WG2 Meeting Tirana 2025

WG2 In-Person Meeting, Tirana (30 Sept – 2 Oct 2025)

DATAMIG’s Working Group 2 (The Observatory) invites expressions of interest from members who wish to participate in our in-person meeting in Tirana, Albania. Following our Training School in Gorizia and Annual meeting in Ljubljana, we are now moving towards the next stage of developing the WG2 Toolkit.

WG2 is tasked with identifying and analysing emergent transnational data infrastructures, regulatory frameworks, and modes of counter-surveillance in the field of migration and border control. However, such activities are often hindered by the fragmentation of data practices, variability in legal and political contexts, and barriers to access. The toolkit will offer a shared structure (that is also plural and open ended) for researchers and stakeholders to systematically document, visualise, and analyse these dispersed practices in a way that is ethically grounded and empirically robust.

Work on this toolkit has already begun. In June 2025, during the Observatory Training School held in Gorizia and Ljubljana, WG2 participants engaged in intensive field-based and conceptual work—including the early development of what is provisionally called the Data Palimpsest. This tool is intended to trace layered, historical, and multi-modal data practices across border zones. Data was collected through collaborative fieldwork in Italy (Venice and Gorizia) especially at key transit and monitoring points, providing an empirical and methodological foundation for the toolkit. 

The toolkit is guided by an ethos of cooperation without consensus: we embrace ontological pluralism, epistemic disagreement and diverse methods. Each participant is encouraged to develop their own contribution, which will later be incorporated into the toolkit. Initial themes explored include:
• Movement as resistance
• Data frictions / Critical points of contact
• Migrant Legacies in/beyond Europe
• Strategic Datafication
• Surveillance Spirituality 

If you are interested in joining the Tirana meeting (30 September–2 October 2025), please send us a short paragraph (max 150 words) describing how you would like to contribute to the toolkit and how your expertise, fieldwork, or perspective can enrich this collaborative endeavour.

To apply:
Please send a short paragraph (max 150 words) describing how you would like to contribute to the toolkit and how your expertise, fieldwork, or perspective can enrich this collaborative endeavour.

Deadline: Monday, 25 August 2025
Send to: [email protected]
Reimbursement: Available for DATAMIG members.

We look forward to your contributions!