Now Published: 2023-2024 LERRN Newsletter

When LERRN began its work in 2018, we didn’t even have a name, let alone a sense of how the journey would unfold. It was during our first partners meeting in 2018 that the focus on local engagement and refugee research crystalized and became our clear focus. The COVID pandemic made us re-think the principles and practice of local engagement. As we continue to emerge from the pandemic, and as we are able to return to in-person meetings and international travel, it has been remarkable to see the sustained commitment from all partners to not simply return to the status quo ante, how things were before. As Oprah Winfrey once said: Know better, do better.

The stories in this newsletter highlight how LERRN’s partners are not only contributing to important discussions about forced migration at the national and global levels; LERRN partners are actively working to change the parameters of those discussions.

And it is important to reflect on the fact that our efforts are being undertaken at a time when fundamental principles of human rights and academic freedom are under threat in so many places in the world. As LERRN prepares for the last year of its current Partnership Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), we can look back on the many accomplishments of the past six years while looking ahead to much yet to be done. Behind it all is the remarkable work of the LERRN Secretariat who support the website, publications, webinars, reports and other aspects of the platform that lets us share our work with the world. Please join me in thanking this remarkable team.

James Milner
Project Director, LERRN