irene ponzo | FIERI - International and European Forum of Research on Migration (original) (raw)

Papers by irene ponzo

Local Government Studies, 2025

This article, which is OPEN ACCESS, explores the consequences of project-based EU funding scheme... more This article, which is OPEN ACCESS, explores the consequences of project-based EU funding schemes for the local governance of migrant integration. In doing so, it also sheds light on some under-researched aspects of local integration governance, such as its financial and temporal dimensions and the importance of actors’ ability to develop shared action plans and attract resources to implement them. With these aims, the article bridges migration studies and the literature on the projectification of public policies, and offers fresh empirical insights into the local governance of unaccompanied minor integration in two Italian localities. To account for the observed processes, it proposes a specific type of governance, ‘project-driven governance’, which is characterised by three features: dependence on funding opportunities; a key role of ‘project entrepreneurs’, namely actors who are able to exploit these opportunities by turning their ideas into viable projects; and instability over time.

IMISCOE research series, 2023

Migration control has largely dominated the public and political debate on immigration since the ... more Migration control has largely dominated the public and political debate on immigration since the beginning of the 1990s. In particular, the mismatch between the restrictionist goals and the expansionist outcomes of migration control policies has captured the attention of the public as well as academia (Cornelius et al., 1994; Joppke, 1999; Joppke & Guiraudon, 2001). The presence of a large number of politically unwanted migrants (in the form of asylum seekers and irregular migrants) in Western European states despite increasing barriers and controls certainly represented the most evident example of such a contradiction. The research interest in the mechanisms of migration controls and their outcomes has led to two distinct types of literature. On the theoretical level, researchers have focused on the limits of what migration controls can achieve, addressing the power of liberal constraints (e.g. through the action of domestic institutions), international norms, organised interests and, more generally, the role played by different types of actors and venues in the field of migration policy (

IMISCOE research series, 2023

This volume challenges the idea that the North-South divide is the deepest cleavage in the way Eu... more This volume challenges the idea that the North-South divide is the deepest cleavage in the way European countries manage migration flows, and, with that, contests the dichotomous thinking that pervades the literature on migration control. By analysing cases from both geographical areas-particularly Germany and the Netherlands, on one hand, and Italy and Spain, on the other-each section has revealed the shared logics of action, strategies and practices on the ground pointing to unexpected similarities and blurred boundaries among European migration regimes. Relevant similarities also emerge in areas where we would expect the difference between the two blocs to be larger in light of structural constraints and the low level of Europeanisation. Labour-market policies and internal controls are the primary examples of this. Jan Schneider and Holger Kolb, for instance, showed how Germany's labour policies have come back to target the origin of immigrants as a selection criterion after 20 years, during which time they had been driven by the guiding principle of individual qualifications. As the authors noted, distinctive traits of Italian and Spanish labour migration policies such as "source-country particularism" and "preferential bilateralism" as well as the coexistence of universalistic (i.e. country-blind) and particularistic principles, have taken on increasing importance in Germany. At the same time, Camilla Devitt demonstrated how Italian labour migration policy has shown growing similarities with Northern European states: the country is increasingly reliant on the free movement of workers from Romania and non-EU family migrants for low-medium skilled labour needs, while adopting a C. Finotelli

Panel Abstract: Despite the large amount of literature on migrants’ integration, little is known ... more Panel Abstract: Despite the large amount of literature on migrants’ integration, little is known about integration in times of economic decline. In fact, as it happened after the oil crisis in 1973, also after the Great Recession that began in 2008 research on immigrants’ integration patterns has been limited compared to the literature produced on the effects on migrants’ mobility. This panel is aimed at contributing to fill this research gap by exploring the nexus between the Great Recession and integration processes in Southern Europe. With this purpose in mind, we will present some results from the JEMS Special Issue ‘Integration in times of economic decline’ stemming from the work of the IMISCOE Research Initiative ‘Integration crises. Analysing integration processes in an age of global instability’. The questions we are going to address are the following: What happened to immigrants’ integration in Southern European countries in the years of crisis? And, more generally, what ca...

