CORRIDORS is a research project that explores how migration corridors are formed from the ground up by civil society, migrants, and everyday acts of solidarity. Focusing on two key geographical regions— Ukraine/Poland/Denmark/(Croatia-Balkan route) and North Africa/Spain—the project examines how these corridors function as spaces of both control and hospitality, shaped by migrant strategies and support from non-traditional actors. By analyzing how these spaces are produced, CORRIDORS offers a new perspective on the dynamics of migration in response to crises and border regimes.

The CORRIDORS project explores how migration corridors are created and maintained through grassroots efforts and everyday acts of solidarity. It addresses critical questions about how individuals navigate complex and highly controlled border regimes, examining what informs their strategies and how they acquire the knowledge to move across borders. The project also investigates the types of support migrants encounter along the way and the durability of that assistance. CORRIDORS takes an innovative approach by focusing not only on border control but also on the spaces of hospitality that develop alongside these routes.

Drawing on critical geographical and ethnographic perspectives, the project investigates how migration corridors are formed from the ground up by a range of non-state actors. Civil society organizations, local municipalities, social movements, and migrant communities all play significant roles in shaping these spaces. Everyday acts of solidarity by ordinary citizens also contribute to this process, creating what CORRIDORS defines as infrastructures of migration. The research focuses on two key migration routes: the Ukrainian-Polish-Danish-Croatian corridor and the North African-Spanish corridor. Both routes illustrate how corridors of migration represent transnational, unequal, and ever-changing spaces of dispute, marked by the tension between migrant mobility and control.

The project delves into the dynamics and drivers that form these corridors, examining how knowledge is produced and shared among migrants and how this knowledge influences their mobility strategies. It also investigates how these routes foster alternative geographies of hospitality and mobility, affecting migrants’ aspirations to either continue their journey or settle in new environments. By looking at these complex interactions, CORRIDORS aims to reveal the intricate ways in which migration routes create spaces of both control and care.

Through this comparative analysis, the CORRIDORS project will contribute new empirical findings and theoretical insights into the dynamics of migration, offering a deeper understanding of how grassroots efforts shape the mobility of people across borders.