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Exploring the Integration of Post-2014 Migrants in Small and Medium-sized Towns and Rural Areas from a Whole of Community Perspective

Project description

Migrant integration in towns and rural areas

After 2014, the number of migrants in barely prepared small and medium-size towns and rural areas has grown, affecting local social cohesion and challenging Europe’s future integration. The EU-funded Whole-COMM project will contribute to the scientific knowledge and theorisation on the dynamics and causal mechanisms that impact the relationship between immigrant integration policy and community cohesion. The research method used by this project perceives migrant integration as a community-making process. Whole-COMM will use a cross-country and cross-locality comparative methodology comprising 8 EU and 2 non-EU countries and 40 localities, mixed methods matching qualitative and quasi-experimental approaches, and quantitative analysis on the impact of policies on social cohesion and immigrants’ integration directions.

Objective

Over the last few years, the EU has received unprecedented numbers of migrants and asylum seekers, often in an unorderly way. This has led to a growing immigrant presence in scarcely prepared small and medium-size towns and rural areas (SMsTRA). The way in which these local communities respond to this challenge will deeply shape the future of integration in Europe.
Whole-COMM proposes to address these issues through an innovative Whole-of-Community research approach which conceives of migrant integration as a process of community-making that: takes place in specific local contexts characterised by distinct configurations of structural factors; is brought about by the interactions of multiple actors with their multilevel and multi-situated relations; and is open-ended and can result in either more cohesive or more fragmented social relations.
By focusing on SMsTRA, Whole-COMM contributes to filling a serious gap in existing research and policy debates which so far have been concerned primarily with big cities.
Whole-COMM pushes forwards scientific knowledge and theorisation on the dynamics and causal mechanisms that shape the complex relationship between immigrant integration policy and community cohesion through a cross-country (8 EU and 2 non-EU countries) and a cross-locality (40 localities) comparative approach, and a mixed-methods research design which matches qualitative and quasi-experimental methods, a survey on attitudes, and quantitative analysis on the impact of policies on social cohesion and immigrants’ integration trajectories.
On the policy level, Whole-COMM provides a fresh impulse to policy debates thanks to the new comparative knowledge generated by the project and the engagement with a variety of actors in a structured process of policy learning and co-creation, with the overarching goal of trigging innovation in SMsTRA and building more cohesive and more resilient communities, that proactively embrace change, making the most of each and everyone.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

RIA - Research and Innovation action

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-SC6-MIGRATION-2018-2019-2020

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Coordinator

FONDAZIONE COLLEGIO CARLO ALBERTO
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 436 343,75
Address
CORSO VITTORIO EMANUELE II 75
10128 Torino
Italy

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Region
Nord-Ovest Piemonte Torino
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 644 168,75

Participants (12)

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