Overview
Based at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) at the University of Oxford, the Global Exchange on Migration builds long-term partnerships to improve policy-making on migration and welcoming in the UK and beyond.
Why we exist
We live in a migration evidence paradox. There is more migration research than ever before, but with limited impact on policy. Meanwhile, policymakers and practitioners often struggle with how to manage the complexities of migration policy. Questions such as who should enter a country and on what terms often dominate media headlines, at the expense of the social impacts of migration on wider society, from the consequences for delivering public services and driving economic growth, through to deeper questions of civic identity and belonging.
High-quality research can provide real insights and answers to these complex questions, but only by developing meaningful and sustainable relationships and trust with policymakers and practitioners, talking to them in their own language and allowing for engagement with complexity without being overwhelmed by it.
Creating spaces for a real exchange of knowledge
Founded in 2014, GEM’s strength lies in our ability to create space for a real conversation. Our approach to knowledge exchange allows policymakers to set out the constraints that they face while also affording researchers an opportunity to draw out key insights, which challenge often deeply embedded assumptions. Too often, researchers and policymakers talk past each other because of a lack of understanding and little capacity for genuine dialogue. Our approach encourages debate and collaboration, talking to and with each other to confront problems in new and constructive ways.
How we work
Increasingly, these questions are challenging governments at all levels, not just the central. City and local authority leaders feel the direct impacts of migration, but often with very limited resources and capacity to act. Our approach works directly with local government, supporting them to develop their policy and practice. Our city working group model has been running since 2017 and engages cities in the UK, Europe, and beyond in long-term processes of changemaking and in 2021, our work was Highly Commended by the ESRC for Outstanding Public Policy Impact.
Beyond our work with policymakers, GEM’s approach is rooted in the principle of ‘nothing about us without us.’ Too often, migration research does not centre the voices of migrants themselves. Through community researcher and Expert-by-Experience roles, GEM is working to ensure that our knowledge exchange approach benefits from and amplifies the voices of people with lived experience.
