Project proposal Bright Minds Assistantships February 2022
WELCOMING SPACES – Emplacement of non-EU migrants in European Shrinking regions
Department: Human Geography and Spatial Planning Group, International Development Studies Supervisor: Prof. Annelies Zoomers, Jana Finke (j.c.finke@uu.nl)
Project description
Welcoming Spaces is a European research programme (H2020) that dives in to the world of migrants and local initiatives in European rural depopulating regions. Researchers and societal organizations from five different countries are involved from the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy and Poland. Together we are investigating how local initiatives can stimulate integration of non-EU migrants, and how these initiatives can revitalize shrinking regions.
Our point of departure are existing examples of ‘welcoming spaces’ which do exist in some places, but often remain invisible and dispersed. Currently, the UU team is mapping and investigating the variety of welcoming spaces across the Netherlands. We are looking for someone who can contribute to mapping and bringing visibility to those welcoming spaces, by supporting the research both online and offline (in the Netherlands).
It will be your job to contribute to identifying these welcoming spaces and their characteristics. We have created a database of welcoming initiatives, which we update as we encounter initiatives along the way.
Our PhD researchers have been able to identify many initiatives, and now we move to the stage of further exploration of their characteristics, as well as their geographical, political and discursive context.
As a bright mind, you will contribute to these research activities (qualitative and/or quantitative). In addition, we invite you to identify a specific topic that lies within your interest that you can investigate further in a selected locality. Opportunities to connect this to your thesis research can be explored as well.
Another core part of the Welcoming Spaces project is the community of practice. To explore possibilities to the upscaling of initiatives we are working on different events in the Dutch shrinking regions. In these meetings policy makers, NGOs, businesses, and others will reflect on best practices and lessons learned, and work towards a vision to become a welcoming space in the future. You will have the opportunity to contribute the organization of these events, of which the information collected will again feed into the research. If it lies within your interest, you can also contribute to blog writing, visualization and
dissemination of project results through the welcoming spaces website.
Job requirements
- We are looking for someone who speaks Dutch and/or one or more of the languages also spoken by many migrants in the Netherlands: for example Arabic, Turkish, Tigrinya, Farsi or Urdu. Speaking/understanding Friesian, Gronings or Limburgs can also be an asset.
- An engaged storyteller: can write, blog, vlog or twitter for our website and social media outlets.
- Not required but helpful can be one of the following: experience with economic analysis, knowledge of discourse and policy on migration or rural development, knowledge or familiarity with the geographical context of rural areas in the Netherlands
