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3rd Global Conference
Migrations : An Inclusive Interdisciplinary Project

Sunday 1st December 2019 – Monday 2nd December 2019
Prague, Czech Republic

International migrations are an intricate part of a more interconnected world in terms of trade, communications and cultural exchanges. There is no question that migrations help improve people’s lives in both sending and receiving states, offering new opportunities for millions of people worldwide to better their lives. However, the causes, scope and complexities of international migrations in the XXI Century are also impacting the lives of millions of people worldwide in ways that many states and communities were ill prepared to deal with. The persistence of extreme poverty in large areas of the world, the impacts of climate change, the continuation of internal conflicts, regional wars and religious or sectarian inspired violence have forcibly displaced a record number of over 68.5 million people worldwide. According to the UNCHR’s 2018 Global Trends, “31 people are newly displaced every minute of the day.” Economic and survival migrants, as well as refugees from the Global South, are desperately looking for new routes and ways to reach a place they can call a safe haven. At the same time receiving and transit states are struggling to balance their immigration and asylum policies between their obligations to uphold the fundamental human rights of migrants and the growing pressures of xenophobic sentiments and nativist attitudes.

The irony of today’s globalisation is that goods and services can move with more freedom, yet the cherished right to freedom of movement for people has come to a dramatic halt: Migrants are perceived as a threat to the security of the state or as criminals if they dare not follow the everyday more restrictive immigration laws and policies. For those migrants who cannot meet the increasing legal requirements, restrictions, barriers, and costs to cross borders, their options to migrate legally have become practically impossible. Those looking for a better life or refuge are being pushed to find new and more perilous journeys putting their lives and those of their loved ones at the mercy of inhospitable environments or unscrupulous smugglers or human traffickers. This includes persons being pushed to use false identities, and otherwise misrepresenting their circumstances to get their foot in the door. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in 2017 the number of migrants who disappeared or died during such journeys were estimated to be more than 5,000 with most incidents occurring in the Mediterranean.

Regardless of the challenges that migrants face, international migrations have not decreased. According to the UN and the IOM, there are around 260 million international migrants worldwide and the number is quickly rising. The push and pull factors that are at the core of such large number of migrants have become more complex and require new perspectives to better understand them. Migrations and the social and economic impacts that accompany them have climbed to the top of the political agendas of most receiving states. While many political and social institutions see in migrations an asset to the economic well-being of ageing societies, others perceive migrations as a threat to the dominant values and institutions of the nation-state. One thing is certain and that is that international migrations will continue to increase and reshape the world as we know it. Moreover, the way governments and societies decide to deal with its causes and impacts will open new debates on the need to redefine the existing international human rights instruments to protect the most vulnerable of our humanity.

Our third interdisciplinary Migrations conference seeks to build on the success of past events and forge a lasting network of professionals in all fields related to this topic. Our aim is to discuss and explore the main issues, pressing matters and recent developments in this field of research and activity, to identify areas to be subsequently explored in further depth and to generate collaborative action that will lead to real, lasting change in the way migration and migrants are perceived and approached in institutional and informal settings with a view to forming a selective publication to engender further research and collaboration.

Key Topics

Key topics, themes and issues for discussion may include, but are definitely not limited to:

