Relocation programmes are dynamic entities, consisting of multiple intersecting parts which themselves change over time. Sometimes it is hard to step back, and see the sum of a programme’s various parts. One way of understanding such schemes is as a complex balancing act. Defenders will most likely want a combination of activity and respite, continuing work at home and making the most of new opportunities; the host will provide a mix of university-based courses and activities and externally sourced training and outreach; the programme as a whole will need to balance growth and respond to new opportunities over time without becoming unwieldy and overly cluttered with activity; and so on.

Defenders, as individuals, apply to relocation schemes because they have urgent needs – rest, recuperation, a safe space to continue their work, time out to think, certain training needs, etc. Providing affiliation and status at a university – as a fellow, or visiting scholar – can be an important source of affirmation and recognition of defenders as sources of knowledge and insight. But they are almost always part of wider collectives – organisations, movements, networks – that also require support. Means also need to be found of cascading benefits from individuals to the collectives of which they are part.

In what follows, the Guidelines address health and wellbeing; social support; safety and security; networking and advocacy; research, teaching and training; and living costs as core elements of relocation programmes.