The project
The Horizon 2020 – ITHACA. Interconnecting Histories and Archives for Migrant Agency: Entangled Narratives Across Europe and the Mediterranean Region project aims to analyze narratives of migrants both in the past and the present, starting from the 15th century until today and create a rigorous historical framework based on them. The project’s idea is based on the creation of the ITHACA Platform, which will digitalize all narratives, documents and archives collected from the partnership and generally will create an interactive space of collection and dissemination of migration narratives. The narratives focused on the past will be based on migrations related to religious causes, humanitarian crises, political reasons, decolonization processes, environmental and climate causes. The narratives related to the present, will be focused on “irregular” migration in Europe and the socio-economic contexts of origin. ITHACA research action will define and develop concrete actions concerning migration, moving away from an emergency logic and basing the choices of practitioners and policy makers. The project will be carried out between January 2021 and March 2025.
Its basic philosophy
Through research action, and participatory, artistic, and training activities, the ITHACA project deepens the various forms of migration narratives, considering migrants as agents of social change, retracing causes, transformations, and effects of migration narratives, and highlighting silenced expressions. These actions intend to raise awareness, to inform the public debate, and to disseminate thoughtful recommendations for present and future policies of relief, empowerment, inclusion, and participation.
The partnership
The ITHACA project is carried out by a group of 12 partners, including universities, NGOs, and association:
– Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia (co-ordinator) (Italy);
– Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (France);
– United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (Switzerland);
– Universiteit Leiden (Netherlands);
– Ethniko Kapodistriako Panepistimio Athinon (Greece);
– Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique CNSR (France);
– Università di Milano (Italy);
– Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (Greece);
– Archivio delle Memorie Migranti (Italy);
– Association ARCS Tunisie (Tunisie);
– Institute of Geography named H A Aliyev National Academy of Science of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijan);
– Université Al Akhawayn D’Ifrane (Morocco).
The AMM’s role in the project
The Archive of migrant memories is in charge of coordinating the work package concerning the collection of narratives of present migration, with particular attention to the creation of listening context and to the adoption of participatory methods in producing and sharing self-narrations in the various countries involved: Italy, Morocco, Tunisia, Cameroon, Senegal, Jordan, the Netherlands.
Besides this coordinating task, AMM will be directly involved in fieldwork activities in Italy and Tunisia (in collaboration with Arcs Tunisie).
Lastly, AMM will coordinate the organization of the ITHACA Diary Contest, in collaboration with the (Italian) National Diary Archive based in Pieve Santo Stefano (Arezzo, Tuscany) (DiMMi project).
This project received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program under Grant Agreement n° 101004539.