio !
When voices that are rarely heard become a force for change, the whole community becomes more resilient 🙏
The Resilient Cities program is based on a simple belief: when people with a migration background can finally meet with local actors to share their experiences, express their needs and develop solutions, the whole community is transformed.
Throughout the Policy Labs, this same principle often comes up: inclusion is not an abstract concept, it is a collective effort that requires opening doors, listening and recognizing the value of each individual experience. When these conditions are met, ideas take root, solutions emerge and new dynamics can take shape.
Resilient Cities is a model where everyone not only has a place, but also a role to play in the future of their city.
📖 Discover the full impact in our final report via the link in our bio!
#Participation #Inclusion #ResilientCities
This year, we received over 100 applications from across 37 countries of origin and 30+ countries of residence from Sudan, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Morocco, Ukraine, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and many more.
Our applicants reflected an extraordinary diversity of creative voices: visual artists, art therapists, performers, musicians, poets, composers, filmmakers, writers, dancers, and beyond.
With 61 women (53%), 49 men (42%), and 6 non-binary artists (5%), the richness and intersectionality of this global community continues to inspire us.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to apply, your creativity, courage, and commitment to artivism deeply moved us. 💛
Today, we celebrate and warmly welcome this new ELAA cohort. We can’t wait to share their journeys, their art, and their leadership with you. Stay tuned!
#Artivism #CreativeLeadership #ELAA #PLACE #EmergingLeaders #ArtForChange
Want to feel inspired? We're here to bring you six powerful conversations with migrant women who launched their own project and turned digital marketing into a tool for growth, freedom and independence.
Each episode dives into:
✨ Their entrepreneurial journey
💡The digital strategies that helped them grow
🔥The challenges they faced, and how they overcame them
📲 Practical advice any woman can apply to start or scale their business
This podcast is designed for adult women aged 30+ with a migration background, who want to learn, be inspired and take the next step in their entrepreneurial journey. Whether you're building your first project, dreaming of launching something new, or looking to strengthen your skills, these stories will show you that it's never too late to learn, adapt and transform your future.
🎙️ Stay tuned, we'll be announcing the dates and guest very soon!
🌍 Led by PLACE (France), Speak Kaunas (Lithuania), and Danaker Diaspora @danaker.community (Poland), WODIGI is reimagining adult education for a digital era: inclusive, practical, and empowering.
This project is funded by the Erasmus+ program as a Small-scale partnership in adult education (KA210-ADU).
#Erasmusplusproject #entrepreneurship #equalopportunities #futureleaders #empowerement #womeninbusiness #Wodigi
