Hello Europe

The language we use when we talk about refugees and migration is so often tragic. Newspapers publish heartbreaking pictures, we read statistics which boggle the mind in their numbers, learn stories which appall in their tales of suffering. At the same time running through the difficult realities are threads of potential, of optimism, resilience and of capacity for hope. It is here that Ashoka strives to work. For more than thirty years, Ashoka has identified and supported the world’s best social entrepreneurs – leaders with innovative new ideas which can transform broken systems for the better, in fields from health to human rights, education to civic engagement, economic development to environment. In this time we’ve elected nearly 4000 Ashoka Fellows in 90 countries across the world. In a collaboration between Ashoka Germany and Zalando, Hello Europe was created in 2016 to identify the most powerful and proven solutions to challenges surrounding migration, integration and refugee movements with the aim of bringing them to scale in regions most in need. Over time a European, cross-border network of solutions began to emerge, and we began to identify a new paradigm around migration and integration. Now 3 years on, Hello Europe aims to provide a vision of the kind of work happening in Europe and around the globe, which is creating a better society for people on the move as well as for those who meet them. There is a lot at stake: by providing the refugees with only enforced isolation, a lost education, and half-hearted integration, nobody wins. Political will or citizen will are not enough to solve this ever-shifting, accelerating problem – we need the nimble speed of new ideas, the passion of social entrepreneurs, the weight of government and the influence of business combined to transform the landscape for refugees and migrants. “In early 2016 – a critical time in Germany – the Hello Festival in Berlin was so many things at once: a very moving experience, a vivid demonstration of the transformative power of citizen solutions for migration, and a place where unusual partnerships began: between social entrepreneurs, ministries, companies, foundation, and welfare organisations. I am excited this is now happening across Europe!” — RAINER HOELL, ASHOKA GERMANY