Supporting newcomer integration in Europe’s small and medium-sized towns and rural areas
In the wake of the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ as well as large-scale displacement from Ukraine, small- and medium- sized towns and rural areas (SMsTRAs) have been playing an increasing role in accommodating humanitarian migrants. Many of these localities often had less or no prior experience with migration compared to larger cities. The Whole-COMM research project, funded by the European Commission, has been investigating in SMsTRAs across Europe what shapes, affects, or enables the integration of post-2014 migrants.
Whole-COMM’s Policy Community Lab will convene key stakeholders from government, academia, civil society, and the private sector to share and discuss the research results and policy implications stemming from the Whole-COMM research project. Hosted at the European University Institute’s Migration Policy Centre, its aim is to share and develop innovative multilevel and multi-actor strategies that strengthen the integration of migrants and community cohesion in SMsTRAs.
This is an invitation-only event.
Programme
Florence, hosted by the Migration Policy Centre, EUI
| 09:00 – 09:15 | Welcome and introduction Andrew Geddes | Director, Migration Policy Centre, EUI, Italy Tiziana Caponio | Whole-COMM, Principal Investigator, Collegio Carlo Alberto & University of Turin, Italy |
| 09:15 – 10:00 | Keynote Ryyan Alshebl | Mayor, Ostelsheim, Germany |
| 10:00 – 10:30 | New approaches to migrant integration, policy-relevant research findings, and local integration policy indicators in focus Tiziana Caponio | Collegio Carlo Alberto/University of Turin &Andrea Pettrachin | Collegio Carlo Alberto, Italy Basak Yavcan | Migration Policy Group, Belgium |
| 10:30 – 11:00 | Coffee Break |
| 11:00 – 11:45 | The importance of governance: From the regional to the local level Maria Schiller | Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands Blanca Garcés-Mascareñas | CIDOB – Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, Spain Comment: Luca Barani | European Commission & Université libre de Bruxelles |
| 11:45 – 12:30 | What facilitates and what hinders social interaction between newcomers in long-term residents? What shapes integration experiences? Leila Hadj Abdou & Caitlin Katsiaficas | Migration Policy Centre, Italy Birgit Glorius | Technical University Chemnitz, Germany Albert Kraler | Danube University Krems, Austria Mans Lundstedt | Malmö University, Sweden Irene Ponzo | FIERI, Italy Comment: Rossella Nicoletti | Eurocities |
| 12:30 – 13:30 | Lunch |
| 13:30 – 14:15 | What fosters positive attitudes between locals and newcomers in SMsTRAs? Nahikari Irastorza | Malmö University, Sweden Lenka Dražanová | Migration Policy Centre, Italy Comment: Thomas Liebig | OECD, France |
| 14:15 – 15:00 | Roundtable: Perspectives on migrant integration from different regional contexts Ilke Adam | Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Belgium Willem Maas | York University, Canada Kristen Biehl | Sabanci University, Turkey Moderator: Birgit Glorius | Technical University of Chemnitz, Germany |
| 15:00 – 15:30 | Coffee Break |
| 15:30 – 16:30 | World café: guiding principles for supporting local integration in SMsTRAs |
| 16:30 – 16:45 | Closing remarks Leila Hadj Abdou | Migration Policy Centre, Italy Tiziana Caponio | Collegio Carlo Alberto & University of Turino, Italy |
