Description
The project theme is an exploration of the processes of “doing families” in the context of migration and (re)integration, both in Norway and Poland. The main project outcomes are: policy recommendations and tools designed for use in policy-development; knowledge sharing & dissemination. The project will strengthen the visibility of the Polish-Norwegian migration flow as well as facilitate communication between public authorities and civil society. To the main target groups belong migrant families, social workers and Polish schools authorities. By joint research, website platform, planned conferences and workshops and also join publications the consortium expects to establish a lasting Polish-Norwegian institutional partnership and to increase academic mobility in this particular geographical context. By providing a pool of promising research assistants on a doctoral and early-career level with an opportunity to participate in and contribute to this project, project partners aim at developing sustainable cross-generational scholarly networks across two countries.
Summary of project results
Poland’s EU accession of 2004 marks the beginning of the mass-migration to various countries across Europe, including Norway. Against this backdrop, the Transfam project primarily sought to explore transnational Polish families in Norway through a series of connected mixed-methods and multi-sited research studies. In a long term, the findings feed into policy recommendations, educational tools and knowledge-transfer. Therefore, the change envisioned and enabled by the project familiarizes institutional agents in the host country with the issues pertinent to Polish families in Norway, while simultaneously helping Polish parents and children to better-navigate their lives in Norway. In order to achieve the goals of the project, a multidimensional and intersectional approach was deployed. Several research studies were planned, executed, and then integrated. These included quantitative (an analysis of the secondary data sources, a web-survey) and qualitative (biographic interviews with parents, expert interviews, interviews with children, case-study research at school) components. The studies were connected through an overarching umbrella of the transnational paradigm and a focus on family practices. The project managed to substantially increase the existing body of knowledge on the topics of transnational families, Polish migrant families, family practices, as well as, most visibly, Polish families in Norway. Transfam outlined demographic and social characteristics of Polish influx, modelled the strategies and constrains of migrant integration, as well as addressed the impacts of social capital in mobility. Thanks to the project, we know more about how Polish transnational families function and change in Norway. This knowledge has been widely disseminated to a scholarly community at 34 national and international conferences, as well as in the already published 16 journal articles, 2 book chapters, and 9 further reports and working papers. Further 12 works are upcoming, and so is a book monograph. Moreover, the knowledge has been used during the project-led community outreach, which entailed hosting workshops for Polish parents and social workers. Recommendations on school challenges brought on by (re)migration were used as a baseline for a pilot programme of intercultural education. Assured reporting and media presence of the project contribute to the envisioned long-term outcomes of targeted policy revisions.
Summary of bilateral results
The TRANSFAM’s success relied on a multi-level cooperation between the Polish and Norwegian partners. The main achievements on a bilateral level are rooted in crucial research questions the consortium proposed for TRANSFAM project – focusing on Polish migrants and their families in Norway required both the home/host and the insider/outsider perspectives. On the most tangible level, the project’s output reflect the ideology and practice of collaboration. The complimentary bi-lateral foci on certain themes translated to Polish-Norwegian multi-perspectivity evident in joint chapters and journal publications. Further, there are persistent and durable results of the shared databases which contain various quantitative and qualitative data. Finally, the improved knowledge translated to bi-laterally envisioned and executed workshops in the outreach to the broader community. On the whole, the project is a meaningful contribution to the ongoing theoretical and empirical discussion on mobility and transnational families. Bringing together these two concepts from a bilateral standpoint is important for several reasons. First and foremost, since both the sending and receiving countries of migration are vital for understanding the migrants’ perspectives, challenges and experiences, it is paramount to acquire scholarly contextual and practical knowledge from both national parties involved in the given mobility process. The presence of both Polish and Norwegian Partner allowed for mutual learning and assistance throughout the entire project. For instance, it would not have been possible to have a balanced and productive debate on the Norwegian Child Welfare Services’ involvement with Polish community without hearing voices and arguments of both the Polish and the Norwegian sides. Besides being conducive to social and academic debates, the project was conducive to capacity building for young and experienced researchers, as well as enabled knowledge exchange though a range of syntheses and analyses, for instance in terms of linking and combining qualitative and quantitative components. In sum, five joint articles written by both Polish and Norwegian researchers have already been published and more are upcoming, while the TRANSFAM book is edited by a mix of JU and Agder Research representatives. Thanks to the effective and mutually beneficial cooperation during the TRANSFAM project, team members of JU team and NOVA prepared a project application for the Horizon2020 call.