ACRONYM Final Conference 2025 

Paris, 4. – 5. 11. 2025

The event will focus on how migration is perceived, represented, and governed across Europe, with particular attention to narratives, public attitudes, and comparative perspectives between Western and Central Europe.

The programme will feature keynotes and roundtables with leading researchers, paper presentations from scholars at all career stages, and a public evening event entitled “De l’exil à l’engagement : agir, créer, accueillir,” which will take place on Tuesday, 4 November 2025, at the Museum of the History of Immigration – Palais de la Porte Dorée, followed by a reception. Discussions will take place in French, with English translation provided.

The conference will bring together academics, policymakers, and civil society representatives – offering a unique opportunity to engage, exchange, and connect !

We’re also excited to invite all conference participants to join the Central European Migration Research Hub — a space that connects researchers, policymakers, and experts working on migration across the region.

A dedicated conference feed has been created within the Hub — your space to: stay updated on all conference news, network with other participants and share your presentations, photos, and impressions.

Join, register, create your profile and share your news here!

You will find the directions, the agenda and the evening programme below.

We look forward to welcoming you in Paris!

 

Directions

• Learning Planet Institute (4 and 5 November, day time)

Address : 8 bis Rue Charles V, 75004 Paris, France

 

Directions: Metro 1, 5, 8 (Bastille)

Metro 7 (Sully Morland)

• Palais de la Porte Dorée (4 November, evening)

Address: 293 avenue Daumesnil, 75012 Paris

Directions : Metro 8, Tram 3a (Porte Dorée)

 

Agenda

 

November 4, Learning Planet Institute, 8 bis Rue Charles V, 75004 Paris

 

Ground Floor, Main space – Please note that you will be asked to remove your shoes before entering the room

9h – Introductory remarks

• Anneliese Depoux, UPC (5 min)
• Laëtitia Atlani-Duault, Vice-President for the European Union and European University Networks (5 min)
• Katarina Csefalvayova, Director of the Institute for Central Europe – ICE (5 min)

 

 

9h15 – 10h30 – Keynote – Migration narratives and representations – Hélène Thiollet, Sciences Po CERI (20 min)

Main space, ground floor

Respondents :

• Marieke Huysentruyt, Associate Professor of Strategy and Business Policy, HEC (10 min)
• Fatemeh Jailani, former Deputy CEO of SINGA, Board Member of the European Migration Forum and Founding Member of Starting New : The EU Newcomer Entrepreneurship Policy Coalition (10 min)
• Discussion

 

10h30 – 11h – Comfort Break (Basement)

 

11h – 12h20 – Roundtable – From Crisis Framing to Policy Responses: conclusions and ways forward from MAGYC and ACRONYM projects

Ground Floor, Main space – Please note that you will be asked to remove your shoes before entering the room

Moderation: François Gemenne, Director of the Hugo Observatory (Liège University)

• Katarina Csefalvayova, Director of the Institute for Central Europe – ICE (15 min)
• Clarissa Tabosa, ACRONYM Chair for Asylum and Migration Studies, Comenius

University (15 min)

• Hélène Thiollet, Sciences Po CERI (15 min)
• Discussion

 

12h20 – 13h20 – Lunch (Basement)

 

 

13h20 – 14h50 – Paper Presentations (two parallel sessions) – 6 presentations of 10 minutes + Q&A (30 min)

 

• Governance 1, chaired by Névyne Zeineldin, Liège University (Room 1.10, first floor)

–       Marija PAVICEVIC, Université Paris Sorbonne, Framing the EU migration and asylum policies through externalization and responsibility displacement

–       Tomáš Čorej, LSE / Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts (BISLA) – London School of Economics (LSE) – Tusk as a Border Hawk? A Case Study of Migration Policy and Politics in Poland

–       Abdul Fattah, Ludovika University of Public Service, Budapest, Pre-Migration Aspirations versus Post-Migration Integration: Combined Theoretical Model to Understand Migration to the European Union

–       Halil Yigit, University Paris 8, Vincennes / Institut Français de Géopolitique (IFG) — Electoral Mobilization of the Turkish Diaspora : Voting from Abroad and the Dynamics of Autocratization

–       Sinafekesh Wolde and Michel Gelobter, Yale University – “Framing” Climate Migration: Science, Policy, Ethics & Politics of a Growing Crisis

–       Mohamed Sobhy, Zagazig University – Reframing Migration Narratives Through Legal and Policy Lenses: The Role of International Law in Shaping Inclusive Governance

 

• Narratives 1, chaired by Clarissa Tabosa, ACRONYM Chair for Asylum and Migration Studies, Comenius University (Room 1.11, first floor)

–       Gordana Smudja, Drama Artists’ Association of Serbia & Association of Writers of Serbia, Images as communication form

–       Fiona Seiger, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Navigating divisive migration narratives: understanding public perceptions of fairness and building trust through migration communication

–       Elodie Hut, Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF), Migration perceptions and othering-solidarity practices. Insights from Italian, Greek and Turkish privileged migrants in Brussels

–       Helen Klein, Université Grenoble Alpes, UMR Pacte – Un/doing borders: the ambivalent logic of a socio-spatial process

–       Aya Boubel, Sciences Po Bordeaux – Co-production of climate migrant categories: language games and forms of life

