Across Europe, many peripheral towns and regions face population loss, ageing, outmigration, declining services and rising political discontent. The story is traditionally told as one of exit – of people moving away. Yet new mobility dynamics are emerging – from return and lifestyle migration to labour-driven mobility. The webinar explores why people move to (or back to) peripheral places, their experiences, and what lessons they offer for shaping the future of local and regional policy in rural Europe.

In this webinar, the Re-Place team shares findings from two years of place-based research from peripheral areas across Europe, focusing on: 

– Why people move to, or return to, places experiencing long-term population loss?
– What are the lived experiences of migrants and returnees? Why do some stay and others leave again?
– What are the impacts on local life? How do different forms of mobility intersect with local labour markets, welfare systems, housing, social relations and place identities?

We will be joined by Dr Becky Arnold (NIDI, the Netherlands) sharing key results from the Premium_EU project with a presentation entitled:

 “What do people move for? How targeted regional development policy can fight depopulation.” 

Alongside research presentations, we will host a roundtable bringing together academic and local expertise to discuss how peripheral regions can attract newcomers while addressing the challenges posed by diverse migration dynamics, with:

– Dr Andrea Membretti, Riabitare l’Italia Association, Italy
– Dr Lucía Fuentes, MP, Canary Islands, Spain
– Dr Anatolie Coșciug, Centre for Comparative Migration Studies, Romania

This webinar is aimed at academics, policymakers and practitioners working on rural development, cohesion policy and migration.

Register here: https://replace-horizon.eu/2026/02/25/online-seminar-what-attracts-newcomers-and-returnees-to-areas-in-demographic-decline-rethinking-the-future-of-rural-europe/

The Re-Place EU project is coordinated by CEG/IGOT-ULisboa.

Speaker bios

Dr Becky Arnold is a postdoctoral researcher at the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute. She investigates how regional development and migration intersect, with a focus on how policy can moderate this relationship. She is member of Premium_EU a Re-Place sister project .

Dr Andrea Membretti is a sociologist and consultant specialising in migration, climate change, and socio-demographic change in rural and mountain areas; he teaches at the University of Pavia and is a Research Affiliate at the University of Turin (CPS). He is part of the Riabitare l’Italia Association, which brings together scholars, practitioners, and policymakers to rethink Italy’s territorial inequalities and promote more balanced development, with a focus on inner and peripheral areas.

Dr Lucía Fuentes is a Socialist Member of the Parliament of the Canary Islands representing El Hierro since 2023. Previously, she served as Councillor for Tourism, Transport, and Communications at the Cabildo del Hierro from 2019 to 2023, and as Notary Public in Valverde, El Hierro from 2018 to 2019. From 2013 to 2018, she practiced law in Sweden, working at the Familjens Jurist law firm in Stockholm and for the Social Services Department of the Municipality of Flen.  She holds a degree in law from the University of La Laguna (2005). 

Dr Anatolie Coșciug is Vice-Director of the Centre for Comparative Migration Studies, a leading Romanian think-tank. He specialises in migration to and from Romania, social change, and transnationalism, with publications in leading migration-studies journals. He has led and contributed to EU-funded research and policy projects with universities, public institutions, and international organisations, and since 2025 runs the bi-lingual Across Borders podcast and co-founded the ReMap Network.