Ricard Morén-Alegret

(PhD, Warwick University, 1999-2000)

Dr. Ricard Morén-Alegret holds a PhD (University of Warwick) and a MA in Human Geography, UAB. He was awarded two fellowships by the European Commission DG-XII  as  Marie Curie Research Fellow (1996-1999) and one fellowship by the Spanish Government Science and Technology Ministry as Investigador Ramón y Cajal (2001-2006). Currently, Ricard Morén is Tenured Associate Professor and Researcher at the UAB Geography Department & Associate Researcher at UAB-ICTA. Since 2017, he coordinates the migration research program of Econecol, a Consolidated and Funded Research Group (SGR2017-2021, & SGR2021-2025, AGAUR, Catalan Government) that is directed by Giorgos Kallis. In the past, Ricard Morén was coordinator of Grup de Recerca sobre Migracions, GRM, also a Consolidated and Funded Research Group (SGR 2009-2014, AGAUR) as welll as coordinator of the migration research program of Interfase, another Consolidated and Funded Research Group (SGR 2014-2016, AGAUR), both based at the UAB Geography Department.

Recently, Ricard Morén-Alegret has been co-author of the following publications:

*Morén-Alegret, R.; Milazzo, J.; McAreavey, R. & Keavaney, K. (2023) “Perceptions of sustainability in Ireland’s small villages during immigration times: Exploring discernments of social, economic, and environmental challenges in rural Cavan and Leitrim”, Irish Geography journal , Vol. 56, No. 2. November 2023. DOI: igj.2023.1485. See: https://irishgeography.ie/index.php/irishgeography/article/view/1485/1199 .

*Morén-Alegret, R.; Milazzo, J.; Romagosa, F. & Kallis, G. (2021) “‘Cosmovillagers’ as Sustainable Rural Development Actors in Mountain Hamlets? International Immigrant Entrepreneurs’ Perceptions of Sustainability in the Lleida Pyrenees (Catalonia, Spain)”, European Countryside Journal, 13 (2), pp. 267-296 (see: https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/euco-2021-0018).

*Morén-Alegret, R. & Mendoza, C. (2021) “Inmigración internacional y sostenibilidad en pueblos pequeños. Retos y oportunidades económicas, ambientales y sociales en el Alt Empordà (Cataluña, España)”, Revista Internacional de Estudios Migratorios, RIEM, 11(2), pp. 1-35

*Mendoza, C.; Morén-Alegret, R. & McAreavey, R. (2020), “(Lifestyle) immigrant entrepreneurs in Spanish small villages: Rethinking international immigration in rural Alt Empordà, Catalonia”, BELGEO. Belgian Journal of Geography, 2020, nº1 (see: https://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/44107).

*Romagosa, F.; Mendoza, C.; Mojica, L. & Morén-Alegret, R. (2020), “Inmigración internacional y turismo en espacios rurales. El caso de los ‘micropueblos’ de Cataluña”. Cuadernos de Turismo, 46, pp. 319-347 (see: https://revistas.um.es/turismo/article/view/451861/296221).

*Mendoza, C.; Morén-Alegret, R. & McAreavey, R. (2020), “Emprendimiento e inmigración internacional en áreas rurales de España”, Investigaciones Geográficas (Instituto de Geografía de la UNAM), DOI: dx.doi.org/10.14350/rig.60172 (see: http://www.investigacionesgeograficas.unam.mx/index.php/rig/article/view/60172/54161).

*Morén-Alegret, R. & Wladyka, D. (2019 / 2020) International Immigration, Integration and Sustainability in Small Towns and Villages. Socio-Territorial Challenges in Rural and Semi-Rural Europe, London: Palgrave Macmillan / Springer. (see: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137586209#aboutBook).

* MORÉN-ALEGRET, R.; FATORIC, S.; WLADYKA, D.; MAS, A. & FONSECA, M.L. (2018) “Challenges in achieving sustainability in Iberian rural areas and small towns: Exploring immigrant stakeholders’ perceptions in Alentejo, Portugal, and Empordà, Spain”, Journal of Rural Studies, 64, pp. 253-266.

