The Croatian authorities have seriously neglected the creation of integration policies, especially those embracing work and education opportunities. This made the refugees dependent on state services even after two initial integration years. Only 7.5% of those granted protection are non-state dependent through temporary and rarely steady jobs. Employability and social inclusion of refugees is a process at high risk due to several factors: inequality in Croatian society, lack of language skills, and the inability to show and express  the knowledge and skills they have in the context of a rather narrowed labor market. Many of the refugees have excellent cooking skills, having previous experiences of being professional chefs of restaurants or professional cooks. The goal is to push the economic emancipation of the refugees and other migrants by using their knowledge, skills and earlier experience, while raising awareness on the potentials of their integration. .

The initiative is based on support, solidarity and knowledge exchange. It gathers people of different origin who organize cooking workshops, public show-kitchen activities. Public recognition and quality of offer resulted in initiating a social cooking cooperative specialized in catering and the opening of a restaurant is planned.

The whole project also aims to raise awareness of the Croatian public to refugees' needs and to fight prejudice thanks to the social hospitality of the culinary and cultural exchange.

The main result of the project is the creation of a social cooperative which was registered in February 2014 with 4 employed cooks, 3 technical staff and a coordinator. In the March 2015, a cookbook "Taste of Home" was published and presented to stakeholders in the area of integration of refugees, as well as to the broader public. For further dissemination of the project results, a documentary movie was produced in March 2015 and a media campaign "Taste of Home" was launched, in cooperation with media company Fade In.

Written and oral evaluation technics were used in the internal evaluation process which was done in September 2014, in cooperation with the organizations providing external support in educational programmes on social entrepreneurship and social cooperatives establishment. Refugees’ experiences of and benefits from the action were taken as indicators of the successful implementation of the project for the first eight months. The external evaluation will take place in June 2015.

Refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants, as well as the Croatian public.

European Commission, Heinrich Boll Stiftung, food/ingredients donations - Total budget approximately EUR 50.000 - One person in charge, five associates.