In the year we marked five years of existence and five years of our podcast, we continued to develop what has been at the core of our work from the beginning — supporting people in the process of return, circular migration, and connecting the diaspora with Serbia, through a range of activities, long-term programmes, and ongoing communication with our community.

Our work in 2025 encompassed several parallel streams: continuous support for returnees, strengthening local and institutional capacities in collaboration with our partners, closer connections with our diaspora, connecting female entrepreneurs in local communities together with our returnee women, supporting young talents going abroad for studies, as well as developing knowledge and resources that remain accessible to everyone.

Work with Returnees: Ongoing Support, Community Growth, and Local Impact

Work with returnees has remained a central pillar of what we do: throughout the year we were available via email and individual consultations — holding 72 introduction meetings and around 150 in-person sessions — providing support to people at different stages of return, from early planning to navigating the challenges after arriving back in Serbia.

In addition to individual support, we continued building and strengthening the returnee community through four Serbian Expat Meetups, which were consistently well-attended throughout the year. These gatherings became an important space for mutual support, experience sharing, and connection, and even sparked spontaneous new initiatives and forms of collective action.

One such initiative born from this community last year is Umrežene — rooted in the desire of our circular migrant women to use their knowledge and experience to support women in local communities. In 2025 we continued to refine and expand this programme. The new cycle of workshops included a larger number of participants and mentors, with a clearer focus on long-term support, mentorship, and connecting female entrepreneurs with both local and international experience. A special value of the programme was linking new participants with alumnae from the previous year, allowing the Umrežene community to grow beyond the formal workshop setting.

The returnee community also demonstrated strong local engagement through a fundraising initiative this summer for equipping the terrace of University Children’s Hospital “Tiršova”, another example of how our community actively contributes to the society in which it lives in diverse ways.

Local and Institutional Collaboration: From Practice to Public Policy

Throughout the year, a significant portion of our work was focused on collaborating with local institutions and actors with the aim of improving existing mechanisms that support returnees and the diaspora. In cooperation with the National Employment Service (NES), we organised two workshops aimed at strengthening the capacities of NES Migrant Service Centres to work with returnees, facilitating knowledge exchange and deeper understanding of their needs.

At the same time, we actively connected returnees with local stakeholders and institutions through participation in business councils of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, the AmCham Serbia AmChamps conference, the Kopaonik Business Forum, and other relevant events, where we raised issues related to return, circular migration, and the potential returnees bring to local communities.

An important segment of our work in 2025 was engaging in public policy, especially on improving bilateral agreements concerning health and social insurance for people who circulate between countries. This allowed us to continue being part of conversations that have long-term impact on the quality of life for people on the move, with a view to modernising and adapting existing systems to contemporary forms of mobility.

Engaging with the Diaspora

In 2025, we also intensified our communication with the diaspora, starting from the need of our people abroad to have space for direct conversation, questions, and experience sharing in person. Based on these needs, we organised TP café gatherings — informal yet substantive meet-ups that enabled open conversations about return, circulation, collaboration, and the role of the diaspora in the contemporary context of Serbia.

TP café events once again showed that questions around return always go beyond administrative boundaries, and that people seek interlocutors who understand the complexity of the decisions they make.

We also met with the diaspora during Dijaspora 2025 gatherings, where we worked with other actors to strengthen ties between the diaspora and Serbia, and at the 26th Savaball in Vienna, where we supported diaspora organisations and continued discussions on the role of circular migration and long-term connections with the homeland.

At the end of the year we also participated in the conference “Back to Srpska: Diaspora as a Bridge to the Future” in Banja Luka, where through a keynote speech and panel moderation we opened discussions on the strategic role of circular migration, institutional cooperation, and regional dialogue about return.

Young Talents and the Long-Term Perspective on Return

Working with young talents remained an important part of our long-term approach to circular migration. Throughout 2025, we continued to follow the development of the young talents that Returning Point has supported with scholarships for studies abroad, staying in ongoing contact with them and tracking their professional and academic progress.

At the same time, with strong support from our community, we raised additional funds this year to provide a scholarship for another promising young person who will begin their master’s studies abroad next year — demonstrating how the community recognises the importance of long-term investment in people and knowledge.

We also continued our collaboration with the Serbian Fund for Young Talents, supporting the development of their alumni network, and kept mapping scientists and researchers at universities around the world to strengthen ties between the academic diaspora and Serbia, understanding that knowledge circulation can take many forms.

Knowledge, Resources, and Communication That Last

From the very beginning of the year, we placed special focus on developing knowledge and resources that remain accessible to the public even after individual activities are completed. We launched the new Returning Point website, with an improved structure and clearer access to information for returnees, the diaspora, and institutions.

We also opened up and thoroughly explored the topic of reverse culture shock through conversations with returnees, special podcast episodes, and the creation of a Guide to Recognising and Overcoming Reverse Culture Shock. Based on experiences from the Umrežene programme, we developed a Guide for Women Entrepreneurs, and in collaboration with Migrant Service Centres we prepared a guide for their internal use, aimed at improving their work with returnees.

Our podcast continued to be an important channel for sharing experiences about diaspora, return, and circular migration, and in 2025 we marked five years of the podcast’s existence as well as five years of Returning Point, with a special video dedicated to personal stories of movement between “here” and “there.”

Additionally, this summer we launched a new communication channel — TikTok — with the aim of reaching a new audience with educational content about circular migration, historical and contemporary figures who have been circular migrants, as well as culture and context in Serbia. Through this channel we further expanded efforts to shift the narrative on circular migration, adapting messages to younger generations and new communication formats.

Regional Dialogue and Spreading the Idea

The year was also marked by the beginning of a regional dialogue on circular migration, bringing together partners from across the region and organising a joint brainstorming session on future directions for cooperation. We were particularly encouraged that the work of Returning Point inspired the creation of similar initiatives in the region, including a new organisation in Banja Luka, helping to spread the idea of circular migration beyond Serbia’s borders.

From 2025 into the Year Ahead

When we look at 2025 as a whole, it was clearly a year of continuity, but also of expansion — in scope, topics, and level of impact. This year as well, Returning Point remained a meeting place between people, experiences, and systems, grounded in the belief that neither return nor departure are final states, but ongoing processes that require understanding, support, and long-term commitment.

With this approach, we move into the year ahead, continuing to build the community, knowledge, and dialogue that connect “here” and “there.”