We write to share exciting updates about the ReROOT Project.
Action Research in Nine Sites
Over the past year, ReROOT researchers collaborated with local arrival infrastructure actors in our nine pilot sites to conduct action research. This action research built upon a year of in-depth ethnographic engagement within arrival infrastructures and appeared in various formats with the unifying aim of prototyping ways to improve collaboration between stakeholders, empower people on the move, and imagine integration work beyond crisis scenarios. This phase of the research worked to bridge the structural gap between the worlds of theoretical science and knowledge production on one side and the everyday world of the people in arrival contexts on the other side by implementing concrete interventions and actions. You can read all about this research here.
Assembling the Tools
With the wealth of insights gained from the first two years of research, a dedicated ReROOT team (Luce Beeckmans, Dounia Salamé, and Martina Bovo) worked together with the site researchers to produce a toolkit for actors (local civil society and NGOs, local public offices and policy makers, activists) planning to or already intervening in arrival infrastructures. In addition to providing practical tips and exercises for this public, the toolkit authors stipulate “that knowledge about ‘how to do’ integration already exists and is embedded in the work of actors in the ground. This inspiration kit aims to make it visible and encourage the reader to reveal and activate this knowledge in their own contexts.” Last week, the toolkit team presented an early draft at the Royal Geographical Society annual conference to share experiences with others co-producing knowledge on social infrastructure (read the blog post here). The toolkit will be published in May 2025. Read more about the toolkit, stay up to date or receive updates by subscribing here.
Testing the Tools
Key goals of the ReROOT Project are to 1) co-produce knowledge about arrival infrastructures with those actively participating in arrival processes and 2) to produce and test a set of tools based on these research findings with relevant experts. Therefore, our partners at Menedek have coordinated toolkit testing sessions in Utrecht, Dortmund, and Budapest. These sessions were attended by professionals from local civil society organisations, NGOs, social workers, and academic research centers. Following this feedback and ensuing revisions, a second, more in-depth round of workshops will be held to discuss the final result. You can read about the first testing sessions here!
ReROOT Policy Work
Over the next year, the ReROOT policy team will facilitate the next stage of our policy work. Building on the initial findings ReROOT takes inspiration from the WholeCOMM Project who locate integration work at the local level of societies (read their final event here). ReROOT builds recommendations based on integration happening at the sublocal level (as exemplified in our action research). A series of policy workshops (France, Belgium, Germany, Greece and Sweden) will take place in the spring targeting local, national, and EU level policy makers. If you are interested in learning more or participating, please be in contact.
Local arrival infrastructuring actors in Budapest testing and giving feedback on the ReROOT Toolkit.