Conference on Immigrant Participation in Public Life
Athens, Greece 31/5/2007
This conference concentrates on experiences in immigrant integration policies and immigrant participation in public life of new reception countries. The distinctive experiences of Greece, Italy, Ireland and Portugal, where integration priorities have entered the public debate only recently, are compared in order to identify lessons learnt and best practices. The conference will take a closer look at the state of immigrant integration in Greece, which has a large immigrant population that has self-organised and is gradually becoming active in Greek public life. The civic and political dimensions of immigrant participation in Greek public life will be discussed, particularly as mainstream civil society organizations and political parties are gradually taking steps towards the immigrant communities. Through an interactive discussion between politicians, representatives of immigrant organizations and immigration experts, this conference aims to provide a platform within which to explore and discuss the opportunities and challenges faced in active immigrant participation in contemporary European societies.

Final Conference
Brussels, 16/5/2007
The final conference of the POLITIS project took place on 16 May in Brussels, Belgium. There was a morning event organized by the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME) and hosted by the European Commission which took place at the Albert Borschette Centre, in Brussels. A lunch time conference was also organized in the European Parliament by the CCME with the cooperation of the European Socialist Party.

Second POLITIS Summer School

Villigist, Germany, 10/7/2006 – 16/7/2006
The Second POLITIS Summer School was organized by the University of Oldenburg and took place at Haus Villigst, near Cologne, Germany. During the summer school the Student Researchers and the Core Research Team of POLITIS joined with some of the POLITIS national experts to discuss their interview experiences as well issues of methodology and theory for the analysis of the qualitative interviews with immigrant activists.

For more information, see the Project website

POLITIS Interim Project Meeting
Oldneburg, Germany, 11/5/2006 – 13/5/2006
An interim meeting was held in Oldenburg, Germany by the University of Oldenburg dealing with preparations for the Second Summer School and discussion the dimensions of analysis of the interviews with immigrant activists.

First POLITIS Summer School
Delphi, Greece, 12/7/2005 – 17/7/2005
The first Summer School was organised by ELIAMEP at the European Cultural Centre in Delphi. The Summer School trained the selected Student Researchers on active civic participation, interviewing techniques and on issues of multi-cultural communication and dialogue.
For more information see the Project website

POLITIS Interim Project Meeting
Athens, Greece, 8/6/2005 – 9/6/2005
An interim meeting was held in Athens at ELIAMEP’s offices in preparation for the First POLITIS Summer School.

POLITIS Project Meeting
Oldenburg, Germany, 11/2/2005 – 14/2/2005
The POLITIS Research team met in Oldenburg University, Germany. In addition to coordinating the research work between the teams, the main objectives of this meeting were: (1) to discuss the Reports on Active Civic Participation of Immigrants in the 25 Member States prepared by the National Experts and focus on comparative issues, and (2) to prepare the 1st POLITIS Summer School that will take place in Greece.

POLITIS Kick-off Meeting
Florence, Italy, 28/6/2004 – 29/6/2004
The main partners of the POLITIS Consortium met at the EUI in Florence. The objective was to co-ordinate the launch of the POLITIS Project and to discuss the conceptual framework, the timetable as well as the initial organisational details relating to the launch of Call for Student Researchers and the Call for National Experts.