IMISCOE research series, 2023

The chapter illustrates how Italy’s frames, strategies and practices concerning asylum have chang... more The chapter illustrates how Italy’s frames, strategies and practices concerning asylum have changed over the last three decades, and how the country has passed from what I have called, using a biological metaphor, infancy to adulthood. For a long time, European pressure and norms over asylum affected Italian legislation without significantly impacting policy frames and actual practices: Italy perceived itself as a transit country and, as a consequence, allowed and even fostered secondary movements of asylum seekers towards other countries and kept its asylum system underdeveloped. Since 2011, those solutions started failing because of the modifications in the social phenomenon of migration (the sharp increase of unplanned inflows) and in the institutional settings where negotiations among Member States occur (the full inclusion of Italy into the Schengen Area and the CEAS). Those failures resulted in a policy change so that the Italian asylum regime came of age: the country adopted a new policy frame by acknowledging itself as a destination country for asylum seekers, overcame ad hoc emergency solutions, and joined the Northern European countries’ call for more responsibility-sharing. However, Italy’s weak political-institutional capacity has slowed down the consolidation of the new practices. At the same time, it appears as largely responsible for the gaps with older destination countries in the management of asylum whereas divergence in policy frames and goals has lost relevance. OAP at this link: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-26002-5_15

Springer, 2023

The chapter illustrates how Italy’s frames, strategies and practices concerning asylum have chang... more The chapter illustrates how Italy’s frames, strategies and practices concerning asylum have changed over the last three decades, and how the country has passed from what I have called, using a biological metaphor, infancy to adulthood. For a long time, European pressure and norms over asylum affected Italian legislation without significantly impacting policy frames and actual practices: Italy perceived itself as a transit country and, as a consequence, allowed and even fostered secondary movements of asylum seekers towards other countries and kept its asylum system underdeveloped. Since 2011, those solutions started failing because of the modifications in the social phenomenon of migration (the sharp increase of unplanned inflows) and in the institutional settings where negotiations among Member States occur (the full inclusion of Italy into the Schengen Area and the CEAS). Those failures resulted in a policy change so that the Italian asylum regime came of age: the country adopted a new policy frame by acknowledging itself as a destination country for asylum seekers, overcame ad hoc emergency solutions, and joined the Northern European countries’ call for more responsibility-sharing. However, Italy’s weak political-institutional capacity has slowed down the consolidation of the new practices. At the same time, it appears as largely responsible for the gaps with older destination countries in the management of asylum whereas divergence in policy frames and goals has lost relevance.
OAP at this link: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-26002-5_15

Migration Studies, 2019

Southern European countries are generally portrayed as lame ducks when it comes to migrant integr... more Southern European countries are generally portrayed as lame ducks when it comes to migrant integration. In this article, I will analyse some of the reasons that have led to this outcome including potential biases in migration studies. I argue that Southern European countries in fact hold their own specific ways of incorporating migrants which may be equally or even more positive than those of older immigration countries. At the same time, I maintain that they appear rather heterogeneous in this regard, questioning the idea of a single Southern European model. I will test these hypotheses by comparing Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece with some Western European older immigration countries and by observing the trends of migrant incorporation during the Great Recession which started in 2008. The economic crisis is here regarded as both a factor of change and a ‘stress test’ of the actual robustness of migrant incorporation in the target countries. The empirical data are framed in a ty...

Territory, Politics, Governance, 10:3, 407-425, 2021

The dramatic increase in the number of forced migrants and asylum seekers in Europe in the past d... more The dramatic increase in the number of forced migrants and asylum seekers in Europe in the past decade, and the national redistribution policies aimed at diffusing the ‘burden’ of reception across national territories, have led mayors in small towns in rural areas to face the challenges of reception in their communities. In this study, we analyse how this challenge was dealt with in three mountain valleys in the Alpine area of Turin, in the North-West of Italy, where in 2014 the prefecture opened emergency shelters overnight and without consulting with the municipalities. Results from our research show that, in contrast to the thesis that mayors are pragmatic problem-solvers because of their proximity to the issues at hand, the local governance of asylum seekers’ reception is the result of the mobilization of relational and reputational resources on the part of community leaders. Mayors of small towns in rural areas will proactively engage on migrants’ reception only insofar as they can rely on and are willing to mobilize such crucial resources. When mayors fall short of relational and reputational resources, community leaders can eventually fill the gaps and contribute to ‘embedding’ national policies in the local community.

