In accordance with the conference’s topic - the interplay of exclusion and inclusion - the papers presented in the symposia highlight the diverse and nation-specific approaches of host countries to provide educational services to recently arrived (forced) migrants. State parties succeed to different extents and in different ways by implementing or adapting national regulations and offering varied responses to the educational needs of large numbers of migrants arriving with varied backgrounds. At one extreme, we witness the legal cementation of a monolingual habitus that sees newly arrived migrants gaining  levels of language proficiency before entering mainstream education. At another extreme, highly-skilled professionals, arriving from third world countries, are included within European schools to close provision gaps in educational facilities. This diversity in the appreciation and acknowledgement of the skills and of the psychological needs of migrants deserves critical attention and professional assessment.

The symposia span perspectives from the far North (Norway) across Europe to Iceland, the UK, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Serbia on the intersection of forced migration and education. Along with the geographic diversity represented by the presenters, the research disseminated in the symposia illuminates a wide range of experiences of migration, inclusion and exclusion, which incorporates the lives of pupils and (unaccompanied) young people as well as their parents, peers, and (virtual) communities and teacher trainees, teachers and their trainers. Educational service provision will be highlighted throughout the life span of forced migrants, from first experiences of schooling to university life, including lifelong learning and (further) training. Contributions point to good practices and blind spots in legal, structural, and policy-related practices. The importance of enabling recently arrived migrants to realise their full potential and of guaranteeing access to education entail a view of responsibility for educational and social inclusion that incorporates the intersecting work of educators, politicians, social workers, researchers, along with many other professionals.

The large number of contributions in the symposia alone points to the importance of the issues the symposia address, and the organizers hope to generate critical discussion, innovative thinking that will extend and deepen collaboration among the network in order to raise awareness and impact upon educational policy and practice.

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