Lecture at the European Parliament

How can science play a bigger role in 21st century policy making? MPI MMG Director Steven Vertovec was at the European Parliament as part of the Science meets Parliaments initiative that focusses on this question.

Vertovec spoke on the ERC 'GlobaldiverCities' Project, which analyzed the urban effects of new migration. The project was conducted in Singapore, Johannesburg and New York and was premised on the fact that global migration today is bringing far more diversity to cities around the world than we have ever seen before. How is new migrant diversity playing out in urban spaces? According to Vertovec, some of the lessons for policy makers include "especially the fact that integration shouldn't be seen as just a matter of labor market and language, but it is really importantly about everyday small encounters in public spaces. These sorts of encounters can be enhanced by social policies and urban planning to integrate migrants more and to prevent modes of exclusion that we found in cities around the world".

The Science meets Parliaments is an initiative of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission and the European Parliament's Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA). The objective of the initiative is to build closer links between scientists and policy-makers at EU, national and regional levels and enhance the role of science in policy through regular dialogue. This year’s event brought the initiative to member states and supported the joint efforts of scientists and policy makers to find solutions tailored to the local context.

To find out more about the GlobaldiverCities Project, visit: 
http://www.mmg.mpg.de/subsites/globaldivercities/about/