Personal stories are often treated as anecdotes, which may be compelling and emotional, but secondary to policy design. Yet, in the field of labour market integration and social inclusion, they are not peripheral; they are foundational. The lived experiences of the Ukrainian refugees I recently met in Warsaw (Poland) and Arad (Romania) highlight, with striking clarity, why personalised support is not a luxury but a requirement, and why initiatives like the ESN-led ECSILI Project are critical for meaningful and lasting change.
The social dimension of inclusion
Consider one of the interviewees: a highly educated person with a PhD, formerly a university lecturer, now navigating precarious freelance work and administrative limbo. Her story exposes a familiar but deeply troubling reality—qualification mismatch. Despite her expertise, she struggles to have her credentials recognised and lacks guidance to navigate bureaucratic systems. As she put it, “In Ukraine I have a PhD level… and here I am nobody”. This is not a failure of individual resilience but a failure of systems to translate talent into opportunity.
At the same time, her experience highlights the social dimension of inclusion. Faced with isolation and a lack of institutional support, she helped establish a grassroots after-school programme for Ukrainian children. This initiative lasted for a year through volunteer effort and community solidarity, largely without government backing. This dual role, both as beneficiary and provider of support, illustrates the untapped potential within refugee communities when given the right structures and recognition.
The second participant’s story complements and deepens this picture. A trained teacher, she now works as a cleaner while carrying significant family responsibilities, including caring for a sibling with a disability. Her barriers are multifaceted: inadequate language training, a lack of consistent guidance, and fragmented access to services. Even when support exists, it may be inconsistent or poorly designed; for instance, she referred to language classes scheduled during working hours.
What unites both stories is the absence of structured, continuous, and personalised support. Neither participant had a clear Individual Action Plan, nor consistent engagement with a case manager. This is precisely where the ECSILI project, led by the European Social Network, demonstrates its potential as a driver of social innovation. The project is important because it directly addresses the gaps identified by refugees themselves, such as lack of personalised guidance, limited access to suitable employment, and fragmented support services.
Personalisation at the heart of inclusion
By focusing on Individual Action Plans and closer case management, the initiative we are leading helps ensure that support is tailored to each person’s skills and situation. Crucially, ECSILI builds on elements of the ERACIS programme that has already been successfully implemented in Andalucía for several years, demonstrating that structured, person-centred approaches can improve both labour market integration and social inclusion. Bringing this tested model to cities like Warsaw, Poland and Arad, Romania strengthens local capacity while promoting the transfer of effective social innovation across Europe.
Supported by funding from the European Competence Centre for Social Innovation, ECSILI is grounded in a clear principle: that integration must be personalised. The development of Individual Action Plans for 80 Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw and 38 in Arad is not just a project deliverable but a structural innovation. These plans, which are supported by an application that helps participants identify and translate their skills and experience into new career pathways, have the potential to bridge the gap between fragmented services and individual needs, aligning employment support and social inclusion into coherent pathways.
However, these stories also serve as a cautionary note. Innovation is not just about design; it is certainly about implementation. Without consistent follow-up, accessible services, and active case management, even the most well-conceived programmes risk falling short. The promise of ECSILI lies in its ability to learn from these gaps in real time and be able to adapt, refine, and ensure that personal stories are not just heard, but acted upon.
Ultimately, these narratives remind us that integration is not a one-size-fits-all process. It is deeply personal, shaped by skills, aspirations, family contexts, and structural barriers. Projects like ECSILI matter because they recognise this complexity and because they attempt to build systems that respond to it. If successful, they will not only improve outcomes for the individuals involved but also offer a scalable model for cities across Europe seeking to turn displacement into opportunity.
