THE METROPOLIS PROJECT: An Overview

The Metropolis Project was launched in 1996. It was motivated by the recognition that there existed a pressing need to come to grips with the challenges and to capitalize on the opportunities associated with migration and the integration of ethnic and religious minorities in large cities around the world.

The Project was shaped by the understanding that for migration and integration policies to succeed, they would need the active and co-ordinated support of all levels of government, NGOs, the private sector and the public at large. These stakeholders did not lack conviction about the importance of the task. What they lacked was knowledge and, consequently, the ability to operate from a shared strategic platform. In order to address this, the Project was structured in a manner to include all of the key stakeholders.

A second key factor affecting the Project's design was a sharp curtailment in public spending which forced governments everywhere to reevaluate their priorities and to seek strategic alliances that would rationalise scarce resources and leverage help from other sectors. In the case of policy development, it was recognized that further investments in knowledge were needed and that this knowledge should be obtained through new alliances with universities, research institutes and think tanks. It was felt that by bringing external scientific knowledge to bear on complex, strategic issues that cut across several jurisdictions, more robust public policy would result.

The goal of the Metropolis Project is to improve policies for managing migration and diversity in major cities, and it will do this by:

• enhancing academic research capacity;
• focusing academic research on critical policy issues and policy options; and
• developing ways to facilitate the use of research in decision-making.

The project has been structured as a partnership with both domestic and international components. It seeks to increase the amount of research done in the immigration and diversity fields; to create opportunities for significant interchange among decision-makers, researchers and NGOs; to encourage discussions that go well beyond the mere stating of positions, descriptions, and advocacy; and to provide settings for problem solving using the best information and analysis.

Nationally, the Metropolis Project is supported by a consortium of federal departments and agencies (Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Health Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women Canada, Human Resources Development Canada, Statistics Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and Solicitor General Canada) who provided $8 million in start-up core funds for the initial six years (through March 2002).

Five Metropolis Centres of Excellence have been created, each a partnership of major universities. The Centres are situated in Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver and recently in the Atlantic Canada. Collectively the Centres involve over 20 universities and several hundred affiliated researchers, graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. Federal, provincial and municipal governments, NGOs and private sector representatives participate actively on the management and advisory structures mandated for all the Centres. In addition to receiving core federal support, the Centres draw extensive support from the universities and receive project resources from federal departments, provinces, NGOs and the private sector.

Overall Project co-ordination and strategic direction setting is conducted under the leadership of the Metropolis Project Team, which is supported by CIC. The Team coordinates federal activities through an interdepartmental committee structure.

Project activities in Canada to date include:

• More than hundreds of research projects completed or in progress.
• Major national conferences have been hosted by the Centres of Excellence in Edmonton, Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto. The Metropolis Project Team also hosted a national conference in Ottawa. The conferences provide an important meeting opportunity for the five Metropolis Centres of Excellence, for policymakers and for NGOs. They feature numerous research domain workshops as well as plenaries.
• Five research domain seminars helped to identify priorities and to help focus research on important policy issues.
• Numerous policy-research seminars and workshops.

The international project involves a partnership of policy makers and researchers from over 20 countries, including the United States, most of western Europe, Israel and Argentina and from the Asia-Pacific Region, and inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, such as the European Commission, UNESCO, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development, the International Organization for Migration, the Migration Policy Group, the Migration Policy Institute and the .

Strategic direction setting and coordination is led by CIC's Metropolis Project Team. The Executive Head of the Project Team co-chairs the International Steering Committee with Rinus Penninx at the University of Amsterdam.

Internationally, the Project is managed through an International Steering Committee which is responsible for strategic decisions,an International Secretariat (two "arms": one at CIC, the other in Amsterdam, Netherlands) with responsibility for all Project operations, a Policy-Research Board which promotes policy relevant international comparative research, and a Conference Committee which oversees the annual conference.

Key international activities to date include:

• Annual high level conferences attended by Ministers of national and state governments, mayors of cities, key academics, senior government officials and NGOs. These conferences feature numerous, autonomous, highly focussed workshops involving policy officials and researchers. To date, there have been eight such conferences in Milan, Copenhagen, Israel, Washington D.C., Vancouver, Rotterdam, Oslo and Vienna. The 9th International Conference will be taking place in Geneva
• Comparative policy-research seminars on such topics as transnational communities, managing divided cities, labour market barriers, second generation immigrants, education and international management of migration.
• International comparative research projects with countries such as Great Britain, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Italy and Israel on such topics as public attitudes towards immigration and ethnic diversity, transnational communities, barriers to employment and other aspects of immigrant integration.
• Development and maintenance of active networks of policy makers, researchers, and non-governmental organizations.

Communications and knowledge transfer

Two-way communications between researchers and decision makers are fostered by Metropolis through conferences, workshops, seminars and other face to face exchanges. These provide participants with opportunities to engage each other in intense conversations; to exchange information; and to work through policy problems and issues together. In addition, the Project has created an award winning, interactive network of websites, co-managed between universities and government agencies. More traditional methods including newsletters, bulletins, journals and other publications are also employed extensively.