The MAGnituDe project addresses this gap by studying and enhancing democratic participation among Ukrainian citizens forcibly displaced by Russia’s full-scale invasion. The Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) introduced for forcibly displaced Ukrainians 

has brought a new level of legal recognition within the European Union. Yet, this recognition does not automatically translate into meaningful opportunities for democratic participation. 

By developing tools and pathways for democratic engagement in the context of forcible displacement, MAGnituDe aims to strengthen participation and mutual understanding in European societies. During the first annual meeting of this four-year Horizon Europe project, held at the Makerspace of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra, the research consortium gathered to exchange ideas and generate important insights for the next phase of work.

MAGnituDe – Migration, Affective Geopolitics and European Democracy in Times of Military Conflicts – explores how war-induced migration challenges democratic systems in Europe. Using a distinctive affect-centred research framework, participating scholars and activists investigate how empathy, dialogue, and shared experiences can contribute to renewing democratic practices.

 The project participants were inspired by the examples presented at the JRC Makerspace, which demonstrate innovative ways of communicating complex cultural and social phenomena to citizens and decision makers. These encounters helped the MAGnituDe team brainstorm new ideas on research outputs and dissemination formats, while also refining the conceptual thinking behind our own planned outreach activities.

Following the publication of our country reports on housing, labour, and education for Ukrainians in the Baltic Sea Region at the beginning of 2026 – with detailed analyses of Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Poland, and Germany – the project is now entering the next research and implementation phase. This includes interviews and ethnographic interactions with forcibly displaced people, where we will also apply the newly developed SenseArticulate approach, created by our colleagues at the University Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona and Zavod APIS in Ljubljana.

A particular focus of the meeting was on one of the practical deliverables from MAGnituDe’s research – the model of affect-centered civic dialogues between street-level bureaucrats and forcibly displaced persons. The encounters between migrants and frontline bureaucrats such as migration officers, school principals or municipality workers is an important starting point for migrants’ understanding of democratic processes and their trust in democracy. Affect-centered civic dialogues which will be piloted by MAGnituDe’s non-academic partner Help Ukraine Gothenburg (HUG) aim at improving trust and mutual understanding between forcibly displaced people and state bureaucracy. 

Working together with research teams at universities and research centres in Gothenburg (lead partner), Joensuu, Vilnius, Gdańsk, Kharkiv, and Greifswald, as well as with partners from Help Ukraine Gothenburg, discussions on the upcoming research tasks concluded with a stimulating exchange on the challenges of sharing sensitive research data across borders, institutions, and dissemination formats.

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