* MORÉN-ALEGRET, R.; WLADYKA, D. & OWEN, D. (2018) “Immigrants’ Integration Challenges and Sustainability in Stratford-upon-Avon. Perceptions and Experiences from a ‘Global’ Small Town in Nationalistic Times”, In KORDEL, S. et al. (eds.) Processes of Immigration in Rural Europe, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK, pp. 46-80.

* WLADYKA, D. & MORÉN-ALEGRET, R. (2017) “A sustainable touristic place in times of crisis? The case of Empuriabrava – a superdiverse Mediterranean resort”, In Leal Filho, W. et al. (eds) Handbook of Sustainability and Social Science Research, Berlin: Springer (World Sustainability Series).

* FATORIC, S.; MORÉN-ALEGRET, R.; NIVEN, R.J. & TAN, G. (2017) “Living with climate change risks: stakeholders’ employment and coastal relocation in mediterranean climate regions of Australia and Spain”, Environment Systems and Decisions, 37, pp. 276-288.

* MORÉN-ALEGRET, R.; MAS-PALACIOS, A. & WLADYKA, D. (2016) “Inter-Group Perceptions and Representations in two Barcelona Neighbourhoods: Poble Sec and Sagrada Família Compared” In F. Pastore & I. Ponzo (eds.) Inter-group Relations and Migrant Integration in European Cities. Changing Neighbourhoods, Berlin: Springer / IMISCOE Research Series. Open access: http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-319-23096-2

* FATORIC, S.; MORÉN-ALEGRET, R. & ZOGRAFOS, C. (2015) “Case Study 8.1 Spanish Coastal Natural Protected Areas: Ebro Delta and Empordà Wetlands”, In Rosenzweig C., W. Solecki, P. Romero-Lankao, S. Mehrotra, S. Dhakal, T. Bowman, and S. Ali Ibrahim (eds.) Climate Change and Cities. ARC3.2. New York, Columbia University, USA: Urban Climate Change Research Network, pp. 323 – 327. (https://unfccc.int/files/parties_observers/submissions_from_observers/application/pdf/787.pdf).

* WLADYKA, D. & MORÉN-ALEGRET, R. (2015)”Chinese Immigrants in the Sagrada Familia Neighbourhood of Barcelona, Spain: Their Socioeconomic Viability and Identity” In R. Iredale & F. Guo (eds.) Handbook of Chinese Migration. Identity and Wellbeing, Cheltenham, UK / Northampton, US: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Additional summary of previous activities:

Along the years, Ricard Morén has been carrying out research on migration, organisations geography and integration processes at local, regional, national and international scale. He has coordinated several fieldworks in a variety of metropolitan, rural and semi-rural regions in Spain, Portugal, Great Britain, France, Greece, Ireland, Australia, Italy, and Sweden. Among other outcomes, apart from a variety of articles in international and national journals, he has published various books, e.g.: on the one hand, the aforementioned book co-authored with D. Wladyka titled International Immigration, Integration and Sustainability in Small Towns and Villages. Socio-Territorial Challenges in Rural and Semi-Rural Europe (London: Palgrave Macmillan / Springer, 2019 /2020) that was focused on case studies in England, France, Portugal and Spain; on the other hand, an Iberian book titled, Integration and Resistance. The Relation of Social Organisations, Global Capital, Governments and International Immigration in Spain and Portugal (Aldershot, UK / Burlington, USA: Ashgate Publishers, 2002]. Furthermore, he has been member of Organizing Committees (e.g. of the IV Congress on Immigration in Spain, Girona, 2004) and he was the convenor of the International Workshop on Foreign Immigration in Small Towns and Rural Areas (2006). Most papers presented in that workshop were published in Volume 14 (Issue 6) of the journal Population, Space and Place, an issue co-edited by Graeme Hugo and Ricard Morén-Alegret himself (December 2008): *Hugo, G.; Morén-Alegret, R. (2008) “International Migration to Non-Metropolitan Areas of High Income Countries: Editorial Introduction” Population, Space and Place, 14 (6), 473-477. See also: *Morén-Alegret, R. (2008) “Ruralphilia and Urbophobia versus Urbophilia and Ruralphobia? Lessons from Immigrant Integration Processes in Small Towns and Rural Areas in Spain”. Population, Space and Place, 14, (6) 537-552. Other related publications are the following: *Morén-Alegret, R. (2011) “When love comes to town and when it is missing. International migration, marriage, divorce and being single in small towns and rural areas in Spain”, in Heikkilä, E.; Yeoh, B. (eds.) International Marriages in the Time of Globalization, New York: Nova Science Publishers, Ltd, pp. 103-116; and, on the other hand, *Morén-Alegret, R. (2010) Procesos de integración de la inmigración extranjera en pequeñas ciudades de España. Presentación del video documental “Iberiana” Polígonos. Revista de Geografía, 20, pp. 205-216.

