A large part of research in migration studies focuses on urban centers. Context-specific social processes surrounding international migration to and diversity in rural regions, small villages and marginalized, or downscaled, areas have been widely omitted by scholarship and policy. However, the often specific social make-up, community structures and spatial developments in those areas, may bring about dynamics that are different from those in big cities.
In this workshop, the Dutch Association for Migration Research(DAMR) invites early career researchers, PhD candidates, post-Doc researchers and master students, who are keen to shift, decenter or broaden the focus on international migration into rural areas to come together.
The workshop consists of two parts: a first co-creation session in which we will explore topics/questions on conceptual and methodological issues of migration research in rural areas. The outcomes of this session will provide input for the second part, a panel discussion with notable rural scholars: Prof. Michael Woods, Prof. Birgit Glorius, Dr. Marlies Meijer, Prof. Sarah Neal and Dr. Rosario Sampredro. The panel will be followed by small-group workshops with the speakers, and provides the ability for the participants to further dive into a specific question or issue.
Practicalities:
The event will consist of two sessions, the first takes place on 2nd June 2021, 10-12.30h and the second meeting is on 16th June 10-12 and 14-16h.
Sign up:
To apply and prepare for the event we ask you to fill in the following form on or before Friday, May 28th.
More information:
For content questions contact Jana Finke: j.c.finke@uu.nl or Rianne Hadders: r.hadders@uu.nl. For practical questions, please email Jana-Sarah Hönnige: j.s.honnige@students.uu.nl.
Comunicazioni Sociali. Journal of Media, Performing Arts and Cultural Studies has announced a call for papers for their special issue:
Migrations / Mediations. Promoting transcultural dialogue through media, arts and culture, eds. Pierluigi Musarò, Nikos Papastergiadis, Laura Peja (n. 1/2022, due in April 2022)
This special issue of Comunicazioni Sociali intends to invite international scholars, artists and practitioners to discuss through interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary perspectives 1) the role of media, arts and culture in the management of policies and practices devoted to migration phenomena; 2) the ways and the degrees in which media, arts and culture have been considered as critical tools for transcultural dialogue; 3) the ways in which media, arts and culture have been used in processes of artistic creation within the framework of the “aesthetic cosmopolitanism”; 4) ways through which models of action in territories oriented toward bringing host populations into contact with migrants and refugees can be developed; 5) the specific set of tools and methodology that have been developed to assess social, cultural and economic impact of multi-, inter- and transcultural dialogue activities through arts, media and culture.
More information on the topics and submission details can be found here.
Society Register would like to announce a call for papers on the legacies of forced migrations. The issue will focus on social, cultural, political and economic transformations brought about by forced migrations or displacements in different regions of the world. From the end of World War II to the present day, millions of people have been forced to flee because of armed conflicts, civil wars, border changes, violence, persecution, development projects, natural disasters, environmental degradation and trafficking of people. Forced migrations brought about multifaceted social change for people who left their homes, those who had lived with them before and for those who met them later.
We encourage you to send articles on the social, cultural and political legacies of forced displacements. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches are welcome. The analytical focus may fall on recent displacement events and the long-term consequences of forced migrations in the past.
Submissions may pertain to the following topics:
The consequences of displacement on the displaced and host communities
Displacements and individual/social memory
Social representations of the ‘displaced’ and ‘refugee’
The protection of refugees
Displacement and transformations of place, power and social ties
Representations of displacement and forced migration in media and art
Security and forced migration
We would like to invite you to submit your articles. The procedure is following:
The date for submission of the completed article is June 30, 2021. In order to submit the full paper authors must register on the “Society Register” webpage.
All papers will be subject to the Society Register review regime. The volume will be published in 2021. Please comply with the editing requirements of the American Sociological Association (ASA). While preparing your article please remember also about the Authors Guidelines. Shall you have any questions, feel free to write to Guest Editors:
On the last Friday of March, the Welcoming Spaces team hosted initiatives, social organisations, businesses, policy makers, local authorities and researchers from all over Europe in a celebration of the first anniversary of the Horizon 2020 project Welcoming Spaces in Europe.