  • Defining and measuring migration – identifying past, present and new push and pull factors for migration, analysing trends in migration, understanding the political economies of migration, defining categories of migration and migrants, presenting relevant data and instruments in migration studies.
  • The current refugee crises – refugee situation, struggles, profiles, stories, efforts for integration, international responses, conditions in refugee camps, conditions for receiving asylum, policies, best practices, international responsibilities, human rights issues, media coverage.
  • Policy and politics – migration policy trends in Western societies and worldwide, impacts and effectiveness of existing policies, the resurgence of xenophobia and nativism, centralized vs decentralized policies, “immigration federalism,” geopolitical ramifications of national and international migration policies.
  • Legal and political aspects of migration – legal vs illegal immigration, the criminalization and securitization of migration, national and international migration laws, legal provisions for crossing borders, obtaining residency or asylum, migrants’ rights in theory and practice, legal status of EU citizens in post-Brexit UK, legality of US travel bans, new and old barriers to migration.
  • Smuggling and Human trafficking – definitions, international, regional and domestic instruments combating smuggling and human trafficking, the political economies of human trafficking.
  • Climate change and migration – Natural disasters and forced migration, the need for regional and international regimes dealing with those forced to migrate as a result of climate change.
  • Local responses to migration – attitudes towards refugees and/or economic migrants, social and political movements, debates and controversies based on immigration/emigration related issues, exclusion vs inclusion, “sanctuary” policies, compassionate migration.
  • Global and local implications of migration – social, political, demographic, and economic impacts for sending and receiving countries, for the migrants themselves and for their host communities.
  • Sex, gender, and sexual orientation – the significance of these factors in the experience of the migrant; how is migration experienced by women, trans and non-binary individuals, and those identifying as queer, for instance?
  • Integration vs assimilation – debating the differences between integrating immigrants to their new communities, including their language and culture or creating policies to assimilate them into their new environments.
  • Policies of exclusion vs inclusion – increasing formal and informal barriers¬ and restrictions vs embracing migrants as new members of the state and their host communities
  • Discourses and depictions of migration – Migrants are being “othered” or demonized when depicted as “illegal aliens,” “criminal aliens,” “invaders,” “murderers,” and “rapists.”
  • Narratives of displacement – migration stories, folklore, art, community building.
  • Migration and the media – depiction of refugees, migrants and migration in the media, the role of social media and new technologies in facilitating migration and maintaining transnational migrant networks, the role of the press in creating the “other” and increasing/defusing social tension between migrants and locals.
  • Looking into the future – scenarios for future trends in migration, challenges for the future generations of today’s migrants, future challenges for the sending and receiving countries.
  • Working in the Field of Migration – issues, hardships, frustrations, communication needs, big and small victories and bright, hopeful moments of professionals working towards the integration and aid of refugees or migrants in general, studying migration and migrants, drafting or applying migration policies or legislation.

Our main goal is to facilitate dialogue and spark innovative collaborations and discussions at an international level, in a dynamic and interactive setting. Thus, we welcome participants from all relevant disciplines, professions and vocations (NGO personnel, aid workers, researchers, mental and physical health professionals, educators, human rights activists, counselors, social workers, policy makers, journalists, lawyers, judges, politicians, business owners, military personnel, customs workers and members of the border patrol, labour specialists, historians, sociologists, psychologists, economists, anthropologists, ethnographers social media experts, artists and many more).

What to Send

The aim of this inclusive interdisciplinary conference and collaborative networking event is to bring people together and encourage creative conversations in the context of a variety of formats: papers, seminars, workshops, storytelling, performances, poster presentations, panels, q&a’s, round-tables etc. Please feel free to put forward proposals that you think will get the message across, in whatever form.

 

300 word proposals for participation should be submitted by Friday 31st May 2019. Other forms of participation should be discussed in advance with the Organising Chair.

 

All submissions will be minimally double reviewed, under anonymous (blind) conditions, by a global panel drawn from members of the Project Development Team and the Advisory Board. In practice our procedures usually entail that by the time a proposal is accepted, it will have been triple and quadruple reviewed.

 

You will be notified of the panel’s decision by Friday 14th June 2019.

 

If your submission is accepted for the conference, a full draft of your contribution should be submitted by Friday 13th September 2019.

 

Abstracts and proposals may be in Word, PDF, RTF or Notepad formats with the following information and in this order:
a) author(s), b) affiliation as you would like it to appear in the programme, c) email address, d) title of proposal, e) body of proposal, f) up to 10 keywords.

 

E-mails should be entitled: Diaspora Submission.

