The presence of European and international institutions makes Brussels one of the most important decision making centers in the world. This development has had a major impact on the demographic movement towards this European city. And this trend is not only visible in Brussels and among political expats, but can be seen as a global trend across all age categories. A research report from the European Union showed that since the launch of the Erasmus exchange program in 1987, 3 million students spend time studying abroad, with an 8.5% increase between 2010 and 2011.
Today, numerous people all over the world are leaving their hometown for different reasons. As part of my application for the Esomar Young Researcher Award 2013, I am trying to get an impression of why people have lived / are living away from home.
I am using my personal (social) network as a starting point to get an understanding of this demographic mobility. By motivating social-sharing of a small survey, I hope (thinking of the six-degrees-of-separation theory) to reach as many people as possible on a global scale.

So here is my call to you!

Did you ever live abroad (other country or more than 600km/270miles away from home) for more than 4 months or are you doing so now (or do you know someone who did/does)? Please help me out by filling in this small survey and/or sharing this with your personal network! Let’s find out if there is such a thing as ‘6 degrees of separation’!
Click here to fill out the survey!
If you are interested in the results or should you have any additional questions, do not hesitate to contact me: [email protected]. And of course already a big thank you for your support!