Foreign immigration impacts on the economic and social development of rural and mountain areas across Europe. The spatial distribution of Third Country Nationals (TCNs) interacts with the relations between urban and rural/mountain areas. Moving from these hypotheses, MATILDE assesses the economic and social impacts of TCNs in 10 European countries at national and regional scales. It examines the local impact of migration in rural and mountain regions through 13 case studies conducted with action-research methods. The project engages local stakeholders and policy-makers to achieve a better understanding of the impacts of migration and to formulate recommendations improving the governance of migration, territorial cohesion, and local development.

The MATILDE project develops and tests a transdisciplinary conceptual and methodological framework for a multidimensional assessment of the economic and social impacts of Third Country Nationals (TNCs) at the EU-aggregate, national, regional and local levels.
The assessment is based on the hypothesis that foreign immigration is an important driver of social and economic development; it also has effects on urban-rural/mountain relationships (Copus, 2013; Habitat III 2015). The assessment will be based on quantitative and qualitative methods and will adopt an action-research approach (Lewin, 1946).
MATILDE will conduct 13 case studies. They are located in regions that are specific for the presence of urban poles differently interconnected with rural and mountain areas through flows of people, economic resources and cultural exchange. MATILDE develops a case studies approach which is built on a multi-stakeholder perspective: the two-level consortium brings together research partners and local partners acting in the field of migrants’ integration - NGOs, public authorities and governmental agencies. They will work together to co-construct the assessment of migration impact in rural and mountain areas engaging local stakeholders and beneficiaries, and to jointly elaborate policy recommendations and governance solutions. Moreover, the project aims to promote socially inclusive and territorially balanced growth by stimulating local governance processes capable of better connecting urban and rural/mountain areas, reflecting the potential for local development entailed by TCNs stocks and flows.