Negotiating National Integration Policies at the Local Level -– A Comparative Cross-Border Analysis of Practices of Education and Integration in Rural Communities on Both Sides of the German-Danish Border

The arrival of young refugees in times of mass migration towards Europe challenges existing infrastructures for education and integration on the local level. Especially in rural areas, where administrative structures are less adapted to dealing with people with different cultural and language backgrounds, the individual responsible actors in schools and integration offices have often been overwhelmed by the multiplicity of hitherto unknown challenges. In the paper, we will analyze existing local practices of integration in a comparative perspective in two counties on both sides of the German-Danish border and thus in very peripheral locations within their national territories. We will first present our findings from a comparative analyzes of the national governance structures of education and integration provision for young refugees in Denmark and Germany; second, we will analyze their respective interpretations and the existing practices in two rural counties located directly on the German-Danish border. The findings are based on document analyses to underline differences in national Danish and German integration policies on the one hand and the evaluation of a first series of discussions with responsible local staff in the two counties on the other. The paper is part of a broader research project which focusses on the access to education and participation opportunities for young refugees in rural border regions in Germany and Denmark.