We celebrated our progress and cooperation over the last year and created a space for an exchange of practices, ideas and experiences between the different actors present – all from diverse international and professional backgrounds that provide them with different and important perspectives on the ways shrinking regions and migrants can become connected in mutually enriching ways.
The meet-up was opened with a few guiding words by the Director of Welcoming Spaces, Prof. Zoomers, before diving into the pitches by four organisations working on welcoming initiatives that shared their innovative strategies on how they connect people and places.
The first pitch was about the Spanish foundation Cepaim, presented by Carmen Ayllón, Welcoming Spaces project broker. She introduced the nuevos senderos projects (“new paths”) by which Cepaim is working on social and labour inclusion of migrants in rural localities. Their core focus is to engage both migrants and local communities to contribute to the revitalisation and development of the rural areas. To reach this goal, Cepaim guides the process of emplacements of migrants in rural areas from an early stage, working closely with not only the migrant but also the local residents, to involve the full community in the process. She remarked on the importance of revitalisation of rural areas in the Spanish context by showing the example of Spanish Lapland. In the experience of Cepaim, successful relocation of migrations to rural areas depends highly on accurate and detailed information and decent housing and job offers.
The next pitch was presented by Claudia Schneider, project leader of the German NGO Ökoherz e.V. She described how the roots of the NGO lie in the region of Thuringia where they help farmers engage in social farming practices, facilitating for example the integration of intellectually disabled people. Later, she said, they asked themselves if they could also work with refugees and quickly realised that their context provided great conditions to do so: they noticed that for many refugees coming from rural backgrounds in their home countries the familiar activities and the home on a farm had a healing effect. They also found that the engagement in farming provided good informal language learning opportunities and further opportunities to train skills and competences. Lastly, they also saw that for many refugees the possibility of paid work was important, giving them the opportunity to send money to support family members. Claudia also added that this development benefitted both sides, as the additional manpower was desperately needed by farmers in these rural depopulating areas.
Next, the Italian initiative Miledù was introduced by co-founder and senior researcher at Euricse, Giulia Galera. Miledù focuses on the social and labour-market integration of newcomers, especially refugees and asylum-seeking people in the peripheries of lake Como, and on bringing the business perspective and the eco-perspective together in rural areas. Employing migrants, they are following a holistic empowerment model which is based on multiple dimensions: the social, work and cultural dimension. By pursuing strategic economic fields such as the management of common goods with activities that include the production of edible flowers, restoration of drystone walls and beekeeping they manage to combine the enhancement of social cohesion, economic stability and environmental protection. Giulia also mentioned that she sees a strength in their small size with opportunities to upscale through collaboration.
The last pitch was about the Dutch/Belgian/German project In de zorg, uit de zorgen (“Into care to be carefree”) presented by project coordinator Romy van den Akker. The initiative is a collaboration of eight refugee, care and labour market organisations that work together closely with the aim of supporting refugees in finding a job or internship in the care sector. The initiative facilitates a specific education path for refugees with the ambition to find employment in the care sector. Participants could join the programme without prior knowledge or education and find out during the course of the programme what healthcare position fit them best, from becoming a nurse to more social healthcare positions. Eventually, the completion of the programme provided them with the guarantee for a paid job in the healthcare profession, more specifically in elderly care. In this way the programme manages to benefit both parties involved, as many of the regions in the three countries involved are experiencing severe labour shortages in the healthcare profession and the initiative manages to address this need.
These newly gained insights were then processed and discussed in small mixed teams giving everyone the chance to reflect on how these good practices could be adapted to their local contexts. Some interesting insights and further discussion points came out of this, as was revealed in the subsequent plenary harvest. The many great ideas voiced here were certainly inspiring and provided great food for thought that will be further discussed in future meetings.