Moreover, in Septembre 2011 Ricard Morén co-organized together with Lucinda Fonseca (University of Lisbon, Portugal) the international workshop “Immigrants’ integration and sustainability in small towns”, held in University of the Azores Islands (Portugal) within the framework of the 16th International Metropolis Conference: http://www.metropolis2011.org/met/index.php. Posteriorly, in 2014, he also coodinated also together with Lucinda Fonseca and Fátima Vélez Castro another similar workshop that continued that debate in another International Metropolis Conference that took place in Milan (Italy).

In addition, among other research outcomes, Ricard Morén-Alegret has published in 2013 the article “Exploring methods and techniques for the analysis of senses of place and migration” in the top journal Progress in Human Geography, 37(6), 762–785. [Impact factor 4.489, ISI JCR Ranking 2012: 2/72 (Geography)], co-written with Cristóbal Mendoza. Additionally, with some of his former PhD students and other colleagues, Ricard Morén has published a number of articles, e.g. *Fatorić, S.; Morén-Alegret, R.; Kasimis, C. (2014) “Exploring climate change effects in Euro-Mediterranean protected coastal wetlands: the cases of Aiguamolls de l’Empordà, Spain and Kotychi-Strofylia, Greece”, International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 21 (4), 346-360; DOI:10.1080/13504509.2014.888377 (2012 Impact Factor: 1.213); *Wladyka, D. & Morén-Alegret, R. (2014) “Polish Immigration in Barcelona: The Sagrada Familia Neighbourhood as an Arena for Interaction”*, International Migration, 52 (1), 146–164 [ 2012 Impact Factor: 0.865, 16/23 (Demography)]; *Fatorić, S.; Morén-Alegret, R. (2013) Integrating local knowledge and perception for assessing vulnerability to climate change in economically dynamic coastal areas: the case of natural protected area Aiguamolls de l’Empordà, Ocean and Coastal Management, 85 (A), 90-102. (Impact Factor: 1.597. 5-Year Impact Factor: 1.747).

As Principal Investigator of R+D projects, Ricard Morén directed the project titled “Foreign immigration, sense of place and territorial identity in five small towns in Spain” (2006-2009), funded by the Spanish Ministry for Science and Education. One of its outcomes is the popular science documentary video titled “Iberiana”, written and directed by Ricard Morén himself. Additionally, he coordinated the Spanish branch of an international research project titled “Concordia Discors. Understanding Conflict and Integration Outcomes of Inter-Group Relations and Integration Policies in selected Neighbourhoods of Five European Cities” (2011-2012), funded by the European Commission and with general coordination from FIERI (http://www.concordiadiscors.eu/). Moreover, he has also been Principal Investigator of the R+D project “Immigrants’ integration and the role of a diversity of organizations in achieving sustainable small towns and rural areas” (2010-2013), funded by the Spanish Science and Innovation Ministry. In addition, since 2017, he is the Principal Investigator of a research project titled HAMLETS. Immigration and Sustainable Development in Small Villages (2017-2020), funded by the RecerCaixa2016 Program, see: www.uab.cat/hamlets

Usually, he colaborates as referee and reviewer with research journals and institutions at national and international level (e.g. European Science Foundation, ESF; the European Commission, EC; the Leibniz Association in Germany…). Furthermore, he has been invited Visiting Fellow Researcher at the University of Warwick, UK (three years from 1996 to 1999 and five months in 2008); at the United Nations University, UNU (three months in 2013), at MIGRINTER, Université de Poitiers/CNRS, France (three months in 2014), and at TELEMME, Aix-Marseille Université/CNRS, France (three months in 2016).

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