Welcome municipalities
We offer municipalities a platform to consolidate local activities and reach newcomers with relevant information and connections.
More informationAlmost 100,000 users
Nearly 100,000 downloads since the beginning!
One platform for facilitating sustainable integration of newcomers
Why municipalities want to work with us
In 2022, a staggering record was broken, with a worldwide displacement of one hundred million people. Subsequently, these individuals were welcomed en masse throughout Europe, including in the Netherlands. Successful integration of refugees involves various challenges, such as language, culture, and targeted information delivery. Welcome App supports municipalities in establishing an effective and humane integration policy. Additionally, it serves as a platform where local connections are facilitated between newcomers, Dutch citizens, organizations, and municipalities.
The new Integration Law
The new Integration Law, which came into effect on January 1, 2022, presents significant opportunities but also places substantial demands on municipalities. The system aims to lead to rapid and sustainable integration. The Welcome App fully supports municipalities by digitizing and centralizing the offering of activities and relevant information, thus streamlining and making local information accessible. We also bring together stakeholders to consolidate local integration offerings. This approach empowers newcomers to take ownership of their integration process, accelerating the entire integration chain.
Contact usWhy Welcome app for municipalities?
530 organizations have already joined
From language schools to football clubs, a wide range of organizations are connected to the platform.
Most effective way to make local activities and information accessible and clear
A central platform for everyone involved in the reception and integration of newcomers within the municipalities.
Accessible opportunity to interact with locals
It is possible for newcomers to ask questions and to talk to locals in their neighbourhood.
Available in 7 different languages
Everything is easily translated into the newcomer’s own language.
Strongly connected civil society
Organizations have access to an overview of activities and organizations in their own municipality and neighborhood and collaborate more easily.
Improving the quality of the integration information
Through cooperation between all parties and insights from newcomers, we improve the quality of the activities anad information within the municipality.
Monique de Bos – gemeente Dordrecht
“Welcome app is a wonderful means to connect people in the city. Not just through the app but also through the activities that are organized. With great enthusiasm, Welcome app manages to engage various organizations in the city.”
Currently active in
We are currently active in the municipalities of Venlo, Dordrecht, Leiden, Almere, Den Bosch, Oegstgeest and Amsterdam. Do you want to start the Welcome app in your municipality?
Contact us
FAQ
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How does Welcome app differ from other social maps?
Welcome app is different from the ‘traditional’ social map. Traditional social maps are often websites with a lot of text and a dry overview of projects or organizations. These maps are often not designed with the target audience in mind: information is centralized but not easily accessible (often only in Dutch) or action-oriented. They do not encourage participation.
Welcome app is different because it was designed in collaboration with the target audience. It is a platform that informs people at the activity level and motivates them to participate. The activities displayed are organized into categories (language, sports, creative, culture, etc.), presented in the user’s own language, and linked to their location. Additionally, Welcome app is more than just an app: we are also a community. We continuously gather feedback from our users and provide a needs-driven offering. Moreover, we have a personal approach and are always available for questions via the Support function in the app.
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What is the target audience of Welcome app?
Welcome app is designed for newcomers with a refugee background. As a local, you can also create an account. You can answer questions from newcomers and participate in activities or organize your own. Additionally, the app is intended for organizations to provide them with an easy and effective tool to reach all newcomers in the municipality and gain insight into which other organizations are active in the community.
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What is the advantage of Welcome app for a municipality?
With Welcome app, all local activities, information, and organizations that are relevant to newcomers come together in one place. Through a user-friendly app available in ten different languages, newcomers in active municipalities can easily take control of their integration process. This helps municipal consultants by reducing the time spent searching for up-to-date offerings in the city, decreasing individual client inquiries, and making it easier for clients to find activities and information themselves. Additionally, our Support team is always available for questions, and newcomers can easily connect with other users, both newcomers and locals, via the app.
An additional benefit is that by using Welcome app, all local social organizations involved can more easily find and connect with each other to share information or collaborate.
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The Welcome app is already available anyway, why do I have to pay as a municipality?
Indeed, Welcome app is available for everyone in the Netherlands. We believe it’s important that all newcomers, even if to a limited extent, can benefit from our platform. However, users who do not live in the municipalities where Welcome app collaborates will see a limited version of the app. They can still ask questions to our Support team and find and book national (often online) activities. They won’t be able to find local activities and organizations in the app. Welcome app truly makes a difference when it can connect supply and demand at the neighborhood level, and we do this by partnering with municipalities.
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Doesn’t it cost our consultants more time to work with the Welcome app?
The Welcome app is specifically designed to ease the workload of consultants. With all content always kept up-to-date, consultants can efficiently locate the right offerings and share them with their clients. Consultants are not expected to provide or maintain information; this is the responsibility of the Welcome app team and the providers themselves.
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In which municipalities is Welcome app active?
Welcome app now works with seven municipalities: Venlo, Dordrecht, Leiden, Almere, Den Bosch, Oegstgeest and Amsterdam. Do you also want to work with us? Send an email to info@welcomeapp.nl for more information.
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What are the results in the municipalities where Welcome app is active?
The results so far have been very positive! We launched a new approach in April 2022, and there are already 530 organizations connected to the platform. We now have nearly 100,000 users on our app. For more detailed results, please refer to the 2022 impact report (in dutch).
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Can Welcome app be used for both Ukrainians and other newcomers?
Yes, Welcome app can be used for both Ukrainians and other newcomers.
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Who is responsible for keeping the content in the app up-to-date?
The Welcome app team and the providers of the activities (civil society organizations) are responsible for keeping the content on the app up-to-date. The municipality therefore has no extra work for this.