UNIMED celebrates International Migrants Day on December 18th by reiterating its commitment to the inclusion of Migrants in education. We seize this special occasion to present to you the MIGRANTS Project and its Joint Master Degree recently launched.

Given its geo-political situation, Tunisia plays a major role in the migration governance strategy, not only for itself but also for all the surrounding countries, including EU Member States. In this context and with the aim of finding adequate and sustainable solutions, the University of Palermo in collaboration with other academic and non-academic partners has decided to develop the MIGRANTS project whose objective is to strengthen the capacity of the Tunisian Higher Education Institutions to train staff who will be able to plan and implement governance measures and policies for a safe, orderly and regular migration.

In order to achieve this general objective, the project has adopted a strategy consistent with the Erasmus+ Guidelines, which is articulated through the institutionalization and accreditation of a Joint Master Degree between the three Tunisian Partner Universities (University of Tunis El Manar, University of Tunis, University of La Manouba) and many forms of training and qualification for professors and young researchers who will set up the teaching staff of the Master. This objective is complemented by the will to improve Partner Universities teaching staff’s capabilities by a comprehensive program of trainings, job shadowing activities, coaching and mentoring actions and support in acquiring scientific qualification in Migration Studies.

During the first two years of the project until May 2021, 11 Training Weeks were carried out by experts from the three European partners of the project: UNIMED, COSPE and CLEDU. The aim was to develop a multidisciplinary understanding of migration from various perspectives.

On the 22th of September 2021 the Higher Institute of Human Sciences (University of Tunis El Manar), the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences (University of Tunis) and the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Humanities (University of La Manouba) officially launched the Joint Master Degree in “Migration Studies: Governance, Policies and Cultures” for Tunisian and international students.

As MIGRANTS Project’s main objective, the Joint Master Degree in Migration Studies is an interdisciplinary two years programme offered in English that will provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the opportunities and challenges represented by international migration.

Thanks to education, knowledge and capabilities acquired during the study programme, students will obtain a range of high-level skills and competences: multi-dimensional analyses of migration and integration in a wide range of contexts, including the competence to understand the causes, patterns and effects of international migration, understand and use both quantitative and qualitative methods, as well as cultural analysis, conflict analysis, management and administration of migrant policies and governance.

For more information about the MIGRANTS Project and about the Joint Master Degree in “Migration Studies: Governance, Policies and Cultures”, you can visit the MIGRANTS Project’s website: https://migrantsproject.eu/