Researchers from UG, in cooperation with the Rome Foundation named after Margrabina J. Z. Umiastowska, will study the recent history of emigration from Poland to Italy. The conclusions may prove useful in designing a European migration policy.

A delegation from the Institute of Political Science - Director dr hab. Arkadiusz Modrzejewski, prof. UG, dr Kamila Kowalska and dr Rafał Raczyński - visited Rome in the last days of July. During the visit, a research and teaching cooperation agreement was signed with the Margravine J. Z. Umiastowska Foundation of Rome, represented by Foundation President Paolo Morawski. Work has also begun on a project devoted to the recent history of migration from Poland to Italy.

‘Cooperation with the Foundation is part of the research traditions of Gdańsk political science. The University of Gdańsk was and is an important place on the scientific map of Poland for research on Polish communities. Prof. Andrzej Chodubski, a researcher of the Polish diaspora and migration processes, was a key figure for our environment,’ says the Director of the Institute of Political Science, dr hab. Arkadiusz Modrzejewski.

The starting point of the project was a working meeting during which researchers from UG and several Italian academic centres discussed how to analyse and tell the story of migration from Poland to Italy, taking into account the changes that have taken place over the last almost 50 years in terms of law, the labour market, social perception and other migration-related issues. The project aims to publish a first-of-its-kind volume by the end of 2025, which will summarise all existing knowledge on the history of Polish migration to the Apennine Peninsula in the last half-century and identify possible further areas of research in this field.

‘The project is based on an interdisciplinary approach. It is intended not only to analyse the recent history of migration from Poland to Italy, but also to formulate conclusions that may be useful in designing a European migration policy,’ says dr Rafał Raczyński.

Bearing in mind the scale of the research challenges faced by the initiators of the project, the participants of the meeting worked out preliminary assumptions and indicated the most important research threads. Conceptual work will continue in the following weeks. ‘The project is the first step in the implementation of the agreement just signed. I believe that this will be a long-lasting and fruitful cooperation between the UG and the Foundation, which is an important institution of Polish-American life with a rich tradition,' adds dr Kamila Kowalska.

More information about the Foundation can be found at: www.fondazioneumiastowska.com.