Work packages

Table of contents:

The work plan is organized around 11 work packages (WPs) – of which 8 have research tasks. The project also includes two WPs to organize impact-related activities targeting different audiences, including the scientific community, policy actors and the public in general.

WP1 – Legal & Policy Framwork: Sustainablity and Interaction

This work package aims to gather background information about the socio-economic, political, legal and institutional context of migration governance in the countries that are the object of our research (Greece, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Austria, Poland, UK, Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon). The WP has a threefold objective:

It has an explanatory aim because we will identify whichfactors at the macro-level (constitutional structure, legalprovisions, economic welfare, public policies, culturalelements etc.) can be regarded as decisive in explainingdivergences in migration governance across differentcountries.
It has an assessment aim because we will assess theperformance of EU and national legislation, case law andpolicies in response to the current refugee crisis.
It has a policy-oriented aim, because we will pinpointpotential policy responses and best practices in themanagement of migration.

Finally, WP1 will serve as a basis for the socio-economic and cultural, legal, policy and institutional background which contextualizes the outputs of subsequent WPs.
Deliverables

10 country reports
1 comparative report
1 standardized dataset

WP2 – Border management & migration controls

This work package focuses on the EU border management and migration control regime. Its overall aim is to explore the impact of policies on MSs and migrants and their effectiveness within the wider context of EU Asylum and Migration policies explored in other WPs. It also examines border management policies at macro, meso and micro levels from the perspective of the diverse actors implementing them and those being affected by their implementation. It has the following objectives:

To gain an overview of the legal and policy frameworksrelating to border management and migration controls in theEU and countries of origin, transit and settlement.
To map the institutions and social actors involved in theimplementation of border management and control policies inthe EU and countries of origin, transit and settlement.
To explore how border management and migration controlpolicies are implemented in countries of origin, transit andsettlement.
To scrutinize patterns of cooperation and tensions amongactors involved in border regimes in relation to theirperception of security.
To explore how non-state actors involved in or affected byborder management and security regimes understand andrespond to it. This includes both cooperation in implementingcontrol policies and patterns of resistance (i.e. through hosting“illegal” entrants).
To analyze how refugees and migrants understand andrespond to the EU border management and security regime,and how their experiences and actions are shaped by it.

The WP will cover Germany, Sweden, Italy, Austria, UK, Greece,Poland, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq.
Deliverables

Report on the EU border management and migrationcontrols
10 Country reports
Comparative report on national legislations and policiesof border management and migration controls and theirimplementation
Report on the responses of non-state actors towards EUborder management and migration controls
Report on the impact of EU border management andmigration controls on the experiences and practices ofrefugees
Standardized dataset

WP3 – Refugee protection regimes

This WP aims to examine the impact of recent migration movements on asylum determination systems and refugee protection regimes in the EU, selected MSs and third countries. Drawing on the policy frameworks produced in WP1 and WP2 the objectives in this WP are:

To track changes at EU and national levels that occurred in response to managing recent migration movements, in particular within the context of the European Agenda on Migration. Relocation and resettlement policies are expected to be particularly important here.
To investigate the implementation of asylum and refugee protection policies by national authorities, supranational actors, such as the UNHCR and EASO, and NGOs.
To explore the beliefs and perceptions of refugees confronting asylum systems and protection regimes and understand the strategies they adopt when negotiating access to international protection.
To examine from a normative perspective how a fair share distribution scheme of responsibility for protection of refugees should be (re)formulated at the European level and globally, as well as to examine the desirable criteria and principles on which a legal framework may be based to foster cooperation between MSs and between the EU and third countries.

By focusing on both policymaking and implementation in Turkey, Greece, Italy, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Poland, UK, Iraq and Lebanon, this WP will contribute to understanding policy coherence within and among MSs, as well as between the EU and third countries. In addition, it will ascertain coherence in relation to adhering to protection norms and procedural standards as established by international, and national legal frameworks.
Deliverables

10 country reports
Thematic report: Report on the conceptualization ofvalues and principles as the basis of intra-Europeancooperation (and beyond)
Comparative report on refugee protection
Thematic report on refugee protection regimes and bestpractices
Standardized dataset

WP4 – Mapping and assessing reception policies,practices and humanitarian responses