Coping with Migrants and Refugees, 2022

This chapter provides an overview of the more recent reforms undertaken in the field of asylum se... more This chapter provides an overview of the more recent reforms undertaken in the field of asylum seekers’ reception in the five EU member states considered by the book, i.e., Italy, Spain, Germany, Finland and Greece in the 2010s, when asylum claims in Europe started to increase substantially as a consequence of the Arab Spring. The goal is to identify the main driving factors of the observed policy changes around reception and to understand the extent to which the process has been underpinned by MLG policy arrangements. According to our findings, the perceived problem pressure related to a sharp increase in arrivals and the radical right’s penetration of the political system appear to be sufficient conditions for policy change whereas the pressure from the EU seems to produce much more nuanced effects. At the same time, the political-institutional capacity seems to impact the governance arrangements set up to manage EU resources and requests, with specific regard to the involvement of international organisations. Overall, MLG arrangements have been more prominent in those countries with federalist or regional institutional settings, although reforms led to a centralisation of the decision-making processes over reception in all of the investigated countries during the European refugee crisis.

This paper outlines the conceptual and methodological guidelines for research in MEDRESET Work Pa... more This paper outlines the conceptual and methodological guidelines for research in MEDRESET Work Package 7 (WP7). WP7 aims to develop a more sophisticated knowledge and awareness about the diverse frames, perceptions and priorities of a variety of stakeholders with regard to migration and mobility issues in the Mediterranean space, focusing on local stakeholders in four southern and eastern Mediterranean countries (Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia) – and among them on those actors who are generally excluded from Euro-Mediterranean dialogue and decision-making (e.g., civil society and grassroots organizations). Following an introduction on the dominant EU-driven frames on migration and mobility issues and the related policy agenda, the second section of this paper reviews the existing academic and expert literature produced on the two shores of the Mediterranean, highlighting dominant patterns and common trends. Drawing upon Boswell et al. (2011), the fourth section of this paper pr...

Coping with Migrants and Refugees. Multilevel governance across the EU, 2022

This book provides a comparative overview of asylum seekers’ reception throughout Europe by adopt... more This book provides a comparative overview of asylum seekers’ reception throughout Europe by adopting a theoretical framework based on an analytical approach to the notion of multilevel governance (MLG).
It challenges the tendency of the MLG literature to overlook political controversies and conflicts and questions the assumption that it represents the best policymaking arrangement for promoting policy convergence. In doing so, it explores the functioning of the reception component of the Common European Asylum System in centralised states and federal/regional states and analyses its implementation at both national and local levels. The book reveals the heterogeneous development of reception policies not only across Member States but also within each country where solutions adopted at the local level generally diverge substantially. Furthermore, the overall centralisation of policy-making on reception regardless the institutional structure, seems to leave little room for MLG arrangements tailored to specific localities and triggers tensions between central governments and local authorities.

Coping with Migrants and Refugees, 2022

The chapter analyses the implementation of asylum seekers’ reception policy in Italy since the mi... more The chapter analyses the implementation of asylum seekers’ reception policy in Italy since the migration crisis of 2011 following the collapse of the Tunisian and Libyan regimes. By using multilevel governance (MLG) as an analytical concept, this chapter explores the evolution of the Italian reception system focusing on the relationship between the national and local levels of reception governance. The chapter compares and contrasts two local case studies in Italy – Torino in the Piedmont region and Treviso in the Veneto region. These two localities have different political backgrounds and legacies and they both experienced a change in the political affiliation of the local administration.
Although on paper the Italian reception system is characterised by the existence of various MLG mechanisms, in practice there is a large variance, both over time and across the country, in the way MLG arrangements and instances are deployed and work. Drawing upon interviews carried out with stakeholders involved in reception of asylum seekers at the national, regional and local levels, this chapter aims to show that, among the factors explaining this variance, major roles are played by politics (both at the national and regional/local level), socio-political legacies and the strength of civil society organisations (at the regional and local level).

In 2006, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, the city of Stu... more In 2006, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, the city of Stuttgart and the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) established a 'European network of cities for local integration policies for migrants', henceforth known as CLIP. 1 The network comprises a steering committee, a group of expert European research centres and a number of European cities. In the following two years, the cities of Vienna and Amsterdam joined the CLIP Steering Committee. The network is also supported by the Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), and has formed a partnership with the European Network Against Racism (ENAR). Through the medium of separate city reports (case studies) and workshops, the network enables local authorities to learn from each other and to deliver a more effective integration policy. The unique character of the CLIP network is that it organises a shared learning process between the participating cities, between the cities and a group of expert European research centres, as well as between policymakers at local and European level.

