Episode 39: Governing by proximity - cities shaping migration policy

The Migration & Diaspora Podcast

Hello and welcome to the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, with me your host Loksan Harley.

In today's episode, I'm delighted to be joined by Colleen Thouez, one of the foremost experts in the field of city-level migration governance.

About Colleen

Colleen Thouez is currently a senior fellow at the New School’s Zolberg Institute, where she directs the Global Cities portfolio. She is also a senior visiting fellow at SciencesPo Paris where she advises French cities, and the Africa-Europe Mayors Dialogue on Growth and Solidarity. As the inaugural director of the Welcoming and Inclusive Cities Division at the Open Society Foundations (OSF), she conceived the Mayors Migration Council (MMC) and its Global Cities Fund (2019), the Africa-Europe Mayors Dialogue (2020), and the University Alliance for Refugees and At-Risk Migrants (2018).

In 2021, she was appointed by the National Association of (University) System Heads, to assist in securing housing and sponsorship for recently arrived Afghan families on university campuses across the US. Dr. Thouez previously served for 17 years at the United Nations in leadership positions in adult education and international migration. She continues to advise national governments, municipal governments, regional bodies, and United Nations agencies, amongst others.

What we talk about

Colleen starts by introducing us to city-level migration issues and governance challenges, drawing from her truly global experiences working with municipalities from Barranquilla to Bristol. We then talk through some of her recent research and work on how cities have an increasingly powerful role in shaping migration governance on the global stage - in part thanks to some of the incredible examples of how many cities have supported their migrant residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. We close with some of Colleen's top principles for effective city-level migration governance.

I'd like to thank Colleen for coming on the show and thank you for tuning in. Without further ado, please enjoy the show.

Links

• New power configurations: city mobilization and policy change: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/glob.12357
• Cities as emergent international actors in the field of migration: https://brill.com/downloadpdf/journals/gg/26/4/article-p650_8.xml
• Follow @ColleenThouez: https://twitter.com/ColleenThouez
• Connect with Colleen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleenthouez/
• SDG 11 on inclusive cities: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal11
• All our episodes: https://www.homelandsadvisory.com/podcast