"Gaining from migration"

A Global Perspective on Opportunities
for Economic and Social Prosperity

New Deadline - February 15th, 2002
for the call for Workshop Proposals

www.international.metropolis.net

THEMES OF THE CONFERENCE

The Vienna conference will focus on the opportunities created by a responsible and broadly welcoming approach to immigration for both receiving and sending societies. Rather than formulating the policy agenda from a problem-driven perspective, a very different management of migration will result from policies that embrace economic growth, positive demographic change and cultural diversity.

Four sub-themes will further illuminate the overall theme:

1 Managing migration globally - Economic relations and political strategies
2 EU enlargement and migration - The accession's states transition from sending to
receiving countries
3 Multilevel governance of migration and diversity - Challenges for political actors and
civil society
4 Multiple dimensions of integration and diversity policies - The urban perspective

The workshop section of the conference is conceived as the core platform for dialogue, the presentation of research results and the posing of new questions. By bringing together researchers, public authorities and representatives of civil society in the fields of migration and integration, it offers a unique opportunity for the exchange of ideas and transnational learning.

Thematically, the workshops will be clustered around the four sub-themes of the conference. An attempt will be made to accommodate all proposals and, especially, to include proposals that delve into new fields of inquiry.

In order to ensure efficient and timely processing of workshop proposals, please follow the workshop template provided in this brochure. Please note that fully completed workshop proposals will be given priority in the selection process!

FINAL CALL!
Last workshop proposals can be submitted until February 15th, 2003.
Please e-mail your workshop proposals to the conference secretariat:
vienna2003@metropolis.net

A final list of accepted workshops will be made available on the conference Website
by the end of February 2003.

WORKSHOP TEMPLATE

1) Workshop title
Maximum 10 words

2) Organizers (maximum of three)
We need the following for each organizer:
o Name
o Title
o Affiliation/Institution
o Mailing address
o Courier address (if different from above)
o Telephone number
o Fax number
o Email address

3) Workshop description
Please limit your proposal to a maximum of 250 words specifying:
o Goals of the workshop
o Policy relevance and topic
o How international comparisons are included
o Reference to policy concerns and best practices

4) Duration
Each workshop will be three hours long to enable a fruitful exchange between
organizers and participants. Workshops may, in some circumstances,
be extended to more than one three-hour session, to a maximum of three sessions.
Please indicate the number of sessions required for your workshop.

5) Proposed presenters
In organizing your workshops, you must ensure:
o that you have a mix of academics, policy makers, and NGO representatives,
o that the workshop has international comparative content,
o that there is sufficient time for moderated discussion.
Include names, institutional affiliation and country of origin/residence for each
proposed presenter, as well as all relevant contact details (especially email addresses).

Please note
The principal organizer for each workshop is responsible for producing a five-page summary indicating the main points covered or issues raised by each presenter, including research and policy implications discussed in the workshop. These summaries will be published on the Metropolis website.

THE THEMES IN DETAIL

Managing migration globally -
Economic relations and political strategies
An approach that would truly embrace the needs and aspirations of both source
and receiving countries will challenge thinking on both sides. From the point of
view of source countries, ensuring, for example, that migration leads to development
requires a major shift in thinking away from the view that out-migration leads
of necessity to a brain drain. Further, the emphasis on mutually reinforcing gains
focuses attention on the external effects of integration policies. How does the
economic and educational empowerment of immigrants affect source country
societies? The transformation from a one way immigration paradigm to a
reciprocity paradigm could lead to more effective integration policies and,
ultimately, to international migration agreements benefiting all involved.

EU enlargement and migration -
The accession states ' transition from sending to receiving countries
Vienna's location, close to the transformation states of central and eastern Europe
(CEECs), suggests including those countries' perspectives in the overall thematic
framework, as one very current example of the dynamics and causes of migratory
flows and the impact of new or expanding trade and political blocs on those flows.
Taking a step beyond the fears of uncontrolled labour migration between old and
new EU member states, this sub-theme will venture into a future where most
CEECs face the same demographic challenges as other developed societies.

Multilevel governance of migration and diversity -
Challenges for political actors and civil society
The management of migration is assigned to multiple networks and horizontal
levels of governance, with national governments increasingly constrained by
international norms and regional and local levels gaining more responsibility for
integration policy and programs.The concern over governance suggests a look at
the role of NGO´s and other civil society actors in the policy fields of integration,
migration and asylum.This conference will look at formulas for partnership
between the public and the "third" sectors for furthering immigrant integration for
the benefit of the migrant, the receiving society, and the source country.

Multiple dimensions of integration and diversity policies -
The urban perspective
For cities to gain from migratory links socially, economically and culturally, it
becomes crucial that all policy fields regulated by local authorities be part of their
strategy. Health, gender, youth, elderly migrants, housing issues, culture and the arts
are areas where cities are challenged to create policies that respond to the needs
and aspirations of a diverse population.Thus, developing, implementing, and evaluating
frameworks of diversity management becomes an essential task. Rising
awareness of migration across the entire range of public policy-making will help
create stable, coherent immigration policies and turn migration into a less
exceptional and more "normal" phenomenon in politics and society at large.