Migration is multidimensional, complex and uncertain. These features, alongside with the underpinning agency of actors involved in migration, have been recently gaining prominence in academic literature. These developments parallel the exploration of computer simulations as tools of enquiry for population processes. There is a current need for a discussion on the potential and limits of such computational methods, on their knowledge and data requirements, and on the conditions for their usefulness for supporting migration policy. In this workshop we have explored these topics, and more, in order to identify the best ways of implementing the current cutting-edge research ideas in practice.

The workshop was organised as a part of the ERC project on Bayesian Agent-Based Population Studies, under the auspices of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Populations, and with the support of the ESRC Centre for Population Change. The associated public lecture event in the evening of 20 November was co-organised and sponsored by the University of Southampton. The promotional videos for the lecture and the whole series are available at the Media site.

The final workshop programme, background papers and the report from the workshop are available for downloading below.