How can local actors reframe public conversations around migration? How can they engage communities through inclusive and positive storytelling? These were the key questions at the heart of EPIC-UP’s recent peer learning session on migration narratives and communication.
On 10 June 2025, EPIC-UP partners gathered online for an interactive knowledge-sharing workshop under Task 3.4 – Migration Narratives Peer-to-Peer Exchange. The session brought together representatives from all six Communities of Practice (CoPs) across Europe to reflect on their local communication challenges, learn from practical examples, and explore how to reshape public perceptions through a hope-based approach to storytelling.
Setting the scene: migration narratives in today’s Europe
The session opened with an icebreaker inspired by the latest JRC report on Navigating migration narratives: Reflections from EU-funded initiatives (2025), which highlights how migration narratives are often simplified, emotionally charged and strategically used by different actors to shape public perception and policy. The icebreaker invited participants to reflect on how narratives are constructed and who influences them—from media and politicians to civil society and local communities.
This helped frame the session in the broader European context, where communication around migration remains a contested and evolving space.
From fear to hope: introducing a new way to communicate
The session was led by Aminata Bouaré, a trainer and facilitator from Hope-Based Communications, who shared her expertise in developing strategic, emotionally intelligent messaging. Drawing on neuroscience, psychology and movement-building techniques, Aminata introduced participants to the five core shifts that define the hope-based approach:
- From fear to hope
- From problem to solution
- From against to for
- From threat to opportunity
- From victim to human
Through a dynamic and interactive presentation—including a quiz on how the brain responds to narrative cues—she encouraged participants to rethink how they frame their messages, not just in terms of what they oppose, but what they want to see instead.
Aminata also presented a campaign from the Narrative Change Academy, coordinated by the Junge Islam Konferenz, where she worked with a diverse group of young Europeans to co-create inclusive, value-driven content that resonated with a wider audience. The campaign reached people across Europe with positive, everyday portrayals of Muslims, aiming to shift the debate from division to connection.
Real examples from the ground
AEIDL introduced the EPIC toolkit on alternative narrative campaigns, developed in the previous EPIC project. The toolkit includes practical steps for campaign development, storytelling tips, visual strategy, and audience segmentation. A key point is that building a counter-narrative requires more than correcting facts; it requires creating emotionally resonant, forward-looking stories.
Two EPIC-UP partners presented local campaigns designed to challenge prejudice and promote inclusion:
- ADL a Zavidovici and the Municipality of Brescia showcased their “Meglio Vicini” (Better Closer) campaign. Developed as part of the EPIC and MITHA projects, this campaign used billboards, social media and local interviews to challenge stereotypes and promote coexistence in two multicultural districts of Brescia.
- Fundación Cepaim shared their “Desactiva” (Deactivate) series, a set of public awareness campaigns and a youth-led film festival aimed at “deactivating” racism and xenophobia through creative storytelling. Their campaigns, like “Pon la convivencia en modo ON” and “Sin etiquetas”, featured young voices and emphasised dignity, equality and mutual respect.
Both presentations highlighted how local actors can design powerful messages even with limited resources—when they involve the community, speak from shared values, and stay rooted in real experiences that connect with people.
From learning to co-creation
The second half of the session invited participants to apply what they had learned through two practical exercises:
- In the Story of Change, small groups visualised what their CoP would like to achieve in their local context within the next six months, and what a positive impact might look like two years from now. Each group drafted a headline and created a visual representation of their imagined change using AI image generators.
- Aminata then introduced two additional tools for narrative building: the Five Whys technique, which helps users trace their values by exploring why a particular issue matters to them, and the Message Builder, a practical structure for crafting communications based on mission, actions and beliefs.
The co-creation process allowed participants to test the hope-based methodology and begin building narratives they can refine with their CoPs at local level to ensure that messages are inclusive, values-driven and rooted in hope.
More information:
Hope-Based Communications website: https://www.hope-based.com/
Thomas Coombes: Five Ways to Talk About Hope: https://thomascoombes.com/5-ways-to-talk-about-hope/
Narrative Change Academy (Junge Islam Konferenz): https://j-i-k.de/en/narrative-change-academy
Amnesty International case study on refugee narratives: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/06/how-to-shift-narratives-on-refugees/
Additional tips on narrative strategy: https://medium.com/new-media-advocacy-project/from-megaphone-to-mosaic-five-principles-for-narrative-communications-c5105c91707