Dissemination Activity

Policy and Parliamentary Engagement

PACE Parliamentary Conference

April 2025 — Strasbourg, France
“Envisioning Effective Public Policy to Prevent and Address Cases of Missing Migrants”. Prof. Cristina Cattaneo (Vice-Chair) presented MDVI at a high-level parliamentary conference on policy for missing migrants, following Resolution 2569.
Outcome: MDVI contributed to shaping legislative discussions at the EU level and was included in a set of follow-up actions on policy development.
🔗Link

Conference on Migration & Human Rights

October 2025 — Italy
Danilo De Angelis (MC member) spoke as a keynote on migration and human rights and promoted the COST Action.
Outcome: Raised the profile of MDVI among legal scholars and human rights experts; encouraged institutional interest in Action membership.
🔗Link

Expert Meeting on Mass Graves ( ERC consolidator grant MaGPIE Project)

September 2025
MDVI members collaborated with the MaGPIE team to advance policy on mass graves linked to trafficking and migration.
Outcome: Fostered joint policy efforts between COST and ERC stakeholders; contributed to shaping EU-level recommendations.
🔗 Link

International Outreach & Collaboration

INTERPOL DVI Conference

May 2024 & 2025 — Lyon, France
MDVI Chair Caroline Wilkinson presented on the Action’s role in forensic identification during disasters at the INTERPOL MDVI Conference.
Outcome: Raised awareness of the Action and the Action challenge to INTERPOL and related conference attendees. It also prompted formal dialogue between MDVI and INTERPOL DVI leadership on collaborative efforts.
Link

Online MDVI Conference

September 2024
Global event with keynote speakers Tineke Strik – MEP, Netherlands Tomasz Dabrowski – Marine Institute, Ireland Dana Michalski – University of Adelaide, Australia Stephen Fonseca, Head of the African Centre for
Medicolegal Systems, ICRC Kate Spradley, Texas State University, USA.
Outcome: Attracted 211 international participants; boosted Action visibility and memeberships, and triggered follow-up with INTERPOL and other stakeholders.
Link

IACI (International Association for Craniofacial Identification) Conference – Keynote

October 2024 — Granada, Spain
Keynote presentation on craniofacial identification in the context of migrant DVI.
Outcome: Strengthened ties with facial and craniofacial identification professionals and led to academic collaborations.
Link

AI, Human Rights, and Migration

October 2024 — Gostivar, North Macedonia
Presentation by Action Member Nada Doneva ‘AI, Human Rights, Migration democracy and Public Impact’
Outcome: Raise aware ness of MDVI Action. Connect with Ai researchers for future
collaborations.
Link

International Academic Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences

November 2024—Copenhague
Presentation “Are Social Media Sources Reliable in Reporting Deceased Migrants? A Conceptual Study.” by Action member Ecenur Aydemir.
Outcome: Raised awareness on MDVI and sparked dialogue between researchers in law, media, and forensic sciences.
Link

EAFS (European Association for Forensic Sciences) Conference

May 2025 — Dublin, Ireland
Vice-Chair Cristina Cattaneo delivered keynote on “The increasing role of forensic sciences in the humanitarian scenario of migration”.
Outcome: Increased visibility of MDVI within European forensic science networks.
Link

Forensic DNA Working Group – Promega

October 2025 — Bucharest, Romania
Joanna Vella presented on MDVI at Europe’s leading DNA science forum.
Outcome: Introduced MDVI to genomics experts; resulted in new Action memberships.
Link

MILIPOL Paris – Homeland Security & AI

November 2025
Keynote by Caroline Wilkinson on facial biometrics and the challenges in migrant identification.
Outcome: Two presentations on MDVI and facial biometrics in the Homeland Security & AI session on 21 Nov 2025.
Link

Working Groups & Specialist Committees

INTERPOL Sub-Working Groups

May 2024&2025— Lyon, France
MDVI experts participated in pathology, anthropology, and facial identification sub-working groups within the INTERPOL DVI Committee.
Outcome: The SWG is drafting DVI documents that reference MDVI in relation to forensic anthropology and pathology.
🔗 Link

FISWG (Facial Identification Scientific Working Group)

2025 — Toronto & Online
Core group members (Caroline Wilkinson, Sarah Shrimpton) are Associate Members of FISWG. On this conference, Action Chair presented the MDVI Action
Outcome: Drafting docments on facial identification including MDVI content. New members joining from other continents.
🔗 Link

IAI (Internation Association for Identification) Facial Identification Subcommittee

August 2025 — Orlando, USA
Chair of the IAI Steve Johnson presented on MDVI at the IAI Conference.
Outcome: Raised awareness among North American identification experts.
🔗 Link