Business and People on the Move conference
9-10 of October 2025
Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland
Theme 2025:
Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges: The Power of Migrant and Refugee Entrepreneurship
We invite academics, researchers, doctoral students, to join us for this enlightening event. Through engaging academic presentations, panel discussions, and keynote addresses, we will share insights, propose research directions, and address gaps in our understanding of the topic. In addition to the structured sessions, ample networking breaks, luncheons, and dinner will provide opportunities to connect, collaborate, and forge lasting discussions and partnerships.

Call for extended abstracts (1500 words)
Deadline: 1st of May 2025
Requirements: 1500 words, Times New Roman, 12pt, 1,5 lines interval, blinded (add names and affiliations on a separate title page).
Submission to: mivanova@abo.fi. Please indicate if you are submitting to a special track or a general track.
The conference General track covers all aspects of migrant entrepreneurship, including topics such as refugee entrepreneurship, opportunity/necessity entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial intentions and agency, resilience, inclusion, social capital, mixed embeddedness and others.
Special tracks:
- Digitalization in refugee-led business ventures (Call for papers)
- Track chair: Mariana Rosca
- Belongingness in Migrant Entrepreneurship: Navigating Social and Emotional Connections in Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (Call for papers)
- Track co-chairs: Judith Terstriep, Alexandra David, Natalia Vershinina, Paul Lassalle, Giacomo Solano
- Navigating Challenges and Opportunities: Immigrant Micro-Entrepreneurs and Business Integration in the Arctic Context (Call for papers)
- Track co-chairs: Matti Muhos, Nafisa Yeasmin, Martti Saarela
- Sectoral Perspectives on Migration – Learnings from Different Industries and Sectors (Call for papers)
- Track co-chairs: Maria Elo, Maria Ivanova-Gongne, Rodrigo Mello, William Degbey
- Migration and Displacement due to Wars, Political Unrests and Conflicts: Exploring Vulnerabilities of Migrant and Refugee Communities (Call for papers)
- Track co-chairs: Natalia Vershinina, Alexandra David, Paul Lassale, Giacomo Solano, Judith Terstriep
For more information please contact Stefan Lång (slang@abo.fi) or Maria Ivanova-Gongne (mivanova@abo.fi)