Social Housing and Urban Renewal

Originality/value The chapter engages critically with the idea that built environment has determi... more Originality/value The chapter engages critically with the idea that built environment has deterministic effects on social environment, and social mix resulted from regeneration and housing policies can work as a catch-all solution for activating and rehabilitating human and social resources in the target area. Specifically, we show how these processes require particular organizational and policy conditions that cannot be taken for granted.

The report provides an overview of the Italian reception system. After describing the initial des... more The report provides an overview of the Italian reception system. After describing the initial design of the national governance of asylum seekers’ reception, it focuses on transformations of the reception system since 2011, when the Arab Spring started, paying specific attention to the decision-making process. After examining the formal organisation of reception policies in the country, the report explores the actual functioning of the reception system at the national and local levels (in the provinces of Turin and Treviso). Finally, policy outcomes are discussed with particular regard to trends of convergence and divergence in the implementation of reception policies and the contribution of monitoring activities to these processes. The report highlights the complexity of the Italian reception system, despite the repeated attempts of rationalisation and harmonisation. Concerning decision-making, three main periods are identified: 2011-2013, when an emergency approach prevailed; 2014...

Geographies of Asylum in Europe and the Role of European Localities, Oct 4, 2019

MONDI MIGRANTI

L’articolo approfondisce due crisi urbane scoppiate nel 2013: il moltiplicarsi dei migranti in tr... more L’articolo approfondisce due crisi urbane scoppiate nel 2013: il moltiplicarsi dei migranti in transito alla Stazione Centrale di Milano e l'occupazione abusiva di quattro stabili dell’ex-Moi a Torino. Attraverso l’analisi congiunta delle dinamiche mediatiche e di policy, gli autori mostrano il ruolo centrale che le istituzioni locali possono ricoprire nella produzione delle narrazioni sui migranti, incluse quelle dei media. Tuttavia, affinché ciò avvenga, sono necessarie alcune condizioni: gli attori appartenenti ai policy network locali devono sviluppare frame condivisi e comunicarli ai media, instaurando con questi ultimi relazioni dense. D’altro canto, anche le dinamiche proprie del giornalismo locale contano: la presenza di cronisti esperti di migrazioni e stabilmente impegnati sul caso, così come la collaborazione tra giornalisti all’interno della stessa testata e tra testate differenti, l’esistenza cioè di una sorta di media community locale, contribuiscono allo sviluppo di narrazioni mediatiche coerenti nel tempo e all’affermarsi di frame umanitari invece che securitari.

Local Government Studies, 2025

IMISCOE research series, 2023

Springer, 2023

The chapter illustrates how Italy’s frames, strategies and practices concerning asylum have chang... more The chapter illustrates how Italy’s frames, strategies and practices concerning asylum have changed over the last three decades, and how the country has passed from what I have called, using a biological metaphor, infancy to adulthood. For a long time, European pressure and norms over asylum affected Italian legislation without significantly impacting policy frames and actual practices: Italy perceived itself as a transit country and, as a consequence, allowed and even fostered secondary movements of asylum seekers towards other countries and kept its asylum system underdeveloped. Since 2011, those solutions started failing because of the modifications in the social phenomenon of migration (the sharp increase of unplanned inflows) and in the institutional settings where negotiations among Member States occur (the full inclusion of Italy into the Schengen Area and the CEAS). Those failures resulted in a policy change so that the Italian asylum regime came of age: the country adopted a new policy frame by acknowledging itself as a destination country for asylum seekers, overcame ad hoc emergency solutions, and joined the Northern European countries’ call for more responsibility-sharing. However, Italy’s weak political-institutional capacity has slowed down the consolidation of the new practices. At the same time, it appears as largely responsible for the gaps with older destination countries in the management of asylum whereas divergence in policy frames and goals has lost relevance.
OAP at this link: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-26002-5_15

