The main objectives of this project are to explore the Croatian labour market situation and the needs for foreign labour, sociodemographic characteristics of foreign workers, their working and living conditions, integration and migration plans, as well as to explore the historical aspect of migration processes in the Croatian area before the first official census in the middle of the 19th century and their influence on the demographic, ethnic, economic and cultural make-up of Croatia today. Research activities are carried out within two sections of the project that follow the defined objectives, and relate to 1) the exploratory phase of the research which includes analysis of the structure and trends of immigration to the Republic of Croatia based on available statistics and expert interviews (with emphasis on labour market analysis) and collection and preparation of the historical materials, 2) operationalization and implementation of quantitative and qualitative research and 3) analysis of collected data and materials, and dissemination.
This project will bring one of the first systematic researches on the position, experiences and perspectives of foreigners in the Croatian labour market. Results of the conducted research will bring scientifically based insights into the way of life of the growing immigrant group in Croatia, the foreign workers. The results of the research will also enable the formulation of recommendations for the further development of integration policies, which according to the MIPEX research conducted by IMIN in the Republic of Croatia in 2015 were only partially favourable. In addition, part of the research that from a historical perspective deals with migration processes and their effects on the demographic, ethnic, socio-political, economic, environmental and cultural situation in Croatia in the longue durée, will contribute to a better understanding of today’s demographic and ethnic make-up of Croatia and enable comparison of causes and patterns of historical and contemporary migration processes in the researched area.
Publishing of research findings in scientific journals, as well as presentations at national and international conferences will contribute to the affirmation of scientific research on immigration processes in Croatia, preparation of the receiving society for active inclusion of foreign workers into local communities by raising public awareness of their productive contribution, especially in deficient sectors of the Croatian economy. Finally, the research results will be useful in creating public policies based on scientific results, especially for the needs of migration (immigration and integration), education, pension and health policies.
Structure:
1st section of the research – Foreign workers in the Republic of Croatia: status, experiences and perspectives
2nd section of the research – Migration processes in the Croatian area since the 17th century: immigration to Slavonia and Dalmatia
Project co-leaders:
dr Margareta Gregurović and dr Simona Kuti
Project team:
dr Snježana Gregurović
dr Sanja Klempić Bogadi
dr Josip Kumpes
dr Dubravka Mlinarić
dr Sanja Lazanin
dr Sonja Podgorelec
Duration:
36 months (2020 – )
Funding:
Institutional scientific-research project