Where to Send

Abstracts should be submitted simultaneously to the Organising Chair and the Project Administrator:

Professor William F Arrocha: warrocha@miis.edu
Project Administrator: praguemigrations@progressiveconnexions.net

Details and Information

 
Fees
Key Dates
Venue
Outcomes
Payment

Registration Fees

The cost for attending the conference is £295/€335. This includes:

~ conference registration fee
~ book of Abstracts
~ a discounted rate for any of the outputs emerging from the event
~ Sunday coffee/tea on arrival
~ Sunday morning coffee and biscuits
~ Sunday lunch
~ Sunday afternoon tea and biscuits
~ Sunday evening wine and drinks reception
~ drinks in the conference room
~ Monday morning coffee and biscuits
~ Monday lunch
~ Monday afternoon tea and biscuits
~ drinks in the conference room

Calendar of time-lines and deadlines

Friday 31st May 2019
Abstract/Presentation submission

Friday 14th June 2019
Acceptance/Rejection notification

Friday 5th July 2019
Booking Form Submissions

by Friday 24th July 2019
Circulation of Draft Programme
Invoices issued

Friday 23rd August 2019
Final date for payment

Friday 13th September 2019
Circulation of Revised Programme
Full draft of presentation to be submitted

Monday 11th November 2019
Final programme to printing

The conference is being held at the Hotel Angelo, Prague

Radlicka 3216/1g. 15000 Prague +420 234 801 111

We have reserved rooms for delegates at the conference hotel on favourable terms and conditions. On having a proposal accepted for presentation at the conference, and on the completion and submission of a booking form, a special booking form will be sent to you along with instructions on how to use it in order to access these terms.

Standard Room - Single Occupancy €85 per night including breakfast and all taxes
Standard Room - Double/Twin Person Occupancy €95 per night including breakfast and all taxes

Details will be sent to delegates on how to access these rates once receipt of the booking form has been confirmed.
Accommodation bookings are made directly with the hotel, not Progressive Connexions. All payments for accommodation are made directly to the hotel as well. A credit card will be required on booking.
You are free to find alternative accommodation. We are offering these arrangements as a convenience to folks who would like to be at the conference venue.

The conferences, meetings and events we organise are not single ‘one-off’ events. They are part of a continual stream of conversations, activities and projects which grow and evolve in different directions. At the conclusion of every meeting, the question needs to be considered: What happens next? After all, there is little personal, educational or professional benefit in gathering people together from around the world and sharing all sorts of fascinating conversations if nothing further is going to happen as a result!

The possible ranges of ‘outputs’ which can productively flow from our meetings is a dynamic response to the dialogues, issues and engagements that take place during the events themselves. And as our meetings are attended by folks who come from different backgrounds, contexts, professions and vocations, what people would like to see developed as a result of our time spent together will always be potentially diverse, fluid and appropriate to what took place.

One range of possible outputs involves publication as a way of continuing the work of a project. Where publishing is a possibility, it is directly referenced in the Call for Papers, Presentations and Participation. Other possible outputs may include, but are not limited to:
~ social media platforms such as Facebook pages and groups, blogs, wikis, Twitter, as vehicles for continuing dialogues, disseminating knowledge and information and bringing new people into the work of the project
~ reviews; reports; policy statements; position papers/statements; declarations of principles
~ proposals for meetings, workshops, courses, schools
~ collaboration gateways, platforms and media
~ personal and professional development opportunities: faculty development; mentoring programmes; cultural cruises; consultancies; summer schools; personal enrichment programmes

The range of outputs is dependent on how little or how much you would like to become involved. Don’t let the end of the meeting signal the end of your involvement with the project. Please get involved, bounce ideas around, think out loud – we’d love to hear about what you’d like to do and are always happy to talk about what is possible.

Payment Process
Participants must complete the online booking form by Friday 5th July 2019 at the latest.
After the deadline has expired, an invoice will be drawn up and sent to you; the invoice will contain all the necessary information for you to pay by bank transfer, cheque, Paypal or credit card.
The invoice must be settled by Friday 23rd August 2019.

