ICSI (Insuco Center for Social Innovation) is a center of critical thinking for action. At ICSI, we weave bridges between social science research and territorial learning to anticipate and sustainably accompany major global transitions, motivate informed decision-making by multiple actors, and catalyze collective action processes.
Insuco Madagascar, a subsidiary of Insuco Intl, will provide researchers with its experience as a consulting firm and its understanding of public development policies. It has a wide range of tools and methodologies for socio-economic studies and mapping tools, which experienced and young researchers will be trained in during their mobility at Insuco Madagascar. Researchers will have the opportunity to familiarise themselves with social sustainability studies and stakeholder consultation methods, which are particularly useful for conducting participatory research.
Insuco Madagascar will participate in WP2 (2.1.1 and 2.2.1). Mobility (to/from) all organisations linked to Insuco will help to develop links between research and expertise (Obj.3).
Insuco Togo, a subsidiary of Insuco Intl, will provide researchers with its experience as a consulting firm and its understanding of public development policies. It has a wide range of tools and methodologies for socio-economic studies and mapping tools, which experienced and young researchers will be trained in during their mobility at Insuco Togo. Researchers will have the opportunity to familiarise themselves with social sustainability studies and stakeholder consultation methods, which are particularly useful for conducting participatory research.
Insuco Togo will participate in WP2 (2.1.1 and 2.2.1) and will host the project kick-off meeting. Mobility (to/from) all organisations linked to Insuco will help to develop links between research and expertise (Obj.3).
The Insuco Group, led by Insuco Intl, is a consultancy firm providing specialist services covering all social aspects of extractive, infrastructure and institutional projects in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Our aim is to promote sustainable partnerships between all local stakeholders. We offer our clients effective, operational and pragmatic approaches based on a thorough understanding of their priorities and the local context. Our multidisciplinary and intercultural teams combine both high-level expertise and in-depth knowledge of the field. Our networks and our policy of continuously strengthening local capacity help us both to optimise our activities and to ensure the consistency of our actions. Our research and development department, focused on knowledge management, information systems and tool development, ensures a continuous level of excellence, enabling us to remain at the forefront of innovation in the social sciences.
Insuco Intl and its subsidiaries Insuco Togo and Insuco Madagascar will primarily participate in WP2, WP5 and WP6.
The University of Aix-Marseille (France), through its Mesopolhis centre, has expertise in sociology, political science, psychology and history, with several key research areas focused on the Euro-Mediterranean region. Mesopolhis also covers a wide range of approaches, particularly in quantitative methodologies, thanks to significant expertise in database management and proficiency in various analysis software (Excel, R, SAS, Modalisa), and the existence of institutional support (DemoMed Observatory, PUD) and human resources (researchers and research engineers), but also in innovative, creative and visual methodologies. Given this expertise, Mesopolhis is particularly well positioned in WP2, and more specifically on innovative methodologies (T.2.2); it makes an important contribution to WP5 and WP6 through training on life stages, vulnerability, violence, gender, social policy and demography, as well as quantitative approaches and fieldwork.
The Marie and Louis Pasteur University (France), through its two centres (LaSA and SEFAE), offers in-depth expertise in sociology, anthropology and psychology on the key themes of the PAGENS programme: childhood, adulthood, old age, family and parenthood, social policies and life courses, contributing directly to the first objective of the project. The LaSA centre is a leader in participatory methodologies conducted with vulnerable people (children, the elderly, people with disabilities or illnesses). The UMLP coordinates dissemination and awareness-raising activities (WP3) and co-leads WP6.
UNIPR (Italy) will play a key role in both WP2 and WP4, thanks to its methodological expertise and focus on social vulnerability. Specifically, the Department of Law, Politics and International Studies has developed significant and interdisciplinary expertise in participatory methods applied to research involving specific target groups (e.g., children, young people, and vulnerable populations) useful not only from a methodological point of view (research techniques), but also from a legal point of view (ethical issues, handling of sensitive data). The Department will host a group training on participatory research with vulnerable groups (2.2.2) and will organise a conference on vulnerability in different contexts (4.4.2).
The Department of Sociology and Business Law at UNIBO (Italy) is an interdisciplinary department composed of sociologists, economists and legal experts. It has solid expertise in the study of life courses from various perspectives, such as work and professional life, health and illness issues, and municipal and local well-being. It will contribute legal and economic expertise to the analyses carried out in WP4, 5 and 6. Marco Alberio will co-lead T6.2.
At UPO (Italy), the Department of Law and Economic, Political and Social Sciences (DIGSPES - Alessandria) is an interdisciplinary team composed of sociologists, economists and legal experts, placing UPO at the heart of work on methodological aspects and interdisciplinary and participatory approaches within WP6 and WP4 (T4.1). More specifically, UPO will share its in-depth expertise gained over two decades of research on childhood, age, health and rights, conducted by sociology experts from LAB.SIA (Child and Adolescent Health Laboratory) and legal experts from CEIMS (Interdepartmental Centre for Healthcare Management). This expertise will be leveraged in on-the-job training activities in selected countries (WP4 and WP6).
