MATILDE aimed to shed light on the social and economic impacts of migration processes directed towards European rural and mountain areas stemming from the arrival and settling in of Third Country Nationals (TCNs), their upward trend, transformative and redistributive effects. Through local level fieldwork conducted with action-research methods, it aimed to stimulate the engagement of local stakeholders (e.g. migrants, policymakers, civil society, transnational networks) to produce new knowledge about the processes and strategies triggered by migration at the local level.

The project adopted a place-based approach and a mixed methodology and has:

• developed and tested an innovative toolbox for multi-dimensional and multi-scale assessment of the impacts of migration on the social, economic, and spatial dimensions in rural and mountain areas;
• shed light on the nexus between migration and local development and on the impacts of migration on territorial inequalities and regional disparities by assessing the impact of migration on the social and economic dimensions at different territorial scales;
• co-constructed a participatory assessment of the impacts of migration in rural and mountain areas through 13 local case studies in ten countries;
• promoted place-based governance of migration and socially inclusive growth through strategic and operational recommendations targeting national, regional, and local level policymakers and stakeholders;
• enhanced public awareness and stimulated informed debate on the impacts of migration, addressing misperceptions through dissemination and communication strategies targeting diverse groups (academia, stakeholders, citizens, migrants) at different government levels.