(Re)migrants for Society Welfare. Research Presentation

Abstract

This research presentation aimed to show how (re)migrants - people who left the country after the 1990s and have a university education - contribute to prosperity in their home country. The study was carried out by researchers from VMU and the Institute for Social Innovation in Lithuania, together with colleagues in Croatia, Poland and the UK. The process examined in the research is described as “social remittances”: it is understood as knowledge, initiatives, values, attitudes, experiences, and social networks enacted by (re)migrants to be transmitted and implemented in their home/departure countries. (Re)migrants have been found to have a significant impact at both societal and individual levels. They change the conservative attitudes of friends, relatives and colleagues and introduce democratic values acquired in Western countries in relation to human rights, work ethics and environmental protection. This project has received funding from the Research Council of Lithuania, agreement No S-GEV-20-7.