Rome, 5 November 2025. The HGRA Dissemination Conference at Sapienza University of Rome presented the results and insights of the HGRA Project. The event was organised by Sapienza University of Rome and UNIMED, in collaboration with Gulf of Sidra University, the Libyan partner leading the dissemination tasks. The conference offered a platform to reflect on the project’s achievements and explore ways to strengthen Libyan higher education’s role in addressing migration challenges.

Libyan partners shared key lessons learned from the project. They highlighted the importance of improving project management, fostering collaboration, and using data and analysis to guide institutional development. The discussions emphasised the value of creating a Master’s programme on migration and strengthening the Libyan Migration Research Network, which established an academic platform aimed at promoting and supporting research, knowledge and information sharing and analysis on migration and asylum related issues in Libya. The main results of the project are listed here.

The conference explored how internationalisation and social inclusion can drive the modernisation of Libya’s higher education system and empower its role in migration studies.

Professor Montalbano (Sapienza University of Rome) presented proposals for joint training programmes and faculty development to build a new generation of instructors specialising in migration, by adopting Bologna Process inspired standards to improve governance, enhance international recognition, and align Libyan universities with the European Higher Education Area (EHEA).

Internationalisation must also go hand in hand with inclusion. Rossella Celmi (Coordination Office for the Mediterranean (COMED) of the International Organization for Migration -IOM) underlined the potential of universities as spaces for empowerment, creativity, and youth engagement in the field of migration. She highlighted mentorship schemes, peer-to-peer support, and youth-led initiatives as practical ways to foster the inclusion of refugees and students with migratory backgrounds. Complementing this perspective, Lorenzo Leotardi (UNHCR Italy) shared updated data on refugee movements in Libya, while Laura Salzano (University of Barcelona) provided more detailed insights into the Libyan Migration Research Network.

Participants included representatives from Sapienza University of Rome, UNIMED, University of Barcelona, Luiss University, European Training Foundation, INDIRE – National Erasmus+ Agency, IOM – UN Migration, and UNHCR Italy, alongside the external evaluator of the project and the Libyan university partners.

This event is part of a series of dissemination conferences that will take place in the next months to make the results of the project known to external stakeholders and to find whenever possible other stakeholders willing to take up the projects results