International Migrations in the Canary Islands: Geography, Academia and Praxis

Abstract

Only seldom do geographers experience the possibility of effectively providing guidelines for policy makers, of bridging the gap that usually separates academia from praxis. The agreement signed between the Parliament of the Canary Islands and the Islands’ two universities, setting up a group of experts and a parliamentary subcommittee in order to provide guidance for immigration policy-making, has been a landmark in the case of both academic institutions. The agreement has provided researchers with the opportunity to put an applied knowledge of widespread social impact into practice. Likewise, Members of Parliament have been offered the chance to base their policy-making on sound social and scientific foundations. The present paper analyses this initiative and the work undertaken from a geographical perspective, based on the authors’ conviction that it might help other similar institutions to bring science and social commitment closer together, especially within the context of international migrations.