In the first year of the project two main activities were completed. Activity 1 centred on creating a Local Human Development Index (LHDI), using material, socio-human, and health capital data. Six country datasets and metadata were produced. A Regional Human Development Index (RHDI) was also constructed using EUROSTAT data, allowing LBAs to be classified by regional development levels within the EU. Activity 2 focused on an online population survey across the six Re-Place countries. The survey reached over 12,000 individuals, with oversampling of international and return migrants (300 per country).
In the second year, seven key activities were completed: Activity 1 involved combining the LHDI with the large-scale survey data. Using multi-level modelling, we analysed the relationship between individuals' (migrants, non-migrants and returnees) place attachment, mobility preferences, subjective wellbeing, and regional human development. Activity 2 focused on the selection of 12 case study areas across the six countries, using a multi-level selection procedure based on LHDI/RHDI scores, national statistics (e.g. economic decline, population change, migration patterns) and qualitative assessments. Three types of areas were selected: (1) areas with low LHDI in less developed EU regions, (2) areas with low LHDI in mid-to-high RHDI regions, and (3) areas with high LHDI in low-to-mid RHDI regions.Activity 3 involved developing methodological tools, including guidelines for visual methodologies, expert interview guides, and household interview guides to guide the research at the local level in the 12 case study areas. Activity 4 advanced local-level analysis of (im)mobility drivers, developing historical and contemporary mobility and structural profiles for each area. Activity 5 involved conducting 152 interviews with local key actors across the case study areas. These interviews focused on understanding conventional and non-conventional strategies to promote local development and the impacts of migratory and non-migratory mobilities on these areas. Gaps remain regarding how different types of (im)mobile individuals experience place attachment, identity, and wellbeing, the strategies they use for dealing with peripherality and livelihoods. This is currently being addressed in Activity 6 through household interviews in the 12 case study areas. Activity 7 established a visual methods taskforce, setting the foundation for a co-produced visual archive to create new narratives and representations of migrants and places, promoting more complex portrayals of life in Europe’s peripheries.