Roma Matrix Research

1. Roma Matrix Research Universities of Salford and York, UK Presentation to the Roma MATRIX ‘Combatting Racism through Inclusion, Conference, Athens, Greece 27th November 2013

2. Overview • Precursor to our research for MATRIX • Importance of evidence grounded in everyday experiences • Aim and scope of the MATRIX research • Methodology and deliverables

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. Roma MATRIX: a shift in focus towards policymakers and actors Aims: • To map and explore existing policies and practice for combating anti-Gypsyism and promoting social inclusion in the four main areas • To consider the effectiveness of existing policies and procedures in combating anti-Gypsyism • To investigate how existing policy and procedural frameworks are operationalised in practice on the ground • To explore how policies are experienced by Roma

7. 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: • Reporting and redress mechanisms in respect of anti-Gypsyism • Roma children leaving care • Employment • Cross-community relations and mediation

8. 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

9. Methodology • Case study approach • Designed in partnership with EU network • National policy and experiences of implementation • Selected by being illustrative of issues

10. 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

11. Outputs • Draft country reports December 2013 • Interim report March 2014 • Final report March 2015 • Research papers 2015

12. Thank you for listening!