Even during pandemic times, researchers worldwide have continued to study how local authorities approach questions of migrant reception and integration. Some of these projects and their findings were presented in early February 2022 at a conference at the Villa Vigoni by Lake Como in Italy entitled “Going Local: refugees’/migrants’ integration processes at the local level”. Barbara Oomen shares her on-site impressions from the conference and talks to several participants including co-organizer Veronica Federico, Petra Bendel, Franziska Ziegler, Michela Semprebon, and Patricia Nabuco Martuscelli. The short interviews offer insights into a range of topical questions such as the merits of comparative analyses on local migration policies, the commonalities and differences between Germany and Italy, research-based algorithms to match refugees with welcoming localities, the relevance of discourses, individual agency and strategic litigation, and the policies of local authorities in Brazil.

Click on the links to learn more about Match'In, the project on algorithm-based matching systems, as well Patricia Nabuco Martuscelli's ongoing research. You can learn more about the project and findings presented by Franziska Ziegler in the recent paper "Defining and transforming local migration policies: a conceptual approach backed by evidence from Germany", Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (2021).

This episode was prepared with the assistance of Sithis Yam Samnang.