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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
The IAMO Forum 2025 was held under the theme “Rural Roots and Routes: Navigating Complexities of Quality of Life, Immobility, and Migration”. Over the course of three days, around 160 participants from more than 26 countries gathered to discuss some of the most pressing challenges facing rural regions worldwide. The forum took place from 18 to 20 June 2025 in Halle (Saale), Germany.
The forum was opened by IAMO researcher Antje Jantsch, who highlighted the importance of interdisciplinary exchange on topics such as well-being, quality of life, crisis-driven migration, immobility, and policy-making. She also provided an overview of the conference program, which included keynote speeches on selected topics, scientific presentations, a poster session, an interactive policy panel, and several networking events.
In the opening keynote speech, Talita Greyling, University of Johannesburg, South Africa, discussed how big data and machine learning can be applied in social sciences to measure well-being. She introduced the Gross National Happiness.Today (GNH.today) index, a real-time indicator of experienced well-being that uses machine learning models such as XGBoost and ElasticNet to analyse Google search data. Real-time measurements of public sentiment may prove to be valuable tools for understanding and responding to the emotional drivers behind migration decisions and immobility in rural areas.
In the second keynote on the first day, Anne White, University College London School of Slavonic and East European Studies, United Kingdom, presented findings on the motivations of economic migrants to settle in small towns and rural regions. She combined the concepts of livelihood, lifestyle, and place attachment as a process to illustrate how qualitative methods can be used to investigate both out- and in-migration. Her presentation included a case study on two Polish small towns with high emigration rates that are now experiencing a return of international migrants.
In the keynote on the second day, Roman Hoffmann, IIASA Population & Just Societies Program, Austria, addressed the interplay between climate change, migration, and immobility. Drawing on international datasets and case studies, he demonstrated that climate-induced migration is highly context-dependent and follows no single pattern. He placed particular emphasis on the role of so-called “trapped populations” - those who remain in place despite environmental stress. Hoffmann called for both research and policy to better account for local vulnerabilities and to consider both mobility and immobility as relevant responses to climate risks.
During the poster session, researchers presented their projects and findings, engaging in lively exchanges with the audience. For their outstanding contributions, Sultan Kozhamberdiyev and Mojtaba Nikzad were honoured with the Best Poster Award. Kozhamberdiyev used the photovoice method to explore the challenges and potentials of early-career teachers in rural schools in Kazakhstan. Nikzad analysed how economic, social, and legal factors shape land use and rural-to-urban migration in Iran’s rural areas using panel data models.
The forum concluded with a panel discussion featuring Saamah Abdallah (Hot or Cool Institute, Germany), Mechthild Anna Becker (Centre for Climate and Foreign Policy, DGAP, Germany), Caroline Hornstein Tomić (Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences, Croatia), and Drini Imami (Agricultural University of Tirana, Albania). The discussion was moderated by Jennifer Hauck from CoKnow Consulting, Germany, and focused on what makes rural regions livable. Caroline Hornstein Tomić presented insights from Croatia, where significant population loss in recent years has created a demographic crisis. She stressed the importance of return migration programmes, civic infrastructure, and local engagement for revitalising rural areas. Mechthild Anna Becker emphasized the need for policy-oriented migration research that communicates complex findings in local contexts. She advocated for inclusive decision-making processes and a differentiated approach to migration and immobility. Saamah Abdallah shared findings from the UK, where people living in remote rural areas report particularly high levels of well-being - supported by social ties, access to nature, and affordable housing - but warned of sustainability risks associated with rural life in affluent economies. Drini Imami reported on the Western Balkans, where out-migration undermines the social fabric. He stressed the importance of trust in institutions, the potential of agrotourism, and the need to strengthen both agriculture and alternative income sources in rural areas.
The conference was organized as part of the Leibniz Best Minds Project RuWell and co-organized by the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS) and the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB). Financial support was provided by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt and the City of Halle (Saale). Kritika Mishra and Mansoor Ahmed Koondhar received a travel grant and ISQOLS membership to support their participation in the forum.
Further information can be found on the conference website: www.iamo.de/forum/2025.
Next year's IAMO Forum will take place from 17 to 19 June 2026 on “Cultivating Methodological Fields, Harvesting Real-World Solutions: Advanced Methods in Agricultural Economics” in Halle (Saale), Germany.
Panel discussion at the IAMO Forum 2025
Source: Photo: Markus Scholz
Copyright: © IAMO
Criteria of this press release:
Journalists, Scientists and scholars, Students
Economics / business administration, Environment / ecology, Politics, Social studies, Zoology / agricultural and forest sciences
transregional, national
Scientific conferences, Transfer of Science or Research
English
Panel discussion at the IAMO Forum 2025
Source: Photo: Markus Scholz
Copyright: © IAMO
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