Structurally Bounded Co-Participation: Migrants' Position in European Research, a Critical Methodological Reflection on the MICADO Bologna Experience

In this article, I offer a qualitative critical analysis of co-participation within MICADO (Migrant Integration Cockpits and Dashboards), a European Union project (2019-2022) aimed at improving communication among migrants, public administrations, and civil-society actors through a multilingual digital platform. Centering on Bologna as a pilot site, I examine the usability testing and public piloting phases in which migrants were engaged in co-participatory evaluation of an application prototype that is still under development. Data sources include project documentation, interviews and surveys, enabling an examination of recruitment practices, feedback collection, and the valuation of participation. I highlight achievements as well as tensions in the co-participation approach. Structured co-participatory methods (think-aloud protocols, cultural mediation, and multilingual facilitation) generated context-specific insights and moments of migrant empowerment. Engagement nevertheless remained uneven: Legal precarity, linguistic barriers, and unequal digital skills limited involvement; and some participants questioned the value of participation amid persistent socio-legal inequalities. I argue that EU initiatives promoting co-participation and co-creation must extend beyond technical inclusivity. Genuine co-production with migrants requires sustained community partnerships, reflexive adaptation, and structural reforms that address the legal and social asymmetries shaping everyday life