Integration policies have been highly discussed in many Western countries over the last decade, both in academia and among politicians and practitioners - and the debates have received new actuality with what was called the “refugee-crisis” in the fall of 2015. In this paper, integration policies in Sweden is discussed, in relation to local practical work for immigrant/refugee integration and immigrants/refugees own struggles to make themselves feel belonging and at home in their new places. The question of local integration policies and their actual impacts on the urban living conditions of immigrants and refugees is addressed.

The presentation departs from an ongoing study on integration and feelings of home and belonging in a small town in the middle of Sweden. The discussion builds on interviews with immigrants, politicians and officials.

Feelings of home and belonging to a place is an important perspective to bring into studies of integration. At the same time, the connection between identity and a specific geographical place can be ambiguous, since we are becoming more and more mobile – physically and virtual. Connections and relations to other places and people ranging over geographical borders can be as important for our sense of belonging and togetherness, as connections to places and people in the neighborhood. We are not as place bound today as earlier at the same time as physical and mental borders seem to increase in importance. This relation between home and away and its meaning for local work and policies for integration will be discussed.