WP1 – Project Management (WP Leader: UEF)
WP1 ensures includes administrative, financial and technical-scientific coordination of the activities. UEF controls the scientific quality of the work plan, its milestones and deliverables, manages risks, interactions with the EC funding agency and among WPs and partners as well as ensuring coordination with the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) and Ethics Advisory Board (EAB).
WP2 - Operationalizing The Concepts For Migration Impact Assessment In Rural And Mountain Areas (WP Leader: FAU)
WP2 aims to develop a conceptual and methodological framework (the MATILDE matrix and toolbox) for the assessment of the impacts of migration in rural and mountain areas. The WP develops the categorization of the MATILDE regions based on their spatial, territorial features as well as taking into account different migration processes that are relevant for the MATILDE regions. The categorization is based on qualitative data presented in the MATILDE database. The MATILDE matrix will provide the data collection framework that will guide partners throughout all research activities, representing the backbone for migration impact assessment at multiple scales. The MATILDE toolbox, developed at the end of the project, will translate this methodological framework into a fully-fledged, transferable package of assessment tools at the disposal of researchers and policy makers.
WP3 - Social Impact Assessment Of Migration (WP Leader: UEF)
WP3 aims to conduct a multi-scale assessment of the social impacts of migration in the MATILDE countries and regions, by adopting the Matilde matrix developed in WP2. The WP will consider the effects of migration on social polarization, active citizenship, access to services and social inclusion.
The WP adopts a multilevel governance approach to consider both vertical and horizontal distribution of competences in the field of migration governance. As a first step, the WP will conduct a policy content analysis, considering policies explicitly targeting TCNs as well as other policies that may indirectly affect social outcomes, such as regional development policies. As a second step, the WP conducts a quantitative assessment of the social impact of TCNs to quantify the implications of the arrival and settlement of TCNs in terms of changes in the endowment of resources in rural and mountain regions, based on a combination of descriptive and interpretative statistics. A qualitative assessment of the social impact of TCNs will be conducted in parallel using in-depth and narrative interviews, focus groups, SWOT for case-studies analysis and visual graphs for social network analysis at local level.
Finally, the WP develops a comparative analysis drawing together the results conducted in the 10 countries covered by MATILDE, tackling policies and governance, the quantitative and qualitative findings, and social innovation practices.
WP4 – Economic Impact Assessment Of Migration (WP Leader: UNIPR)
WP4 provides a multi-scale assessment of the economic impacts of migration in the MATILDE countries and regions. It combines policy analysis, quantitative and qualitative methods to measure the impacts of migration on economic growth, labour productivity, innovation inside organisations and companies, as well as on the development of entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship.
As a first step, the WP will conduct the analysis of migration-related economic policies to understand if and how they support the integration of TCNs inside the job market, as well as their possibility to develop businesses and social innovation activities (e.g. SME, community organisations and or social enterprise). Then, the WP conducts a quantitative assessment at national and regional levels adopting statistical and econometric techniques. A qualitative assessment of the economic impact of TCNs will be conducted in parallel using in-depth interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders, in order to identify site-specific dynamics in rural and mountain regions such as the creation of new jobs indirectly deriving from the resettlement of forced migrants; the inclusion of TCNs inside local nested markets; and specific patterns of employment such as circular migration and seasonal work in the agricultural and touristic sectors.
Finally, a comparative, integrated report will elaborate the main findings of this WP, including a comparative policy overview, the quantitative and qualitative findings of the economic impact of migration, with specific attention on how regional level regulations can influence the TCNs entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship.
WP5 - Implementation Of Matilde Toolbox In Rural And Mountain Case Study Regions (WP Leader: UEF)
WP5 aims to explore the impacts of migration at local level in 13 local cases studies that represent different types of rural and mountain areas across Europe. This WP applies and finetunes the MATILDE toolbox, testing its transferability for local level assessment in other settings.
First, guidelines for the implementation of case studies are co-designed by all partners to guarantee a coherent implementation of the case studies across MATILDE regions. Second, research and local partners collaborate to the data collection at the case study level, based on the MATILDE matrix and toolbox. The data collection cover both the social and economic domains and pays specific attention to the impact of reception services for asylum seekers and refugees in MATILDE region. As a third step, the WP conducts action-research in rural and mountain case study regions to stimulate the creation of new knowledge and understandings about the social, economic and spatial impacts of TCNs at the local level. Participatory techniques and tools for this task include open space technology (OST), outreach, world café, participatory videos. Each case study will identify its own approach based on the thematic developed, the actors involved and the specific territorial features, involving both TCNs and local stakeholders. Finally, a comparative analysis of the results stemming from the local case studies leads to the categorization of the impacts and processes pertaining to different paths of migration processes in the case studies.
WP6 - Governance, Policy Recommendations And Solutions (WP Leader: CUAS)
The main objective of WP6 is to develop policy recommendations at strategic and operational level to improve the governance of migration. This is to further promote socially inclusive and territorially balanced growth. Recommendations pay specific attention to governance processes capable to better connect urban and rural/mountain areas, considering migrants flows and related economies, and the interrelation of different policy fields beyond integration policies.
WP6 adapts and hands over to local and regional governments the self-assessment tool (MATILDE toolbox), selecting essential and ready-to-adopt indicators and methods that can be applied by regional and local level officers to evaluate the impact of TCNs within their jurisdiction. The WP draws on the participation of stakeholders, including policy makers, in the elaboration and uptake of recommendations is ensured by thematic round tables at regional level in the case study regions.
WP7 - Dissemination, Communication And Exploitation
The overall objective of WP7 is to maximise the exploitation, as well as the dissemination and communication activities in order to increase the impact of MATILDE evidence-based analysis and achieve an effective promotion of the project and its results. WP7 develops targeted dissemination, communication and exploitation strategies, combining face-to-face activities and virtual tools to maximize the outreach of results towards different segments of stakeholders.
Dissemination activities include tailored workshops and round-tables for practitioners and the scientific community, training activities for students and journalists, such as the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on international migration in rural and mountain regions and the Summer School on Concepts and methods for assessing migration impact in rural and mountain areas.
The WP ensures that academic dissemination and publications in peer-reviewed journals are pursued in compliance with the H2020 Open Access rules, that will be applied also for the Handbook on participatory practices in migration research. The WP devotes specific effort in dissemination towards national and regional public spheres, making the results accessible for citizens, media professionals and students by means of participation to local and regional festivals, public events, contests and a virtual gallery presenting the project activities and to the best practices developed in rural and mountain areas.