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The project aims to shed light on settled refugees’ experiences of participation, belonging, and well-being in rural municipalities in Norway.

REMAIN’s overarching question is: What is required for refugees to thrive and participate in rural municipalities, and which strategies and policy measures can be developed to increase the likelihood that they remain?

The project is based on the government’s policy of dispersal settlement of refugees, as well as the objective that settled refugees should remain in rural municipalities.

Its purpose is to develop knowledge about the opportunities and challenges associated with refugee settlement in rural municipalities, in light of the political ambition to sustain viable local communities across the country.

The project is carried out by an interdisciplinary research group consisting of researchers from NTNU, NTNU Social Research AS, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, the University of Oslo, and Malmö University.

The research is qualitative, and data collection will mainly consist of fieldwork involving interviews and observation in four case municipalities.

To ensure active participation and local anchoring, the project will organise integration panels with settled refugees, as well as dialogue meetings involving refugees, politicians, employers, the voluntary sector, and the wider community.

The local integration panels will consist of a group of settled refugees and researchers, and each panel will meet several times throughout the project period to discuss key questions and milestones.

The local dialogue meetings will be organised as open meetings within the respective communities, with the aim of engaging a broader cross-section of residents in issues related to refugee settlement and inclusion.