Strengthening Academia-Policy Dialogue on Migration: Insights from the Horizon Europe GAPs Project in Poland
On December 18, 2025, an online seminar co-organised by the Migration Analytical Centre of the Office for Foreigners and the Centre of Migration Research at the University of Warsaw convened researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to tackle a pressing question in migration governance: how can research meaningfully inform return policies?
Focusing on academia-to-policy engagement, the seminar showcased concrete forms of cross-sectoral cooperation and critically examined their opportunities and constraints, with particular attention to return governance in Poland and across Europe.
A key contribution came from Marta Pachocka, who presented (in Polish) “Cross-sectoral cooperation within the Stakeholder Expert Panel in Poland – experiences from the Horizon Europe GAPs project on EU return policies.” Drawing on the Horizon Europe GAPs project, her presentation highlighted the growing expectation that EU-funded research should not only generate knowledge, but also shape policy debates at national level, especially in politically sensitive fields such as migrant return.
Using the Stakeholder Expert Panel (SEP) Poland as a case study, Pachocka demonstrated how structured dialogue between researchers, public administration, and practitioners can open new spaces for reflection on return policies beyond purely technocratic or enforcement-driven approaches.
She outlined the panel’s rationale, scope, and activities carried out in 2024–2025, presented the themes addressed across its three meetings, and discussed the key outputs produced within the GAPs project.
With nearly 70 participants from academia, public administration, and migration policy practice, the seminar underscored the relevance of the GAPs project in reframing discussions on return showing how sustained, cross-sectoral engagement can contribute to more informed, reflexive, and context-sensitive policy making.
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