This WP focuses on reception policies, practices and humanitarian responses to the current refugee crisis. Despite efforts to achieve harmonization (especially promoted by the 2016 CEAS and by the ENP), relevant differences exist in this field in the countries that are the object of research (Austria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Sweden, UK, Turkey and Lebanon). These variations contribute to secondary movements and asylum shopping, create tensions and nationalistic policies and implement inefficient and discriminatory reception policies. WP4 will fulfil five ancillary, but very relevant, objectives:

To develop a mapping of policies and practices of reception inthe countries being researched
To develop a typology of these policies, practices andresponses
To assess the coherence of these policies and practices withrespect to international and EU standards and regulations asthey are assessed by WP1
To study migrants’ perceptions, actions and reactions topolicies and practices and
To provide basic information in the area of reception for thedevelopment of all subsequent WPs

Deliverables

10 country reports
Reception policy and practices typology
Comparative report on reception policies
Standardized dataset

WP5 – Integration policies, practices and responses

This WP focuses on integration policies, practices and responses in the targeted countries. The goal of this WP is to explain the co-constitutive relation between integration and immigration policies, processes and responses studied in previous WPs. WP5 will situate integration policies and processes within the framework of migration governance. As a framework, this WP will deploy the heuristic model developed by Penninx and Garcés- Masarenas (2016), also found in the European Commission’s (2016) classification, for studying dimensions of integration, which includes:

The legal-political dimension: this examines how integrationpolicies and processes are intrinsically related to migrationgovernance by analysing the legal, political and institutionalsettings of countries. This also includes EU level integrationpolicies, which mainly concern the integration of Third-Country Nationals. This macro level research will contributeto the contextualization of the topic.
The socio-economic dimension: this explores the position ofimmigrants (former refugees now “newcomers” in receivingcountries) in the socio-economic realm of host societies bylooking at their access to and participation in institutionalfacilities for finding work, housing, education and healthcare.Thus, the focal point will be on the integration policies andprocesses at macro and meso levels. Specific attention will begiven to the role of actors at subnational levels both inimplementing policies and through participating inpolicymaking.
The cultural-religious dimension: this aims to understand howmigrants negotiate their position in a new society and howthey respond/interact with policies aiming their integration atlegal-political, socio-economic and cultural levels. Here, wewill focus on four aspects which play an important role forunderstanding integration outcomes at micro and meso levels:

The perceptions and practices of migrants, linked tomotivation and learning.
The role of gender and family ties for affecting conceptionsand practices of citizenship, particularly notions ofbelonging, rights, autonomy and community honour intransit and destination countries.
The psychosocial function in negotiating migration andintegration processes.
Differentiation in the integration processes of refugeeswith a specific attention on vulnerable refugee populations (ethnic, religious and sexual), their perceptions ofhomeland, and the continuity of cultural existence.

This WP will be conducted in source/transit (Lebanon, Iraq) and transit and destination countries (Germany, Sweden, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Poland, Austria), though the primary focus of integration is on transit and destination countries.
Deliverables

10 country reports
5 thematic comparative reports
- On “labour market integration” and “housingpolicies”
- On perceptions of “belonging, citizenship andgender differences”
- On “the experiences of vulnerable refugeegroups”
- On “the psychosocial role of religion and public mental health”
- On “the role of local actors”
Integrated report on qualitative analysis
Standardized dataset

WP6 – Conflicting europeanization

The main aim of this WP is to examine how the recent migration crisis may affect the future of European integration. We propose to establish the main parameters of divergence in migration governance and to explore how these could impinge on the future course that EU integration takes with regards to the relative importance it is due to pay to secular, humanitarian, internationalist, rights- and liberties-oriented goals in comparison to religious, security-focused, exclusionary positions that are also rejectionist of multiculturalism, foreignness, and alternative lifestyles and orientations within the community. The main objectives of this WP are as follows:

To identify the conservative and liberal course ofEuropeanization in the face of the recent refugee crisis and toexplain the main parameters that make state (macro) andsocietal (meso) actors conservative and liberalEuropeanizers.
To analyse the relationship between state (macro) and public(meso) actors’ stance on immigration and their positions onthe future course of EU integration.
To examine the factors and the ways through which stateactors re-frame EU policies in order to change theirideological direction.

