Many of us have at least a vague idea of how big cities address immigration, and that often, big cities are a laboratory for developing innovative immigrant integration and anti-discrimination policies. But what about small and medium-sized towns? How do they address immigrant integration? The Brussels School of Governance (BSoG) and VUB’s Brussels Interdisciplinary Research centre on Migration and Minorities (BIRMM) are partners in the EU-funded (Horizon 2020) Whole-COMM project that will explore the integration of Post-2014 migrants in small and medium-sized towns and rural areas. Whole-COMM is a collaboration between thirteen partner organizations, coordinated by Collegio Carlo Alberto, Italy. The project adopts a cross-country (eight EU and two non-EU countries) and cross-locality (40 localities) comparative approach. The BSoG-BIRMM team participates in several work packages and will conduct fieldwork in three to four small and medium-sized towns in Belgium. The Whole-COMM project kicked off on Friday 26 March 2021 and has a duration of three years.
The outcomes of the project can be followed on its website.