Migration and integration, especially the reception of refugees and displaced peoples, are widely shared social and political challenges in across Europe. The purpose of GLIMER is to understand how the governance and local integration of migrants and Europe’s refugees is developing, and in ways that can be utilised through best practice sharing and reporting. Inspired by the success of ‘welcoming cities’ in southern Italy, we will work with civil society groups, local authorities, citizens and refugee groups in order to support sustainable the meaningful integration of diverse communities. We will focus on cities in both Southern and Northern Europe and a key aspect of the project will be dedicated to investigating how the local governance of new arrivals can secure successful integration across a range of indicators. This research will be carried out in close collaboration with practitioners with the aim of co-producing knowledge that can be beneficial for a range of stakeholders including civil society groups and NGOs as well as municipalities. The record links to publications and reports created by the project.The current movement of peoples from conflict zones such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria into the EU has been described as a 'refugee crisis'. The aim of this project is to work towards innovative solutions that transform this crisis into an opportunity for European cities. Our goal is to generate theoretically informed but empirically grounded data that is able, through best practice sharing and reporting, to advise policy-makers and stakeholders on how workable solutions can be found to integrate displaced migrants and refugees. Inspired by the success of 'welcoming cities' in southern Italy, we will work with civil society groups, local authorities, businesses, citizens and refugee groups in order to support sustainable urban development and the successful integration of diverse communities. We will focus on medium sized cities in both Southern and Northern Europe and a key aspect of the project will be dedicated to investigating how the local governance of new arrivals can secure successful integration across a range of indicators. This research will be carried out in close collaboration with practitioners with the aim of co-producing knowledge that can be beneficial for a range of stakeholders including civil society groups and NGOs as well as municipalities. GLIMER will generate research that will help European cities and regions that have seen population decline, skills shortages and fragmentation in communities to understand how to incorporate displaced migrants and refugees in ways that are sustainable and mutually beneficial.

Policies review, interviews and field notes