OPPORTUNITIES offers insight into how narratives on and of migration develop and how you can put the migrant's and refugee's voice in the foreground and engage in a fair dialogue.

In public debates on migration, narratives that present the issue from the outside clearly outnumbers life stories that depict the lived experience of transnational mobility. Policy makers, journalists, and public stakeholders should be more aware of this imbalance and seek to include the insider’s perspective in their contributions to the debate.

In order to create a Level Telling Field of migration at local, national, and EU level, we propose the strategy of allied storytelling which consists in the act of sharing a story on behalf of another after a process of active listening. If policymakers, journalists, and NGOs want to represent migrants in public debates, they need to make sure that this group is actively included in the debate.

You find more recommendations on the resource page.

You will find a wealth of information on the sources page. We are constantly searching for ways to give the voice of migrants a fair and proper place in our narratives: we call this the Level Telling Field. You will find extensive research into the foundations of the Level Telling Field, the dynamics of narratives, and how we can create a story in which the migrant's voice is given equal weight.

How do (social) media deal with different narratives and what attitudes do Europeans have towards migration? Do our results show a more nuanced picture?

You will also find everything about the Cross Talks. The Cross Talks method is the way to put a Level Telling Field into practice: how can you create an fair dialog between people in unequal positions.

The OPPORTUNITIES book, which summarizes the most important findings, will be available here soon.

You can find all this and more on the resource page.

Cross Talks are the practical application of the Level Telling Field. It is a method designed to foster an open dialogue, one in which every participant has an equal voice. The Cross Talk method uses stories written by the participants themselves. These stories are then read aloud. This is a unique form of active listening. It enables people to put themselves in another’s shoes.

This method has demonstrated that an honest dialogue is possible in both European and African contexts.

We want to further promote this method.

If you’d like to use this method, you’ll find plenty of information here (see manual). You can also find examples of how the method is used at www.involve-democracy.eu, for instance.

More information: michel.debruyne@over-see.be