EthnoArt (France) is a civil society association particularly involved in WP2, with a special focus on “Interdisciplinarity with the arts: giving space to the sensory at all stages of research.” ethnoArt's main objective is to combine scientific and artistic mediation in order to make knowledge and methods in the humanities and social sciences accessible. ethnoArt targets a diverse audience in a variety of contexts (schools, social fields, training for professionals). The theme of migration and intercultural issues is central to the association's thinking. It will therefore also be involved in WP5, participating in collective fieldwork in African countries. ethnoArt will host nine researchers for training in participatory methods (2.1.2).
The TETRAS research unit at the University of Lorraine (Nancy), through its thematic cluster TAGES (‘Existential Transitions, Age, Gender and Health’), brings together mainly sociologists and anthropologists studying the issue of ageing, particularly in relation to health. The team approaches age as a social relationship, interacting with other social relationships that structure contemporary societies (gender, class and race). TETRAS will host researchers from Pagens who are undergoing training in audiovisual methods (WP2), health issues (WP4) and age norms (WP6).
The CNRS (France), through the French Center for Ethiopian Studies (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), as the project coordinator, will be responsible for WP1.
The French Center for Ethiopian Studies (CFEE), UAR3137, is a joint unit of the French Institute for Research Abroad (IFRE) of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) and the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS / INSHS). Based in Addis Ababa, it builds on nearly a century of Franco-Ethiopian scientific cooperation. The PAGENS project falls under the CFEE’s Research Area 3, focusing on contemporary transformations in the Horn of Africa, and intersects with the cross-cutting themes of Gender and Heritage.
Given the CFEE’s thematic and methodological expertise in history, geography, and sociology, the center will play a key role in WP5, led by Constance Perrin-Joly, the project leader. The CFEE-CNRS offers a mobility program dedicated to artistic approaches, in collaboration with Insuco Togo (Program 2.1.1), and a program on visual approaches applied to migration research with the AAU-IES (5.2.1).
The LinCS Laboratory (France), UMR 7069, Université de Strasbourg, has interdisciplinarity as its central paradigm, as promoted by cultural studies, combining sociology, anthropology, contemporary history, geography as well as ethics. These research topics overlap with those of PAGENS: stages of life, the body, and health. LinCS will lead WP4 and contribute to the training programme on “Material cultures, observation of bodily techniques and health” (4.3.2.). LinCS will also play a broader role in the fieldwork-based training sessions organised by WP4 and WP6, hosting colleagues and sending its members to other institutions. In addition, it will participate in WP2 and co-organise training sessions focused on visual methods (2.2.2) and art therapy (2.1.3).
Seminar 3 – WP5 – Programme 5.2.1 Training through fieldwork and visual approach (Climate change and mobility)
On Wednesday, 18th November 2026 - From 2 pm to 4 pm (UTC +0) : Meet the participants of the 1st mobility
Seminar 2 – WP2 – Program 2.2.3 Participatory methods
On Wednesday, 23rd September 2026 - From 2 pm to 4 pm (UTC +0) : Meet the participants in the 2.2.3 ‘Participatory Methods’ programme following their experience to Colombia.
A programme run by Jeanette Moreno (ICSI Bogotá) and Mónica Cuéllar Gempeler (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana).
Seminar 1 - WP2 Review of the experience in Togo, program 2.1.1 « Art based approach »
On Thursday, 11th June 2026 - From 2 pm to 4 pm (UTC +0) : Meet the participants of the 1st mobility
Programme leaders:
Aline CHAMAHIAN, Université d’Aix-Marseille (AMU)
Francesca ZALTRON, University of Oriental Piemonte (UPO)
Virginie VINEL, University of Strasbourg (Unistra)
This programme will involve carrying out research, either in pairs or individually, with colleagues hosting visiting researchers in Bologna, Aix-en-Provence (Mesopolhis), Ethnoart (France) and UdM (Montreal).
As these visits focus on field research, each institution will draw up a suitable schedule for hosting the visiting researchers, taking particular account of their areas of research.
Mobilities will be planned in 2028-2029.
Program leaders:
Dominique Harre, Institute for Social Research in Africa
Amina Nouh, Institut de Recherche Indépendant de la Corne d'Afrique
Constance de Gourcy, Aix-Marseille Université
This programme will involve carrying out research, either in pairs or individually, with colleagues hosting visiting researchers in Insuco Madagascar and in Djibouti at IRICA (Institut de Recherche Indépendant de la Corne de l'Afrique).
As these visits focus on field research, each institution will draw up a suitable schedule for hosting the visiting researchers, taking particular account of their areas of research.
Mobilities will be planned in 2027-2028.
Program leaders:
Dominique Harre, Institute for Social Research in Africa
Amina Nouh, Institut de Recherche Indépendant de la Corne d'Afrique
Constance de Gourcy, Aix-Marseille Université
Programme 5.3.1 will take place from 1 to 5 February 2027, following on from programme 5.2.1, which was held in November 2026.
Continuing with the theme of visual approaches and methods, this training will focus on photography as a research tool, examining it through the lens of migrations.
Program leaders: Constance Perrin-Joly, Centre français des études éthiopiennes and Tirsit Sahledengel, Addis Ababa University