Community of practice
Carmen Ayllón then introduced and invited everyone to join the Community of practice. The name stands for a broad network of stakeholders we aim to create as part of the Welcoming Spaces programme. Here, the focus is on local actors in the field, including local policy makers, those involved in the welcoming initiatives, and both newcomers and long-term residents, and broader, more overarching projects related to welcoming initiatives for newcomers and processes of revitalisation in shrinking region. The community of practice builds on the idea that despite the diversity in context everyone has the same shared goals and that a space for supporting each other and sharing thoughts could help the creation of solutions and possibilities on the ground.
How to contribute to the fair and sustainable development of European localities other than large metropolis while at the same time offering a welcoming space for non-EU migrants to pursue their life projects?
The PhD School runs on a collaborative, interactive and transdisciplinary methodology which allows for PhD researchers to discuss their research plans and especially their ongoing outcomes with fellow PhD researchers, more senior scholars and non-academic experts and practitioners. The School kicked off last March 9 with an online “Intro Day” with the 17 registered PhD researchers from 11 countries. On March 12, the “Open Day” of PhD School gathered 8 speakers around two online roundtables with 57 participants. The main part of the PhD School involves a one week-long workshop in Soria (Spain) tentatively scheduled for the last week of September.
The PhD School is coordinated by Dr. Alberto Alonso-Fradejas from SGPL´s IDS group, and includes Dr. Bianca Szytniewski and Dr. Marlies Meijer from SGPL´s Geography & Education and Spatial Planning groups, respectively, among the members of the international facilitation team.
Shrinking areas in Europe are marked by a decline in population as many, especially young people, move out. This also results in less availability of social services and socioeconomic stagnation. Which new opportunities can shrinking areas offer for migrants and who could bring new chances to shrinking areas? How can shrinking regions and migrants become connected in mutually enriching ways? To celebrate the first anniversary of the Horizon 2020 project Welcoming Spaces in Europe we would like to invite you to discuss successful bottom up-strategies to match international migrants and shrinking areas.
Initiatives, social organisations, businesses, policy makers and researchers from all over Europe are invited to present and discuss various successful approaches they take to facilitate first steps towards long-lasting settlement of newcomers in shrinking areas. Approaches to bring people and places together range from NGO’s supporting migrant families to move from the city to a suitable rural community, screening and matching of refugees and labor market regions through asylum authorities, businesses that attract skilled migrants through online networks, and initiatives to train and facilitate employment for refugees in specific sectors with labor shortage in shrinking areas, for example the care sector and ICT.
For questions and more information please contact Rianne Hadders, r.hadders@uu.nl
THE PROGRAMME
14.00 – Opening by Prof. Zoomers (International Development Studies, Utrecht University; Director Welcoming Spaces)
14.05 – Pitches Welcoming Initiatives:
Organisations working on welcoming initiatives share innovative strategies on how they connect people and places.
Cepaim Foundation (Spain). Speaker: Carmen Ayllón, project broker Welcoming Spaces. Project: New Paths project works on social and labour inclusion of migrants in rural localities, engaging both migrants and local communities to contribute to the revitalisation and development of the rural areas.
Ökoherz e.V. (Germany). Speaker Claudia Schneider, project leader. Project: The project focuses on unattended minors in social farming, agricultural projects that enhance inclusion and participation.
Miledù (Italy). Speaker: Giulia Galera, co-founder of Miledù and senior researcher at Euricse. Project: The initiative focuses on newcomers and brings the sustainability/business perspective and the eco-perspective together in rural areas.
In de zorg, uit de zorgen(Netherlands/Belgium/Germany). Speaker: Romy van den Akker, project Coördinator In de Zorg uit de Zorgen. Project: With the project In de Zorg – Uit de Zorgen, eight refugee, care and labour market organisations in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium support refugees in finding a job or internship in the care sector.
15.00 Workshop: how to match people & places
The initiatives that have pitched collaborate with small mixed teams of policy makers, practitioners, professionals, local authorities and researchers to answer the question: how can the good practices that the initiative presented be adapted to work in your region?