This WP will be conducted in Greece, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Germany, Sweden, Poland, and the UK.
Deliverables

8 country reports
Report on the externalization of conflictingEuropeanization
Integrated report on conflicting Europe.
Standardized dataset

WP7 – Longitudinal survey analysis Among forced migrants

The aim of this WP is to disentangle the contextual factors driving recent migration movements from the perspective of forced migrants on micro levels, both in terms of pushing and pulling factors. A quantitative survey will be conducted to support the micro-level dimensions of the study (specifically WPs 2–5). Thus, through the survey we will gather information about refugee/migrants’ norms, values, attitudes, strategies and behaviours in terms of borders, refugee protection, reception, socio-economic, and socio-cultural integration (dependent variables). While collecting this data, we will take into account refugees/migrants’ individual characteristics, such as gender, age, educational level, region, socioeconomic level, and religious affiliation (independent variables). The second main goal of the survey is to examine responses via the collection of longitudinal data (repeated measurements of individuals over time), in order to assess how their norms and values change as they adjust to new societies. We have a large enough sample to disentangle differences based on various characteristics, but we will also use follow-up samples for migrants. The survey will be conducted in Sweden (destination) and Turkey (transit) among Syrian refugees.
Deliverables

Database with results of the first and second wave of thesurvey
Integrated reports on longitudinal survey - First andsecond wave

WP8 – Comparative and prescriptive analysis

The project focuses on 11 different countries with 14 partners and on four thematic areas with three level of analysis. This constitutes a complex matrix in terms of analysis and requires a concentrated attempt at integration. WP8 aims to revisit the research findings obtained in the other WPs (1-7) and to elaborate on trends, patterns and drivers in the research of mass migration, its governance and changes over time. WP8 will identify the range of domestic, regional, international factors, actors, interests and interactions involved in mass migration. It seeks to use the research results presented in the integrated reports of each of these WPs in order to:

conduct unit-based comparative analysis, including studiesbetween countries, groups, as levels as well as within andacross regions;
conduct theme/variable-based comparison, covering causes,processes, consequences of specific policy types (bordercontrol, reception, protection and integration);
reconceptualize the main categories for studying massmigration;
visualise categories in the form of tables, charts, graphs;
make generalizations and delineate exceptional cases.

Moreover, WP8 will help to promote the theoretical development and theory refinement of mass migration response policies. Thus, it will contribute to theories of refugee and forced migration studies, ideally with conceptualization of the notion of governance of mass migration and reflection on causal links. Looking at this comprehensive picture we will be able to evaluate whether or not the notion of a single global regime for forced migrants remains analytically coherent or politically relevant.
Deliverables

Prescriptive report on migration governance
Comparative report on migration governance

WP 9&10 – Impact strategy: what will we do?

The main aim of this WP is to ensure effective communication of the research findings to different audiences, which are defined as

Policy-makers, practitioners and other relevant non-state actors;
The Scientific community;
Refugees; and
the Broader public (host societies).

In order to disseminate the results effectively, in an early phase we will establish migration governance networks in each country, consisting of local/national stakeholders and relevant non-state actors, and will organize roundtable discussions. These networks will function both as a learning platform for participants (incl. the research team) and as a dissemination channel to reach out to the main target group.
Moreover, RESPOND will

produce a documentary video on the impacts of the recentmass migration in different landscapes, which will help usto disseminate the project findings to the general public and to visualise the impacts at different levels,
organize an art exhibition in two destination countries(Germany and Sweden), where refugee/migrant artists willbe contacted to exhibit their artwork about the sufferingand hardship of their people and the positive lives they have created as central themes in their art works,
develop an advice hub (Hope: Advice hub for refugees) together with NGOs in two transit countries (Turkey andIraq). The advice hub will provide legal and practical adviceto refugees in transit conditions and help them to enter intothe labour market by providing access to local companieswilling to hire migrants.

At the scientific level, we will;

prepare ca 60 country reports and 15 comparative-thematicreports through all work packages;
publish peer-reviewed journal articles;
prepare an edited volume based on the presentations made inthe project conference;
initiate a working paper series, entitled Global Migration:Consequences and Responses
generate a large empirical dataset at macro, meso and microlevels in seven research WPs, which will be available andaccessible to the scientific community beyond the lifetime ofthe project;
issue biannual project newsletters.

WP in printable PDF

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme for the period 2017-2010 under Grant agreement No [770564].