 

14h50 – 15h10 – Comfort Break (Basement)

 

 

15h10 – 16h40 – Paper Presentations (two parallel sessions) – 6 presentations of 10 minutes + Q&A (30 min)

 

• Governance 2, chaired by Clarissa Tabosa, ACRONYM Chair for Asylum and Migration Studies, Comenius University (Room 1.10, first floor)

–       Natalia Schneiderova, Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic, Migration Office – Attracting Talent through Migration: The Strategic Role of Slovakia’s Centres of Services for Foreigners in Facilitating Highly Qualified Migrants’ Integration

–       Adam Bence Balazs, Andrássy Universität Budapest – Migration: Europe’s Hazardous Illusion of Centrality

–       Olena Khylko and Maksym Khylko, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava,  What We Don’t See Can Blinds Us: is EU response to refugees’ reception so selective?

–       Ségolène Bulot, Universität zu Köln – Political norms, artistic norms: comparative issues and dynamics of artist-run spaces for migrant artists in France and Germany

–        Asmaa Darag, Ain Shams University – Leveraging AI Tools for Youth-Led Solutions: Addressing Migration, Gender, and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Through Shifting Perception

–        Zeina Moneer, Nordic Africa Institute – War-climate change-migration nexus

 

• Narratives 2, chaired by Névyne Zeineldinn, Liège University (Room 1.11, first floor) – 6 presentations of 10 minutes + Q&A (30 min)

–       Jason Gagnon, OECD, All Over the Place: How Researchers Define Migration and Why It Matters

–       Mirana Rajoharison, Alefa Diaspora – Reframing Narratives: The Role of Diaspora Organizations in Challenging Representations of the Global South

–       Solène Poyraz, EHESS, Paris Cité – “Neighborhood as Mirror: Syrian Refugees and Urban Tensions in Turkey”

–       Stéphanie Njiomo Tchoumi, Ci4Ca (Climate Information For Communities Actors) – The role of civil society in shaping or contesting dominant narratives

–       Chiara Camporese, Università ca foscari  – The Silent Wave of Climate Migrations (online)

–       Marie Moncada, Audencia Business School – The Spectrum of Illiberalism in French Media (online)

 

 

Museum of History of Migration – Palais de la Porte Dorée

293 Avenue Daumesnil, 12e

 

In French – English translation provided

 

17h30 and 18h – Private visits of the exhibition on Migrations and Climate (registration required per email isabelle.schwengler@u-paris.fr, limited places available)

 

19h15 – Introduction – Constance Rivière, Directrice Générale du Palais de la Porte Dorée

 

19h25 – 21h00 – Table Ronde – De l’exil à l’engagement : agir, créer, accueillir

Modération : François Gemenne,  Directeur de l’Observatoire Hugo, Université de Liège; Anneliese Depoux, Université Paris Cité

• Benoît Hamon – Président de l’Association Singa (15 min)
• Virginie Troit – Directrice Générale de la Fondation Croix-Rouge (15 min)
• Jorge Orta – Artiste, exposition “Migrations et Climat” (15 min)
• Dina Ionesco – Conseillère Principale, Politiques, protection & action sur le climat, Haut Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les Réfugiés (15 min)
• Discussion (30 min)

                                                                                                                                            

21h00 – 22h00 – Cocktail

 

 

November 5, Learning Planet Institute, 8 bis Rue Charles V, 75004 Paris

 

9h – 10h30 – Presentation of the Charte de Marseille – Tania Racho and Sedera Ranaivoarinosy, Désinfox – Migration

Ground Floor, Main space – Please note that you will be asked to remove your shoes before entering the room

 

10h30 – 11h – Comfort Break (Basement)

 

11h – 12h30 – Roundtable – Migrations, perceptions and social cohesion

Ground Floor, Main space – Please note that you will be asked to remove your shoes before entering the room

Moderation : Charles Autheman, International Consultant – HEC Paris

• Speranța Dumitru, Centre Population et Développement (CEPED)
• Marion Cosperec, Communication and Partnerships – Destin Commun
• El-Mouhoub Mouhoud, President of Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)
• Discussion

 

12h30 – 13h30 – Lunch Break (Basement)

 

13h30 – 15h00 – Roundtable on the perceptions of immigration and field experiences

Ground Floor, Main space – Please note that you will be asked to remove your shoes before entering the room

Moderation: Anneliese Depoux, Université Paris Cité

• Katarina Csefalvayova, ICE – Migration Through a Religious Lens: Insights from Priests and Communities in Central Europe
• Névyne Zeineldin, Liège University – Priests’ and Lay Catholics’ Perspectives on Migration in France: Between Gospel Imperatives, Political Constraints, and Media Representations
• Marcela Villalobos – French Bishops’ Conference, Pastoral Care for Migrants – Pastoral Care and the Catholic Church’s Engagement with Migrants in France
• Alexis Leproux – Episcopal Vicar for Mediterranean Relations and Coordinator of Med25 – Bel Espoir – The Catholic Church as an Institutional Actor in Mediterranean Migration Debates

 

15h00 – 15h10 – Conclusions – Katarina Csefalvayova, ICE

 

*** End of Conference ***

 

 

 

This agenda is provisional and subject to change until the conference.