Changing migration policies: national perspectives and supra-national strategies

3rd CDCDI International Conference

Description of the Conference

• 1.    Civil society contributions to challenging migration policy and practice: This panel aims to discuss comparative perspectives, theoretical and practical approaches to the role of civil society structures in changing migration policy and practice at both national and EU/international levels. The topics will refer, without being limited, to: advocacy initiatives, examples of policies or practices that proved successful in improving the migrants’ opportunities in the destination countries, analysis of factors and contexts that facilitated the change at policy/practice levels, the role of mass-media in promoting and making the change happen, creative tools that lead to changes in the migration policies/practices.
• 2.    Mainstreaming migration in the domestic labour policies: failures and successes: Mainstreaming migrant issues in the national policies was a strategy adopted by several destination countries as a way to promoting diversity and social cohesion. The panel focuses on comparisons between different country strategies to include migrants into their national labour policy target, and the impact of those policies on the migrant population. It includes case studies and empirical perspectives that refer to overcoming the obstacles hampering the economic participation of migrants.
• 3.    Impact of migration on social work and social welfare: The panel aims to bring together papers dedicated to analysing different impacts of migration on welfare systems in the European countries, to assessing particular social problems for migrant sending and receiving countries, to raising questions regarding European policies on migration and integration from the perspective of their effectiveness. It is also of interest the perspective of professionals (including social workers) who work directly with migrants and their families on strategies and tools that enhance the migrant participation in the social and economic life of the destination countries.
• 4.    Labour and skill shortages and the economics of migration: With immigration being the number 1 priority at European level, overtaking issues such as economic situation and unemployment (Standard Eurobarometer, July 2015), the economics of migration are entering a new era of change and challenges. This panel considers current labour and skill shortages and the way they can be addressed through effective migration policies, while looking at the possibility to fill the existing niches in fast-growing and declining sectors of the economy. Papers addressing migrant entrepreneurship, the impact of education on migrant integration on the labour markets, skills match/mismatch are also welcomed in this section. 
• 5.    Selective migration and regional economic development: In this panel we will welcome contributions that look at the migration selectivity and its impacts on spatial socio-economic development. Papers under this topic investigate how migrants choose where to settle, and which are the pull factors to the new locations. Furthermore, the panel expects new insights into the implications of selective migration on regional growth and regional convergence, spatial polarization and territorial development. Not last, papers addressing the links between the European cohesion policy/European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) and migration policies in Europe are of high-interest to this panel.
• 6.    The economic and refugee crisis nexus: he impact of economic crisis on the labour participation of migrants and its effects in shaping the public attitudes towards migrants have been prominent topics of research during the last years. Nowadays the refugee crisis replaced the economic downturn on the public agenda. This panel will explore from different disciplinary perspectives the intersections of economic and refugee crises, their causes and effects, and the issue of migration control in fragile economies. Papers addressing the reflection of both crises in the political discourse (who is to blame?) are also included in this panel, alongside analyses of changes in public attitudes towards immigrants in Europe. 
• 7.    Re-active and pro-active migration policies in the European countries: The topics approached under this panel will focus on the analysis of political decisions and the balance between knowledge and interest in the migration policy making process. The topics will explore how states pro-act or react to migration challenges at policy level and will identify patterns of decision making in the European migrant source and receiving countries. This panel will also cover the negotiation of the rights-based approach in migration policies, as well as strategies of diminishing migration costs and maximising its benefits from the perspectives of migrants, countries of origin and destination.
• 8.The new challenges of migration to old Human Rights International instruments: In line with their international obligations assumed through the 1951 Refugee Convention and through other international human rights instruments, states have developed diverse migration systems. The 2015 migration crisis put additional pressure on the national migration systems in the EU, pressure that states have not entirely anticipated.

Guidelines for submission

Organizer

• The Research and Information Center on Immigrant Integration (CDCDI)

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