28 March 2023, Empowering regions and cities in migrant integration governance Belgium - Brussels - March 2023 © European Union / Giedrė Daugėlaitė
On 28 and 31 March, BSoG researchers co-organised two conferences for practitioners during which they valorised their research on the role of regions and cities in migrant integration. The conferences particularly focused on how regions and cities cooperate with other levels of power and civil society partners to foster equal opportunities for new migrants. A first conference, on 28 March, was organised at the European Committee of the Regions, and widely attended by some 300 participants. Prof Ilke Adam presented the lessons learned on how regions cooperate across levels on migrant integration, based on her research that was recently published in the co-edited book 'Intergovernmental Relations on Immigrant Integration in Multi-Level states'. On 31 March, Louise Hantson, Dr. Laura Westerveen and Prof. Ilke Adam presented their findings of the Whole-COMM project, funded by the EU’s H2020 programme at a similar conference organised for local policy makers in Flanders. That conference was attended by about 70 local policy makers, social workers, researchers, and civil society actors. The conference was co-organised by the University of Antwerp, and local civil society and governmental organisations: Levl, Hannah Arendt Instituut, Vereniging van Vlaamse Steden en Gemeenten (VVSG) & Agentschap Integratie en Inburgering (AGII). After the researcher's presentation, the participants discussed in smaller workshops on how to foster better cooperation among all those who do and should engage for migrant inclusion.
The publications valorised were the following:
Adam, I. & Hepburn, E. 2021. Intergovernmental Relations on Immigrant Integration in Multi-Level States. London : Routledge
Hantson, L. Westerveen, L. Adam, I. (2022), Immigrant integration in small and medium-sized towns and rural areas: local policies and policymaking relations in Belgium (WP3 Whole-COMM country report- , Collegio Carlo Alberto. https://whole-comm.eu/working-papers/country-report-on-multilevel-dynamics-belgium/
Hantson, L. Westerveen, L. Adam, I. (2022), Post-2014 migrant’s access to housing, employment and other crucial resources in small and medium-sized towns and rural areas in Belgium (WP4 Whole-COMM country report), Collegio Carlo Alberto. https://whole-comm.eu/working-papers/country-report-on-integration-belgium/
Hantson, L. Westerveen, L. Adam, I. (2022), Social relations, individual attitudes and migrant integration experiences in small and medium-sized towns and rural areas in Belgium (WP5 Whole-COMM country report), Collegio Carlo Alberto. https://whole-comm.eu/working-papers/country-report-on-social-relations-individual-attitudes-and-migrant-integration-experiences-belgium/
Adam, I. Westerveen, L. & Hantson, L. Blogpost on the findings of the Whole-COMM project: Exclusion policies? The long-term housing crisis for migrants and refugees in Flanders (Belgium), February 23rd, 2023: https://whole-comm.eu/blogs/exclusion-policies-the-long-term-housing-crisis-for-migrants-and-refugees-in-flanders-belgium/
