How do changes in society, individual life experiences and migration policy shape decisions to stay or to migrate over time and across countries? And, how can this knowledge inform future migration policies and governance?
These are the questions the project PACES (Making migration and migration policy decisions amidst social transformations) aimed to address.
On 4-5 June 2026, researchers involved in the PACES, and sister projects AspirE and DYNAMIG, project gathered in Paris at Université Sorbonne Paris Nord for the project's final conference. Over two days, consortium members reflected on three years of research exploring how migration and migration policy decisions are shaped by broader societal transformations.
Reflecting on PACES’ key findings
Migration decision making
The conference opened with a public session, where PACES' project leader Dr Simona Vezzoli (ISS) provided an overview of key findings emerging from the project. Her presentation highlighted PACES' first contribution: understanding migration decisions not as isolated choices, but as processes that unfold over time and are shaped by changing social realities.
The keynote address was delivered by Professor Ash Amin (University of Cambridge), who drew on his research with African and European migrants in Castel Volturno, Italy. His reflections explored the everyday realities of migration, belonging and adaptation, offering valuable perspectives that resonated with many of the themes explored throughout the PACES project.
Joining the discussion, Dr Simona Vezzoli, Professor Antoine Pécoud and Dr Filip Savatic (Université Sorbonne Paris Nord) reflected back on the broader implications of migration research in a rapidly changing world. Together, they considered how migration aspirations evolve, how mobility decisions are negotiated across different stages of life and how societal transformations influence people's futures and opportunities. A shared insight was the notion of suspension – of time and lives – observed among African migrants as they move along their journey and once they reach European societies. Regardless of personal conditions and opportunities in European society, African migrants often appear to be in an ongoing state of 'transit’.
Migration policymaking
On the second day, Abigail Goldfarb (Migration Policy Institute Europe) presented policy insights emerging from the PACES project, highlighting the gap between the complexity of migration decision-making and the simplified assumptions that often underpin migration policy. She also reflected on the challenges of translating research evidence into policymaking, particularly amid competing political priorities and institutional constraints.
Building on these themes, Camille Le Coz, director of Migration Policy Institute Europe, moderated a roundtable discussion on migration decision-making in a changing development aid landscape. Policymakers, practitioners and researchers reflected on the growing intersections between migration governance, development cooperation and humanitarian assistance, and what these shifts mean for future migration policy.
Common threads across migration and migration policy research
Across the two days, presentations from PACES researchers and guest speakers returned to a central question: how do people make migration decisions in times of uncertainty and change? Researchers explored the temporal dimensions of migration decision-making, showing how aspirations and plans evolve, shift and sometimes reverse over time.
Discussions also highlighted how broader social transformations – from economic change to shifting social norms – shape migration choices in ways that challenge simple or linear explanations.
Attention also turned to migration governance and deterrence policies. Presenters questioned common assumptions about why people migrate and examined the effectiveness of state and EU-led campaigns designed to discourage migration. Discussions highlighted the limits of policies based on simplified understandings of migration decision-making, showing how aspirations and mobility choices are shaped by a wider range of social, economic and personal factors.
Participants reflected on what researchers, practitioners and policymakers can learn from PACES, and how migration research can better respond to evolving social realities and policy debates.
Looking ahead
While the project is reaching its formal conclusion, PACES' findings will continue to inform future research and public debate. Over the course of the three-year project, the consortium has produced a wide range of outputs, including research reports, policy briefs, blogs and, most recently, a scenario-building report and a comic book designed for young adult audiences.
As part of its final dissemination activities, the project will host the dialogue event Who is a migrant? on 26 June at Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam. The event will bring together researchers and members of the public to reflect on how migration is understood, discussed and experienced, and to share key insights generated through the PACES project.
Stay up to date with PACES by visiting the project's website.
Funding
This project has received funding under the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, grant agreement N 101094279. Views and opinions expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
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