Migration Studies, 2019

Territory, Politics, Governance, 10:3, 407-425, 2021

Coping with Migrants and Refugees, 2022

Coping with Migrants and Refugees. Multilevel governance across the EU, 2022

Coping with Migrants and Refugees, 2022

Social Housing and Urban Renewal

Geographies of Asylum in Europe and the Role of European Localities, Oct 4, 2019

MONDI MIGRANTI

Springer, 2023

Building upon the concept of migration regime, this open access book brings together the works of... more Building upon the concept of migration regime, this open access book brings together the works of scholars who have investigated logics and routines of action in the field of immigration control within a single and innovative theoretical framework. The chapters cover a wide range of policy domains, from visa policy to the externalisation of controls, labour migration to asylum, internal controls towards irregular migration to restrictions for intra-EU mobility. By unravelling organisational strategies and practices across Europe, the book does not only contribute to dismantling the very idea of the European North-South divide in migration but also shows how Europe really works in the field of migration in times of deep economic, asylum and health crises. In this perspective, the book questions the widespread understanding of migration control outcomes as simply the result of more or less effective state policies without considering the embeddedness of the national policy goals and strategies in the dynamic interplay of different economies, institutional cultures and geopolitical positions.
Open access: download the book at this link:https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-26002-5?sap-outbound-id=E205F8266EC28E0607C4F7C9E0ED951CEFCC96A0&utm_source=automation&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=000_LAN36_0000019290_Book%20author%20congrats%20fallback&utm_content=EN_34155_20230428&mkt-key=42010A0D55441EEDB98E253698539FDC

B. Glorious and J. Doomernik (eds.), Geographies of Asylum in Europe and the Role of European Localities, IMISCOE Research Series, Cham, Springer, 2019

City narratives are crucial in shaping public attitudes and perceptions, and in defining the viab... more City narratives are crucial in shaping public attitudes and perceptions, and in defining the viable policy options and cities’ responses to hot issues, such as migration and asylum. Nevertheless, the literature on relations between media and political actors is scarce and often unable to account for the complex local mechanisms leading to the production of media frames. This chapter investigates two urban crises: the rapid increase of transit refugees at the Central Station of Milan, and refugees’ illegal occupation of four buildings in the ex-MOI area (former Olympic village) in Turin. Both events started in 2013 and have been studied from their beginnings up to mid-2016 by using qualitative techniques and media frame analysis. By matching the media and policy analysis, the authors show the central role that the local institutions can play in shaping media narratives on migrants and how the cohesion of the policy networks strengthens their ability to affect the local media frames. The dynamics of local journalism also matter: the presence of reporters with specific expertise, a commitment to migration and stable engagement in the issue, as well as collaboration within and between newsrooms, namely the existence of a sort of local media community, contribute to the development of consistent narratives over time and the prevalence of humanitarian rather than security frames.

in P. Watt e P. Smets (a cura di), Urban Renewal and Social Housing: A Cross-National Perspective, Emerald, 2017., 2017

Purpose _ Based on a case study of conversion of real estate complexes built in Turin at the time... more Purpose _ Based on a case study of conversion of real estate complexes built in Turin at the time of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games into public and subsidized housing, the chapter compares policy goals aimed at producing social mix through the mixing of housing tenure, with actual outcomes and thus identifies possible advantages, challenges, and pitfalls of this kind of intervention. Methodology/approach _ The analysis is based on a survey and semistructured interviews with residents, in-depth interviews with key actors, and observation of daily interactions in public and shared places. Findings _ Regeneration policies and tenure mix seem to be most effective at preventing neighborhood stigmatization and attract private investments in facility development (area-based effects), but not to be " automatically " a source of mixed social relations and positive role models able to limit socially disapproved behaviors (people-based effects). Social implications _ The practical lesson which can be drawn from this chapter is that the achievement of people-based effects requires longstanding actions which go beyond the construction and allocation of new apartments. Originality/value _ The chapter engages critically with the idea that built environment has deterministic effects on social environment, and social mix resulted from regeneration and housing policies can work as a catch-all solution for activating and rehabilitating human and social resources in the target area. Specifically, we show how these processes require particular organizational and policy conditions that cannot be taken for granted.
Dewload: http://books.emeraldinsight.com/page/detail/Social-Housing-and-Urban-Renewal/?k=9781787141254

