How do policymakers, researchers and the general public respond to evidence about immigration? What shapes their trust in research? Can evidence actually change minds?

This Lunch Bites event will focus on the behavioural effects of evidence about immigration: how different audiences engage with it, how they evaluate it and what this means for communication strategies.

Drawing on new findings from the Migration Research to Policy Co-Lab project, the discussion will consider what these patterns reveal about the links between evidence, beliefs and policymaking, and what they mean for those seeking to communicate research more effectively.

Clare Llewelyn-MacRae (Neuropolitics Lab, University of Edinburgh) and Roderik Rekker (Radboud University), both partners of the Co-Lab project, will present new survey and experimental research on attitudes towards evidence in migration policymaking, including levels of trust in science and the perceived role of research among policymakers, researchers and the wider public. Michael Palmer, Deputy Head of the Communication Unit in the European Commission's Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs (DG HOME), will join the conversation to reflect on the implications of these findings for public communication and discuss practical strategies for strengthening the impact of evidence in frequently contested policy debates.

The conversation will be moderated by Eleonora Milazzo, Research Fellow at the Migration Policy Centre.

Learn more about the Migration Research to Policy CoLab.