The DignityFIRM project kicked off in April 2023. The activities performed since include regular interdisciplinary labs for knowledge sharing. A topic regularly discussed is the regulatory infrastructure, meaning the various EU legal and policy frameworks at play. On the topic, a paper was written that transcends traditional policy silos and disciplinary boundaries by providing an overview of relevant EU-wide and EU-level policy developments related to the four policy domains: migration management, the European Pillar of Social Rights, the EU’s F2F strategy and corporate social responsibility. In quarterly EU policy updates made available publicly on the website, we keep researchers and policy makers informed on recent policy developments. We thus achieve knowledge production across multiple policy fields.
Moreover, the first of four Stakeholder Network meetings was hosted in Brussels “From Social Conditionality to Due Diligence: what prospects for improving the working conditions of irregular migrant workers in agriculture in the future EU policy cycle?” With a variety of experts representing our key stakeholders: civil society, business, science, and politics, we discussed the EU Common Agricultural Policy. The discussion was reflected on in the first DignityFIRM Manifesto. The main achievement of these activities is that we successfully raised awareness of how vital to our food supply chain migrant workers are. We raised awareness of the need to enhance governance structures and propose group sensitive policy measures in migration policies as well as agricultural policies. Without migrant workers, agricultural production in large parts of Europe, and beyond, would come to a hold.
To improve dignity of all individuals, including migrant workers in Farm to Fork (F2F) labour markets, the project aims to design practical tools and to this end, calls for narrative change. In our publication in the Lancet – regional Health Europe we advocate the building of alliances between migrant health and communication science, as well as between academia and civil society and migrant organizations, as these will be instrumental in jointly changing narratives and policies toward greater inclusion, equity, and social justice.
