Program

Wednesday 17 May
09:00-16:00 17:00–18:30 18:30–20:30	Tour to Pisa - Half day Walking Tour of Prato To register for the Tours please download registration form and fax it through to Events Management Office. Cocktails and Reception
Thursday 18 May
8.30–9:00	Opening Remarks Howard Duncan International Metropolis Project (Canada) Sir James Gobbo AC CVO Australian Multicultural Foundation and Patron of Monash Centre Prato (Australia)
9:00–10:30	The Pattern of Skilled Migration Flows: Today and Tomorrow What will future flows of skilled migrants look like? From where will skilled migrants originate, what skills will they possess, and what will their favoured destinations be? Have the patterns changed? Can so-called “immigrant-receiving” countries be assured of a continued supply of the skills that their economies and societies will need? Some destinations are, quite simply, more attractive than others, so what “pull factors” can countries use to attract skilled migrants, and what can they do to retain those migrants once they arrive? Chair: Hass Dellal, Australian Multicultural Foundation Graeme Hugo, Adelaide University (Australia) Keiko Osaki, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Thailand) Michael Teitelbaum, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (United States)
10:30–11:00	Break
11:00–13:00	Selecting Skilled Immigrants: Comparative Approaches and Analysis Countries currently employ a variety of systems to select the immigrants whose skills will – it is hoped – contribute to their economies and societies. What is the rationale for concentrating on highly skilled migration in formal programs such as in Canada and Australia? Which selection criteria deliver the most effective results? How are selection systems best administered to ensure that the skills imported actually contribute to the destination economies? Does an emphasis on skilled migration over other forms of migration, such as family reunification, have the economic benefits that are intended? Chair: Erin Tolley, Metropolis Project (Canada) Richard Bedford, Waikato University (New Zealand) Jane Duke, Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (Switzerland) Renald Gilbert, Director, Economic Immigration Policy and Programs Citizenship and Immigration (Canada)
13:00–14:00	Lunch
14:00–14:30	A Local Perspective Italy's immigration policy - what works and what needs to change Chair: Dr Annamaria Pagliaro, Academic Director, Monash Prato Centre Prof Franca Bimbi, Department of Sociology, University of Padua, and the Hon. Member of Italian Parliament representing the Veneto region (Italy) The outcome of the recent Italian election and critical role played by Italian overseas communities. Marco Fedi, Italian MP-Elect, TBC Note of Thanks Sir James Gobbo, AC CVO Australian Multicultural Foundation and Patron of Monash Centre Prato (Australia)
14:30–16:30	Here to Stay? Permanent Migration versus Temporary Programs The policies of traditional immigrant-receiving countries tend to focus on permanent migration, with only limited temporary programs, designed to satisfy short-term labour needs. Increasingly, however, these countries are re-examining and even expanding temporary programs. What are the implications of this shift? How should temporary programs best be managed? And what can be learned from countries that have always had temporary migration as their focus? Chair: Maryann Wulff, School of Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University Christina Boswell, Hamburg Institute for International Economics (Germany) Gerald Burke, Centre for the Economics of Education and Training (Australia) John Martin, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Sandra Pratt, European Commission (Belgium)
18:30	Depart by bus for dinner at the Cantina del Redi Restaurant in the village of Artimino
Friday 19 May
9:00–11.00	The Ethics of Cherry-Picking: Out-Migration and its Impact on Sending Countries Immigrant receiving nations draw their supply of skilled labour from other countries, both rich and poor. What impact does this have? Are there benefits or simply repercussions? Do richer countries have an obligation to somehow compensate poorer economies for depriving them of locally-trained and educated migrants? Should sending countries be positioning themselves to one day become the world’s supplier of labour or should they be countering the out-migration of their workers? Chair: John Nieuwenhuysen, Monash Institute for the Study of Global Movements Kumi Naidoo, CIVICUS (South Africa) Dilip Ratha, World Bank (USA) Bob Rowthorn, Cambridge University (United Kingdom)
11:00–11:30	Break
11:30–13:00	Circular Migration Communications technologies, improved transportation links, and increasingly interdependent relations between countries have changed the nature of migration. Rather than thinking of migration as resulting in permanent settlement in the country of destination, we increasingly speak in terms of circular migration, with migrants returning to the country of origin or moving to another destination country and maintaining links with all of them. What are the patterns and flows of circular migration? Who are the returnees? How settled are the emigrant diasporas? In what ways do source countries foster these transnational links? And how should destination countries respond to the increasing transiency of migration? Chair: TBC Sin Yih Teo, University of British Columbia (Canada) Hon. Patricia Sto Tomas, Department of Labour and Employment (Philippines) Steve Vertovec, COMPAS and Oxford University (United Kingdom)
13:00–14:00	Lunch
14:00–14:45	Immigration Futures: Keynote Address Geography Matters Ron Skeldon Chair: Howard Duncan, International Metropolis Project (Canada)
14:45–16:30	Immigration Futures: Concluding Panel Chair: Richard Bedford Waikato University (New Zealand) Panel: Christina Boswell, Hamburg Institute for International Economics (Germany) Bob Rowthorn, Cambridge University (United Kingdom)
Saturday 20 May
	Tour to Montalbano Hills - All Day To register for the Tour please download registration form and fax it through to Events Management Office.