Roma Matrix Research

Universities of Salford and York, UK

Presentation to the Roma MATRIX ‘Combatting Racism through Inclusion, Conference, Athens, Greece 27th November 2013

Overview

Precursor to our research for MATRIX

Importance of evidence grounded in everyday experiences

Aim and scope of the MATRIX research

Methodology and deliverables

Precursor to Roma MATRIX research

Roma SOURCE research ‘The Limits of Inclusion?’ Brown, P., Dwyer, P. and Scullion, L (2013).

• Aim: Access and consider the everyday, perceptions, experiences and expectations of both Roma and non Roma majority communities in 6 MS to explore issues of inclusion and integration

The Limits of Inclusion….

Method• 24 Focus groups with both Roma and

Non Roma people• 180 people, over six Member States.• 92 male, 88 female, 14 nationalities

Findings• Diverse encounters between

communities, entrenched poverty and social exclusion of many Roma, understood in very different ways by Roma and Non Roma respondents

The need for grounded social policy research

Brought to light how encounters are played out in everyday life

Need for empirically informed evidence

Experience in the UK highlights how findings can help develop change

Need to bridge between real experience and policy for change to take place

Roma MATRIX: a shift in focus towards policymakers and actors

Aims:1.To map and explore existing policies and practice for combating anti-Gypsyism and promoting social inclusion in the four main areas

2.To consider the effectiveness of existing policies and procedures in combating anti-Gypsyism

3.To investigate how existing policy and procedural frameworks are operationalised in practice on the ground

4.To explore how policies are experienced by Roma

Roma MATRIX: a shift in focus towards policymakers and actors

• Not repeating NRIS evaluation and reviews

• Generally experience of Roma inclusion and specific reference to four key areas:1. Reporting and redress mechanisms in respect of anti-

Gypsyism

2. Roma children leaving care

3. Employment

4. Cross-community relations and mediation

Methodology

EU Network of researchers established across 10 Member States• Production of country report • Enabling the fieldwork interviews

Fieldwork• 120 semi structured interviews (12 in each partner Member

State) • National and regional policy actors i.e. policymakers,

practitioners and Roma ‘experts by experience’ (e.g. Roma NGOs, informal community advocates)

Working with researchers from Roma communities in the UK • Additional ‘community led’ research projects by three Roma

mentees partnered with Black Health Agency

Country Capital Region/area

Bulgaria Sofia Motana

Czech Republic Prague Usti nad Labem

Greece Athens Athens and surrounding area

Hungary Budapest Batanyterenyei

Italy Rome Lazio

Poland Warsaw Wroclaw

Romania Bucharest Cluj

Slovakia Bratislava Sarisske Michalanay and Ostrovanay

Spain Madrid Madrid and surrounding area

United Kingdom London Manchester/Sheffield

Methodology• Case study approach

• Designed in partnership with EU network• National policy and experiences of implementation

• Selected by being illustrative of issues

Issues we will be exploring in the field

Identifying the key policies in relation to the four key areas

How policy compliance is monitored and recorded

How national and regional policy is implemented in the case study sites

How Roma experience policy

Best practice and barriers to effective implementation

Outputs

Draft country reports December 2013

Interim report March 2014

Final report March 2015

Research papers 2015

Thank you for listening!

The Team

Dr Philip Brown p.brown@salford.ac.uk

Prof. Peter Dwyer Peter.dwyer@york.ac.uk

Philip Martin p.martin5@salford.ac.uk

Dr Lisa Scullion l.scullion@salford.ac.uk

Hilary Turley h.c.turley@salford.ac.uk

Our Country Expert for Greece

Chrisoula Arcoudis University of Athens