THURSDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2025

COMPASS Project is an Interreg MAC Project whose ultimate aim is to set up an Observatory for human mobility between Canary Islands and Africa. To this end, we take a comprehensive approach to the migration phenomenon, proposing solutions that promote circular migration as a method to address the challenges that arise at the different stages, from the origin and transit of migrants to their integration into the new societies. The project focuses on intervening within the cooperation space covering Canary Islands, Gambia, Mauritania and Senegal – countries that serves as points of origin, transit and destination of migratory flows (22,000 people in the past year).

Understanding and comprehensively tackling the challenges related to migration in the region, – by identifying the actors involved, detecting best practices, observing the gaps, and proposing innovative solutions to facilitate the management of regular migration within the cooperation space that includes Canary Islands, Gambia, Mauritania and Senegal – will enable us to activate different mechanisms that can be successfully established in the short and long term in order to promote the international colaboration and the welfare of migrant populations and host communities. The project website can be consulted HERE.

To achieve this aim, the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the partners of the COMPASS Project are organizing an international academic and institutional meeting, open to all experts and stakeholders involved. We invite all actors engaged in the migration phenomenon on both shores and across the European Union to contribute their knowledge and reflections. The activity is structured as a comprehensive academic approach covering the complexity of migration in the transit and destination phases. This event includes key components —a scientific meeting for knowlege sharing, joint working sessions, networking among public entities, and the subsequent publication of the conferece proceedings. The thematic discussions will explore crucial aspects such as the state organization of migratory movements, training processes for migration—evaluating the training programs and labour demand in host societies—accurate information about safe migration processes, and communication and awareness-raising on both shores.

Thematic areas for paper submissions: 

Every session will have three speakers (20 minutes per-speaker) and up to three papers will be selected for every session (5 minutes each) for public presentation. The Scientific Committee will assess the relevance of selecting more papers in some sessions and the Scientific Committee will assess the possibility to select more relevant papers in some sessions. 

The topics in every session will be interdisciplinary and will seek to foster the interrelation among the various roundtables on the migratory phenomenon and its challenges. Our objective is to reflect on the context in which every suggested topic takes place, the weaknesses and strengths of the migratory situation, good practices to be followed and the need for legal and management developments in the current situation.

SESSION 1. European and African legal and social framework for labour migration 

Thursday, 30 October 2025

11.30 a.m.– 13.30 p.m.

Thematic proposal for communications:

• European Union regulation of labour migration
• Regulation of labour migration in European border countries
• Spanish regulation of labour migration 
• Spanish regulation of circular labour migration
• African regulation of labour migration
• Regulation of labour migration in Gambia, Mauritania and Senegal 
• Institutional context of labour migration between Europe and North Africa 
• Political context of labour migration between Europe and North Africa
• Social context of labour migration between Europe and North Africa 
• General framework of migration between the Canary Islands, Gambia, Mauritania and Senegal 

SESSION 2. Current context of migration and labour routes between Mauritania, Gambia and Senegal, and the Canary Islands

Thursday, 30 October 2025.

16.00 p.m.– 18.00 p.m.

Thematic proposal for communications:

• The migratory route between the Canary Islands, Gambia, Mauritania and Senegal.
• Profile of migrants on the route between the Canary Islands, Gambia, Mauritania and Senegal.
• Historical factors of the route between the Canary Islands, Gambia, Mauritania and Senegal.
• Current factors of the route between the Canary Islands, Gambia, Mauritania and Senegal.
• Socioeconomic factors of the route between the Canary Islands, Gambia, Mauritania and Senegal.
• Institutional context of labour migration between the Canary Islands, Gambia, Mauritania and Senegal.
• Political context of labour migration between the Canary Islands, Gambia, Mauritania and Senegal.
• Social context of labour migration between the Canary Islands, Gambia, Mauritania and Senegal.
• Context of institutional collaboration between the Canary Islands, Gambia, Mauritania and Senegal.
• Context of civil society collaboration between the Canary Islands, Gambia, Mauritania and Senegal.

SESSION 3. Labour opportunities and needs for circular migration

Friday, 31 October 2025

09.00 a.m. – 11.00 a.m.

Thematic proposal for communications:

• Holistic view of the labour market on both shores, shared needs 
• Shared and useful training on both shores 
• Labour opportunities and need in the private context 
• Opportunity environments for bilateral circular migration
• Training needs for circular migration 
• Legal context for the recognition of migrant training on both shores
• Good training practices for successful circular migration 
• Socio-educational context for training opportunities
• Legal context for training opportunities 

SESSION 4. Migration narratives on regular circular migration on both shores 

Friday, 31 October 2025

11.30 a.m. – 13.30 p.m.

Thematic proposal for communications:

• The current African narrative on labour and non-labour migration 
• The current European narrative on labour and non-labour migration
• The current Canarian narrative on labour and non-labour migration
• Narratives on the creation of useful training itineraries on both shores 
• Narrativas vinculadas a la capacitación significativa de los migrantes.
• The convergence of need, opportunity and expectation in circular migration 
• Creating alternative narratives
• Good practices of constructive narratives in circular migration
• Workshops on positive migration narratives
• Data, realities,  hoaxes and manipulations in migratory narratives

Dates for proposal submission:

Proposals can be submitted from 26 May to 7 July 2025.

To submit your paper, it is necessary to register on the Conference website. Upon registration, you will have private access for the submission of your proposal. The correct receipt of your submission will be confirmed by email. The registration fee can be paid via the link provided on the website once notified the acceptance or rejection of the paper.

Material content and evaluation:

The Scientific Committee will evaluate the proposals according to the following criteria:

1. Link and convenience regarding the thematic
2. Relevance of the chosen topic regarding the thematic of the session
3. Quality of the approach developed in the proposal 
4. Originality of the proposal

The Scientific Committee will select up to three proposals for oral presentation. A maximum of three alternative proposals will be also selected for oral presentation per session. A decision will be made by the Scientific Committee no later than 28 July 2025 and will be communicated by email (please, make sure you enter a valid email address): 

1. Selection of the proposal for oral presentation at the conference
2. Selection of the proposal without oral presentation as an alternative

Acceptance of paper proposals for oral presentation or as alternative options implies the commitment to deliver a written text for subsequent publication in the academic document that will serve as the basis for further development of the project. This requires the submission of the full text before 10 October 2025. The Scientific Committee will evaluate all submitted papers to be included in the collective work.

The full text must be formatted according to the style guidelines of the scientific journals on the subject of every communication (law, sociology, psychology, institutional framework). It must not exceed 10,000 words and must be submitted in Word with Times New Roman 12-point for the body of the text and 10-point for the footnotes. It can be submitted in Spanish, English and French.

After the meeting participants will have a period of time to amend the publication or adapt it to the debates and discussions held during the meeting. If there are any changes, the new document must be submitted by 17 November 2025. Acceptance of the proposal for publication will be announced on 24 November 2025. Publication is expected in the first half of 2026.

Dates for Proposal Submission: 26 May to 7 July 2025

Notification of Acceptance: 28 July 2025

Full Paper Submission Deadline: 20 October 2025

Final Decision on Publication: 17 November 2025