15:45-16.15 Report back and comment on discussions in workshops
Sinds een jaar verkent het project Welcoming Spaces hoe nieuwe kansen kunnen ontstaan als internationale migranten en vluchtelingen zich vestigen in regio’s met bevolkingskrimp. Het goed matchen van personen en plekken blijkt echter niet zo eenvoudig. Toch zijn er in Nederland en daarbuiten succesvolle voorbeelden. Hoe lukt het hen wel? Dat verkennen we tijdens dit webinar. We nodigen burgerinitiatieven, maatschappelijke organisaties, lokale, regionale en nationale beleidsmakers, uitvoerders en bestuurders van gemeentes, provincies en nationale overheden, onderzoekers en andere geïnteresseerden van harte uit om hun uitdagingen en vragen voor te leggen, en ook om hun goede praktijken en interessante strategieën te presenteren.
Het programma bestaat uit twee onderdelen. In de ochtend organiseren we een Nederlandstalig webinar waarin de matching van statushouders en krimpregio’s in Nederland onder de loep wordt genomen. In de middag organiseren we een Engelstalige internationale meet-up over het matchen van zowel arbeidsmigranten als vluchtelingen met krimpregio’s. Hieraan nemen interessante initiatieven uit heel Europa deel. Zie programma onderaan.
Voor vragen of meer informatie kunt u zich richten tot Rianne Hadders, welcomingspaces@uu.nl
Programma workshop matching van statushouders en krimpregio’s in Nederland
Welke kansen liggen er in de samenwerking tussen nationale instanties, gemeenten en maatschappelijke initiatieven om een goede match te faciliteren en zo de vestiging van statushouders te versoepelen?
11:00 – 11.05 Introductie door Welcoming Spaces onderzoekers
11.05 – 11.30 Praktijkvoorbeelden
Kansen en uitdagingen op lokaal niveau. Birgit op de Laak (burgemeester Nederweert):
Oplossingen op lokaal niveau. Voorbeeld: vluchtelingen integreren als medewerkers in de zorgsector, via een samenwerking van vluchtelingen-, zorg- en arbeidsmarkt-organisaties. Nicole Gijsbregts (Teamleider Maastricht, Projectleider In de Zorg – Uit de Zorgen (IDZ-UDZ)
Screening en matching van statushouders Joeri Kapteijns (bestuurder) & Paul Driest (beleidsmedewerker) – COA
11:30 – 12:15 Discussie: kansen en uitdagingen in matching statushouders en krimpregio’s.
Tijdens de discussie zullen we focussen op goede ervaringen en voorbeelden in matching. Wat werkte goed en wat minder? Hoe zou je dit op andere plekken kunnen aanpakken? Input voor de discussie kan ook worden gegeven in het aanmeldformulier.
12:15 – 12:30 Samenvatting en concrete volgende stappen
Webinar 18 March 2021 – 14.30 – 18.30 [this event is in Italian]
In cooperation with the H2020 programmes MATILDE and WHOLE-COMM, the Italian team of WELCOMING SPACES organises a seminar to explore the opportunities of migration to Italys internal areas.
How to contribute to the fair and sustainable development of European localities other than large metropolis while also offering a welcoming space for non-EU migrants to pursue their life projects? This is the main question inspiring the International PhD School on Migration and Socioecological Change organized by Utrecht University´s Focus Area on Migration & Societal Change and the International Development Studies Group of the Human Geography and Spatial Planning Department at the Faculty of Geosciences of Utrecht University, in collaboration with the partners of the Welcoming Spaces Consortium.
Join us for the Open Day of the International PhD School for an exciting online discussion organized in two roundtables on March 12, 2021 during 10:00-12:15 and 14:00-16:00 hours.
Agenda
10:00-10:15: Welcome and introduction
Dr. Maggi Leung (Utrecht University)
10:15-12.15: Roundtable 1
Challenges and opportunities for the willingly participation of non-EU migrants in the fair and sustainable development of European localities other than large cities.
Chair: Dr. Marta Pachocka. SGH Warsaw School of Economics (Poland).
Participants:
Prof. Andrea Membretti. University of Eastern Finland (UEF).
Koos Mirck. National Association of Small Settlements (LvKK, the Netherlands).
