In this focus, research and practice projects are realised that deal with demographic change processes in rural areas (shrinking, ageing, gender asymmetries) as well as internal and transnational migration processes (urban-rural migration, labour migration and forced migration from Eastern Europe, the Orient or Africa), their complex interrelationships, social challenges and consequences.
This includes, among other things, unequal migration of women and men from rural regions to the metropolises (such as Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin), the consequences for further population development or the so-called "securing of skilled labour"(Fachkräftesicherung) in peripheral areas such as Upper Lusatia (Oberlausitz). Immigration from border regions of Eastern Europe (Poland, Czech Republic) or the chances of remaining and successfully integrating refugee migrants from the Middle East are also discussed - again in the context of the challenges facing the labour-society and the welfare state in the coming decades (including industrial jobs, trades or care work).
Important exchange and cooperation partners in the research-oriented field of work are: IZS Görlitz, IÖR Dresden, IfL Leipzig, Thünen-Institute für Regionalentwicklung Bollewick, KIB e.V. Görlitz, Robert Bosch Foundation; in the research and practice-oriented field: Federal Ministries (BMI, BMBF, BMVBS), Saxon State Government (Staatskanzlei, SMI, SMS), districts and cities in the region (Görlitz, Zittau, etc.) as well as associations and networks in the region.
Transformatives Land? Erneuerungspotenziale, -praktiken und -allianzen in Stukturwandelregionen aus Sicht von Frauen (01 - 12/2022)
Religionssensible Integrationskultur in Ostsachsen: Erkundung, Erprobung, Gestaltung (7/2018-12/2020)
Symposium: Transitzonen und Integrationspraxis. Der lange Weg von der Erstaufnahme zum gelingenden Alltag in Deutschland. in cooperation with the KIB Institut für Kommunikation, Information und Bildung e.V. on December 3, 2017
NOVEMBERTAGUNG 2017 Gesellschaftlicher Zusammenhalt und interkulturelle Integration in cooperation with the Institut für kulturelle Infrastruktur on November 17, 2017
Symposium: Angekommen und nun? Integration ein vielschichtiger Prozess! in cooperation with the KIB Institut für Kommunikation, Information und Bildung e.V. on October 28, 2017
Verbesserung der Verbleibchancen junger Frauen im LK Görlitz: Analyse, Vernetzung, Handlungsempfehlungen (7/2015-12/2016)
Studie zur alternsgerechten Arbeitsplätze in der Pflege in Ostsachsen (01/2012 – 09/2012)
ADO - Akteursnetzwerk für demografische Perspektiven der Oberlausitz: Ziele, Probleme und Ergebnisse eines transdisziplinären Forschungsprojekts (7/2008-6/2011)