Migration
Drivers of Migration
EU policy-makers have no control over the situation caused by migration. Their attempt to look at the big picture and long-term impacts of migration on the European society and its labor force failed until now. That is the reason why the EU policymakers turned 2016 to IIASA (-1-) to launch a partnership with the goal to get a more scientific basis for their policymaking. IIASA focuses on their systematic analysis on the drivers of migration such as pull factors that drive people towards to a new country and push factors that drive people to leave their homes. This partnership plans to produce scenarios exposing “…the potential impacts of different immigration policies, allowing policymakers to make educated decisions and smart planes…” (-2-). The present findings of IIASA are that the EU future labor force depends not only on migration but also on the proportion of people working (-3-): (1) people over the age of 65 become progressively active in the labor market. (2) Women were to work in the EU at rates common in Sweden. (3) Increasing Digitalisation and Automatization reduces the need for unskilled workers, but increase the need for more educated workers. The result is that the future EU labor force size requires only a moderate rate of migration in the long term. IIASA is just not only modeling the accumulated population but include the characteristics of the individual. Those characteristics include demographics (age and sex, education), ethnocultural (place of birth, ethnicity, language, religion), and economic (labor activity, employment). IIASA applies microsimulation (contrary to the macro-level approach used for the broad population) to find answers “- how well immigrants -are able – to adjust to their new countries, learn the language, find jobs -.“ (-4-) , and to asses the integration of migrants into society. IIASA does not restrict their scenarios to Europe but takes into account worldwide drivers for migration: the population growth in Africa, climate change, food security, and other challenges.
(-1-) IIASA, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, located near Vienna in Laxenburg Austria, use systems analysis to research critical issues of environments, economic, and technology change we face today. www.iiasa.ac.at
(-2-), (-3-), (-4-) “What Drives Migration,” Options, Summer 2018. Page 18.
Roland Leithenmayr VfV
Sustainable and Innovative “Arrival -City!
Doug Saunders points out in his book “Arrival City” that one-third of the world population (more than 2 billion people) move from rural to urban areas. The process of migration takes place in an Arrival City: It’s a space which changes our future radically in positive or negative sense. Those spaces are suburbs, slums or immigrant quarters in established cities located in developed, emerging or developing countries. If properly comprehended and executed by engaged stakeholders such as NGOs, these peripheral enclaves transform the fortunes of the families of migrants and refugees as well as the established city itself positively. If not properly handled or the urbanization mismanaged, those Arrival Cities develop to breeding grounds of violence, revolution, terrorism and war. The history shows that politician and stakeholder in their thoughtlessness failed to account the impact of inflowing migrants.
It seems to the author that the impact of migration from rural to urban areas is not considered properly in the 17 SDGs respectively to create sustainable (smart) cities (SDG 11).
Source: Arrival City, How Migration in History is Reshaping Our World, Doug Sounders, Random House Books. German Edition: Arrival City, Über alle Grenzen hinweg ziehen Millionen Menschen von Land in die Städte. Von ihnen hängt unsere Zukunft ab.
Roland Leithenmayr, VFV
Migration in Europe
The WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna/Austria) panel discussed about the
“Migration in Europe”.
Here the complete video recording of the panel discussion (German): http://www.wu.ac.at/wutv/show/clip/20160127-migration-k/
A short video contains interesting statements of experts charged (German): http://www.wu.ac.at/wutv/show/clip/20160127-migration/
Detailed interviews (which were also placed at the panel discussion) for future reference page (German)http://power2help.at/resources
The WU starts in a few weeks with the initiative POWER 2 HELP a series of evening workshops provide the skills and resources for the initial reception and integration of asylum seekers.
Thus, the WU wants to support workers / inside so that they can continue to be involved. Target groups are the many volunteers in the initial reception and integration of asylum seekers, volunteer
Employees / inside of relief organizations and those people who want to get involved but do not know how. The workshop program can be found here: http://power2help.at/workshops
When asking questions concerning this initiative, please contact info@power2help.at
Andre Martinuzzi, Fred Luks,Vera Ulmer,Sabine Eichinger
a.Prof. Dr. André Martinuzzi, Head of the Institute for Managing Sustainability, Associate Professor at WU Vienna, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Building D1, 2nd Floor, World Trade Square 1A-1020 Vienna, Phone: + 43-664-405 12 97, fax: + 43-1-31336-90-4698, skype: amartinu,
email: andre.martinuzzi@wu.ac.at, http://www.sustainability.eu
GLOBAL VALUE – Managing Business Impacts on Development http://www.global-value.eu
ESDN – European Sustainable Development Network http://www.sd-network.eu
The Author of this posting Roland Leithenmayr, VfV, Postings on Migration will follow!
NGO Committee on Sustainable Development Vienna 