From 1 to 4 December 2025, the HGRA Project ran an intensive Training for Trainers week in Tunis, led by Sapienza University of Rome. The training marked a key milestone in a broader process to equip Libyan partner universities with the practical tools needed to design and develop their own Master’s programmes in Migration and Development, in the framework of Work Package 4.
The Training for Trainers involved 4 academic and administrative staff per each Libyan partner university. The programme was structured around four core modules: Economics, Research Methods, Health, and Law.
The first day opened with the Economics module, led by Professor Pierluigi Montalbano and Maria Cristina Risoli. The sessions focused on the statistical, economic, and demographic dimensions of migration, addressing key measurement issues, data quality, and challenges in interpreting migration indicators. The module also analysed the impacts of migration on both countries of origin and destination, combining economic theory with empirical evidence.
The second day focused on the Research Methods module, delivered by Professor Montalbano and Maria Cristina Risoli. The module provided a critical overview of the main methodologies used in migration studies, including the role of public discourse in shaping migration narratives, tools for textual and critical discourse analysis, and quantitative and qualitative approaches to measuring integration. Participants also explored field research methods, including participatory techniques and empirical case studies.
The third day was dedicated to the Health module, delivered by Professor Maurizio Marceca and Dr Rossella Carnevali (online). The sessions examined the complex and multidimensional relationship between health and migration from a public health and medical-anthropological perspective. Topics included risk and protective factors affecting migrants’ access to healthcare, multidimensional assessments of health needs, and mental health challenges linked to the migration experience, alongside possible support and intervention strategies.
The final day included a dedicated exchange with the Erasmus+ Capacity Building project MIGRANTS (2019–2023). Samira Mechri and Rim Triki from the University of Tunis El Manar, together with Alberto Capote from the University of Granada, presented one of the project’s main achievements: the joint Master’s degree Migration Studies: Governance, Policies and Cultures. Developed in collaboration with the University of Tunis El Manar, the University of Tunis, and the University of La Manouba, the programme is now successfully running its fifth cohort. This exchange gave HGRA’s Libyan partner universities the opportunity to learn directly from the Tunisian experience and discuss programme design, implementation challenges, and strategies to strengthen inter-university cooperation.
The training concluded with the Law module, led by Professor Gianfranco Nucera, which provided an overview of international and European legal frameworks governing migration. The sessions examined the protection of asylum seekers and refugees, the rights of migrants with specific needs, national legal pathways for mobility, and emerging issues such as climate change, criminal law, and the management of migration-related information.