Juliane Doöschner and Ilze Polakova. Plattform e.V. (Germany).
Dr. Irene Ponzo. International and European Forum on Migration Research (FIERI, Italy).
Question 1: What are the main challenges and opportunities for the willingly participation of different groups of non-EU migrants[1] in the fair and sustainable development of European localities other than large cities?
Question 2: How different are these challenges and opportunities in different localities with diverse landscapes, locations, histories, economic activities and job sources, access to social services, local government´s ideology, or any other relevant and intersecting social and biophysical condition?
Street mural tribute by the residents of Burela in Galizia (Spain) to the Batuko Tabanka Association initiated by women of Cabo Verdean roots. Source: Servizo de Audioivisuais da Diputación de Lugo (2019).
14:00-16:00: Roundtable 2
When arriving never ends: Contemporary politics of migration and socioecological change in Europe.
Question 1: What are the key pressing political issues faced by different non-EU migrants to pursue their life projects in different European localities[2]?
Question 2: How are the previous pressing political issues being addressed/should be addressed and by whom?
[1] Along class, citizenship, gender, generation, country of origin, or any other relevant and intersecting socio-cultural attributes.
[2] In terms of landscape, location, history, economic activities and job sources, access to social services, local government´s ideology, or any other relevant and intersecting social and biophysical condition
At the end of December, the Welcoming Spaces team organised a seminar to discuss the direction of the Welcoming Spaces research, and to exchange the most important insights and findings of our first year. All members of the consortium were present, as well as the advisory board members and representatives of fellow H2020 programmes MATILDE and MIMY.
Research
In the first part of the seminar, the researchers pitched their first findings. Over the summer, the researchers developed an overview of welcoming initiatives and their characteristics in the shrinking regions of their countries. This led to various interesting insights coming from the different country contexts.
The German team highlighted that policy initiatives for shrinking areas are strongly influenced by the sustainable development goals. During the discussion with the advisory board that followed this point was raised as well: the transformation of shrinking regions as a result of the sustainability transition. This subject will play an important role in the further research in all countries.
The presentation of the Spanish team highlighted the importance of community-led initiatives in the creation of welcoming spaces. The team also wrote an interesting blog about two initiatives in Burela and Celanova, in the region of Galicia, that can be found here.
Of course, also the role of the Covid-19 crisis played a role in our research in the last months. The Italian team found that the communities in the shrinking regions of Italy showed to be very resilient, and also adapted to the Covid-19 situation. For example, a hotel in Brescia opened their doors for nurses and doctors working in a nearby hospital.
In the Netherlands, the Dutch team found similar instances. There are numerous bottom-up initiatives in shrinking areas that are specifically aimed at the welcoming of migrant newcomers. They often simultaneously cater to migrants’ needs and tackle issues related to shrinkage by providing essential services and fostering social cohesion. Welcoming initiatives are led by individual residents with and without migration background, from businesses, municipalities to civil society and religious organisations.
In Poland, the Polish team found that certain regions bordering Belarus and Ukraine attract high numbers of migrants. The first findings show this is related to the mobility flows from these countries in combination to the presence of reception centres for asylum seekers in these shrinking regions.
Broader network and community of practice
As part of our Welcoming Spaces programme, we aim to create a broad network of stakeholders, a community of practice. Here, the focus is on local actors in the field, including local policy makers, those involved in the welcoming initiatives, and both newcomers and long-term residents, and broader, more overarching projects related to welcoming initiatives for newcomers and processes of revitalisation in shrinking region. As part of the end of years meeting, IOM presented the Share Network. This network is part of the European Resettlement Network, and promotes partnerships for refugee inclusion in local communities across Europe. It is a large network with over 3000 participating stakeholders which participate in the platform to exchange good practices and create training toolkits. In addition, the two fellow H2020 programmes MATILDE and MIMY showed many commonalities with our Welcoming Spaces programme, on migration assessment in rural regions and integration processes respectively. In the near future, we will connect more often to exchange research findings, methodology and events with our broader network.