It is the responsibility of delegates to ensure that payment is made by this date. Failure to receive payment will result in your booking being cancelled.

Payment Methods
There are a number of ways payment can be made.

 

Cheque
Payment can be made by cheque, in GBP (£ sterling) only and must be drawn against a bank with headquarters in the United Kingdom. Cheques should be made payable to ‘Progressive Connexions’ and sent, with a copy of the booking form, to:

Dr Rob Fisher
Progressive Connexions
Priory House
149b Wroslyn Road
Freeland
Oxfordshire. OX29 8HR
United Kingdom

We regret we cannot and will not accept cheques made payable in currencies other than GBP Sterling.

Bank Transfer Payment may be made using bank transfer. There will be an option to pay in either GBP (£ Sterling) or Euro (€). Full details to enable a bank transfer are made available on your conference invoice. If paying by this method, you must agree to pay all charges at the sending and receiving banks.

By Invoice
You may request that an invoice be sent to you which you may forward to your institution. It is your responsibility to ensure that the invoice is paid before the payment deadline.

Online
Your invoice will include a link to pay through a secure and encrypted online payment system. Please click the link to use this method.

Credit Card
Payment may also be made using credit card. We cannot accept American Express or Discovery as a form of payment.

Paypal
Payment may also be made using Paypal. If paying by this method please send us the email account connected with your Paypal account and we will forward you a request for payment.

IMPORTANT
We strongly recommend that all delegates take out some form of travel or other insurance in relation to any and all travel arrangements or accommodation booked in regard to the conference. This should include cancellation insurance in the event of unforeseen or unexpected circumstances.

All fees are payable in advance. No delegate will be permitted entry to the conference if an invoice is still unpaid.

What’s so Special?

A fresh, friendly, dynamic format – at Progressive Connexions we are dedicated to breaking away from the stuffy, old-fashion conference formats, where endless presentations are read aloud off PowerPoints. We work to bring you an interactive format, where exchange of experience and information is alternated with captivating workshops, engaging debates and round tables, time set aside for getting to know each other and for discussing common future projects and initiatives, all in a warm, relaxed, egalitarian atmosphere.

 

A chance to network with international professionals – the beauty of our interdisciplinary events is that they bring together professionals from all over the world and from various fields of activity, all joined together by a shared passion. Not only will the exchange of experience, knowledge and stories be extremely valuable in itself, but we seek to create lasting, ever-growing communities around our projects, which will become a valuable resource for those belonging to them.

 

A chance to be part of constructing change – There is only one thing we love as much as promoting knowledge: promoting real, lasting social change by encouraging our participants to take collective action, under whichever form is most suited to their needs and expertise (policy proposals, measuring instruments, research projects, educational materials, etc.) We will support all such actions in the aftermath of the event as well, providing a platform for further discussions, advice from the experts on our Project Advisory Team and various other tools and intellectual resources, as needed.

 

An opportunity to discuss things that matter to you – Our events are not only about discussing how things work in the respective field, but also about how people work in that field – what are the struggles, problems and solutions professionals have found in their line of work, what are the areas where better communication among specialists is needed and how the interdisciplinary approach can help bridge those gaps and help provide answers to questions from specific areas of activity.

 

An unforgettable experience – When participating in a Progressive Connexions event, there is a good chance you will make some long-time friends. Our group sizes are intimate, our venues are comfortable and relaxing and our event locations are suited to the history and culture of the event.

Ethos

Progressive Connexions believes it is a mark of personal courtesy and professional respect to your colleagues that all delegates should attend for the full duration of the meeting. If you are unable to make this commitment, please do not submit an abstract or proposal for presentation.

 

Please note: Progressive Connexions is a not-for-profit network and we are not in a position to be able to assist with conference travel or subsistence, nor can we offer discounts off published rates and fees.

Progressive Connexions is a not-for-profit network inspiring inclusive interdisciplinary research, publishing and collaboration