Reimagining responses to forced migration through the Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN)

This project addresses the complex and pressing global challenge of forced migration.

The scale and complexity of forced migration is growing, yet the international community is unable to effectively respond to the challenge. New approaches are needed, especially in the global South where 76% of the world’s forced migrants are now found.

The project is founded on a shared belief in the need to transform our approach to forced migration research by amplifying the agency of those most affected by displacement and by adopting a deeply inclusive, interdisciplinary, collaborative and localized approach to the co-production of knowledge.

The goal of the partnership is for the knowledge and expertise of those most affected by displacement to more reliably and substantively inform forced migration research and the global refugee regime, leading to more effective, legitimate and accountable research, policy and practice.

The project will focus on four strategies:

1. Ensuring the meaningful participation of forced migrants as equal partners;
2. Investing in collaborative, partnered research with those most affected by displacement;
3. Amplifying the agency of traditionally marginalized actors through training and mentoring activities; and
4. Reimagining knowledge translation and mobilization to realize change in policy and practice.

The project aims to mobilize a global partnership that embraces a wide range of perspectives, generates new forms of knowledge and unites diverse actors in designing and promoting transformative, yet practical, responses to forced migration. Ultimately, the project aims to champion research, policy and responses that are more effective, legitimate and accountable.

This project is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) which awarded a C$2.5 million Partnership Grant to a network of 27 organizations and 76 partners to undertake it. It runs from 2025 to 2032, with total support from partners estimated at an additional C$2.5 million.