11th National Welcome Center Network Meeting

More than 200 participants, nearly 50 Welcome Centers from all over Germany represented, and two days filled with networking and engaging content: that was the 11th National Welcome Center Network Meeting, held on May 7 and 8, 2026, in Magdeburg. We at WelcomeCenter Saxony-Anhalt are delighted to have hosted this year’s meeting and would like to sincerely thank all participants for their contributions and the lively exchange.

National networking and the sharing of experiences were at the heart of the event. On the first day, during a “Gallery Walk,” all participating Welcome Centers introduced themselves with poster-style profiles and engaged in conversation with one another. This once again highlighted the impressive diversity of the Welcome Centers, for example in terms of the stakeholders involved, their catchment areas, and the services they offer. The highlight of the second day was a series of thematic workshops, which took place in two rounds and were summarized in a plenary session:

• Welcome structures in the workplace – challenges in companies: Welcome structures as a central theme and a decisive success factor for sustainable retention of skilled workers.
• Keys to sustainable immigration and social integration: Finding solutions together – rethinking sustainable immigration and integration.
• Digital contact zones: New dynamics of professional support using migration work as an example. Enabling and designing digital formats for new approaches, relationships, and strategies in migration counseling.
• Language and professional development in integration: Opportunities, challenges, and funding options for SMEs.
• Between Arrival and Staying: Success Factors for Regional Retention of (International) Students and Graduates.

Staff from the WelcomeCenter Saxony-Anhalt and the Welcome & Connect Center Osnabrück designed the interactive workshops together with speakers from various institutions across Germany. The groups generated numerous ideas and shared perspectives for the work of the Welcome Centers. At the same time, participants discussed current challenges and developed potential solutions.

Two keynote speeches and a panel discussion on the immigration situation provided further professional insights:

• Patrick Paquet, Head of the “Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia” Unit in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion in Brussels, spoke about current developments and initiatives regarding the retention and mobility of skilled workers at the European level. These include the EU Talent Pool and the Skills Portability Initiative.
• Entrepreneur, university professor, and futurist Prof. Dr. Lothar Abicht spoke on “The Skilled Labor Situation Today and Tomorrow—With and Without Immigration.” The presentation vividly illustrated the many ways in which immigrants make an indispensable contribution to our society.
• Joining Prof. Dr. Abicht on the subsequent panel were: Susi Möbbeck, State Secretary in the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Health, and Equality of the State of Saxony-Anhalt; Dr. Gunilla Fincke, Department Head at the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs; Dr. Cornelia Schu, Managing Director of the Expert Council for Integration and Migration (SVR) gGmbH; and Dr. Christian Pfeffer-Hoffmann, Managing Director of Minor – Projektkontor für Bildung und Forschung gemeinnützige GmbH. It became clear once again: Germany relies on the immigration of skilled workers from abroad. For this to succeed, existing legal options must be implemented in a way that is tailored to the target groups and takes a holistic view.

In addition, the federal group of Welcome Centers introduced itself; this group meets regularly between the annual network meetings and ensures a continuous exchange of knowledge and experience. Another highlight was the summaries of the event days by illustrator Anja Maria Eisen and poetry slammer Samson. In addition, there were welcoming remarks from Petra Grimm-Benne, Minister for Labor, Social Affairs, Health, and Equality of the State of Saxony-Anhalt; Sandra Yvonne Stieger on behalf of the City of Magdeburg; and Sebastian Patze on behalf of the Magdeburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK), on whose premises the event took place. Radio and television host Susi Brandt served as the event’s emcee on the first day. A joint city tour through the center of the state capital rounded out the program.

We hope that the participating Welcome Centers were able to take home many helpful ideas, and we look forward to the next Federal Network Meeting in 2027 in Munich.

You can find a selection of photos from the Federal Network Meeting at the following link.