This open access book presents a comparative analysis of intergroup relations and migrant integra... more This open access book presents a comparative analysis of intergroup relations and migrant integration at the neighbourhood level in Europe. Featuring a unique collection of portraits of urban relations between the majority population and immigrant minorities, it examines how relations are structured and evolve in different and increasingly diverse local societies. Inside, readers will find a coordinated set of ethnographic studies conducted in eleven neighbourhoods of five European cities: London, Barcelona, Budapest, Nuremberg, and Turin. The wide-ranging coverage encompasses post-industrial districts struggling to counter decline, vibrant super-diverse areas, and everything in between. Featuring highly contextualised, cross-disciplinary explorations presented within a solid comparative framework, this book considers such questions as: Why does the native-immigrant split become a tense boundary in some neighbourhoods of some European cities but not in others? To what extent are ethnically framed conflicts driven by site-specific factors or instead by broader, exogenous ones? How much does the structure of urban spaces count in fuelling inter-ethnic tensions and what can local policy communities do to prevent this? The answers it provides are based on a multi-layer approach which combines in-depth analysis of intergroup relations with a strong attention towards everyday categorization processes, media representations, and narratives on which local policies are based. Even though the relations between the majority and migrant minorities are a central topic, the volume also offers readers a broader perspective of social and urban transformation in contemporary urban settings. It provides insightful research on migration and urban studies as well as social dynamics that scholars and students around the world will find relevant. In addition, policy makers will find evidence-based and practically relevant lessons for the governance of increasingly diverse and mobile societies. REVIEWS For anyone who wants to understand a critical issue of the early 21st century-the integration of immigrant minorities in European cities-this book is essential reading. In contrast to the all-too-common top-down view from the perspective of the national state, the authors provide us with essential ground-level insights from the daily round in urban neighborhoods. Richard Alba, CUNY Graduate Center This timely book makes a substantial contribution to our understanding of migration in Europe. Its focus on the neglected areas of negotiation, boundary-making and social relationships in European neighbourhoods make it especially compelling. It deserves to be read closely by academics and policy-makers alike.

This open access book presents a comparative analysis of intergroup relations and migrant integra... more This open access book presents a comparative analysis of intergroup relations and migrant integration at the neighbourhood level in Europe. Featuring a unique collection of portraits of urban relations between the majority population and immigrant minorities, it examines how relations are structured and evolve in different and increasingly diverse local societies. Inside, readers will find a coordinated set of ethnographic studies conducted in eleven neighbourhoods of five European cities: London, Barcelona, Budapest, Nuremberg, and Turin. The wide-ranging coverage encompasses post-industrial districts struggling to counter decline, vibrant super-diverse areas, and everything in between. Featuring highly contextualised, cross-disciplinary explorations presented within a solid comparative framework, this book considers such questions as: Why does the native-immigrant split become a tense boundary in some neighbourhoods of some European cities but not in others? To what extent are ethnically framed conflicts driven by site-specific factors or instead by broader, exogenous ones? How much does the structure of urban spaces count in fuelling inter-ethnic tensions and what can local policy communities do to prevent this? The answers it provides are based on a multi-layer approach which combines in-depth analysis of intergroup relations with a strong attention towards everyday categorization processes, media representations, and narratives on which local policies are based. Even though the relations between the majority and migrant minorities are a central topic, the volume also offers readers a broader perspective of social and urban transformation in contemporary urban settings. It provides insightful research on migration and urban studies as well as social dynamics that scholars and students around the world will find relevant. In addition, policy makers will find evidence-based and practically relevant lessons for the governance of increasingly diverse and mobile societies.
Full text is available on: http://www.springer.com/in/book/9783319230955

This book is on integration policies developed in several Europe cities (Avilés, Amsterdam, Barc... more This book is on integration policies developed in several Europe cities (Avilés, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bradford, Cluj-Napoca, Florence, Lisbon, Nuremberg, Rotterdam, Sheffield, Turin) and it deals with different policy sectors (i.e. education, housing and urban policies, young immigrants, Roma, asylum seekers). The main focus of the chapters and of the empirical researches they are based on is not so much on the content of the policies, but on the decision-making processes, on the policy “crafting”. Consistently, the Introduction by Irene Ponzo highlights risks in policy transfer such as the risk of limiting the transfer to the reproduction of the “best practices”, focusing on the outputs and neglecting the processes through which they were created: like in the business world, in public policies what counts in replicating a product is know-how, i.e. how to make something, and not just what to make. Conclusions by Giovanna Zincone point to some recurring strategic elements of success or failure regardless of policy sectors, as they emerge from the empirical chapters. Among the others, the continuity of resources often appears to be crucial, even more than their amount, as well as a lacking knowledge of recipients is a recurring element for failure since attributing demands and behaviours to those recipients based on unfounded prejudices, however well-meaning they may be, can easily generate undesired effects and backlashes, and even open the way to xenophobic movements and parties. To sum up, the books tries to offer some knowledge-tools for ‘crafting’ local policies by analysing advantages and disadvantages of various strategies developed in European cities to deal with integration issues.