Stream 4: “Supporting Refugees and migrants”
Chair: Dr. Uwe Brandenburg
The Support program of the University of Barcelona for refugees and people from conflict areas
Catalina Jerez, Coordinator of the UB Support program for refugees and people from conflict areas, Fundació Solidaritat, University of Barcelona, Spain
The Program develops the social responsibility of the UB, which, in the context of a globalised world, has a firm commitment to contribute with its resources, facilities and knowledge to the construction of a peaceful and fair society based on cooperation and solidarity. Coordinated by the UBSolidarity Foundation, the Program implements academic and social integration support actions, including educational scholarships, language learning courses, accommodation and psychosocial support, academic orientation, legal advice and mentoring. The Program develops its activities within an institutional strategy that highlights intra-institutional cooperation and external collaboration (with public administrations, NGOs, enterprises,…).. It also implements raising awareness campaigns.
Presentation
Contact: Catalina Jerez, cjerez@ub.edu
Students at Risk
Hilde Granås Kjøstvedt, seniorrådgiver / senior adviser, Seksjon for globalt samarbeid (GLO), Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills, Norway
«Students at Risk» was established on the basis of an initiative by the Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund (SAIH) and the National Union of Students in Norway (NSO). The programme is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (the MFA), which has delegated the administration to the Norwegian Agency for International Cooperation and Quality Enhancement in Higher Education. Universities and other higher education institutions are often seen to catalyst thought processes directed towards a just societal organization, and to prompt students to engage in political activism or other forms of advocacy for change. In many cases, however, such student activists are at considerable risk of a multitude of direct and indirect adverse reactions to their activism, hereunder commonly denial of further education, as well as other forms of harassment and attempts to silence their voices. The overall objective of the programme is to identify such students, who, due to their human rights’ activism, are «at risk» of being formally or de facto denied educational or other rights in their home country, and to provide these students with an opportunity to complete their education in Norway. Students accepted under the programme will be enrolled in Bachelor or Master degree programmes at a higher education institutions in Norway and receive a scholarship sufficient to cover all necessary costs incurred in the course of their study. Upon completion of their studies, students will be expected to return to their home countries.
Presentation
Contact: Hilde Granås Kjøstvedt, hilde.kjostvedt@hkdir.no
NEwly ARrived in a common home
Olivia Mair, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Higher Education Internationalisation, Università Cattòlica di Sacro Cuore, Miland, Italy
NEAR is a two-year project funded by the European Commission under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), involving a corsortium made up of Iniziative e Studi sulla Multietnicità (ISMU, Italy), Tamat NGO (ITALY), Cardet NGO (Cyprus), AidGlobal (Portugal), Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Italy). The project aims to foster the process of integration of newly arrived migrants (adults and minors) throughout their settlement in the host countries. This project is meant to raise awareness as well as enabling knowledge and cross-cultural transfers between migrants and local communities by using a bottom-up strategy, working at a local level (in Lisbon, Nicosia, Perugia and Milan). The university is involved in delivering WP6, which focuses on improving the orientation process and experience of degree-seeking students in both the university and local communities.
Presentation
https://www.ismu.org/en/project-near-newly-arrived-in-a-common-home/
Video
Presenter: Dr. Olivia Mair, olivia.mair@unicatt.it
IDA „In Dresden ankommen“
Louis Kohaupt, IDA team, TU Dresden, Germany
IDA is short for “arriving in Dresden “. We are a student initiative dedicated to simplifying the process of arriving in Dresden and creating a welcoming atmosphere especially for refugees. To achieve these goals, we first started with German and alphabetical classes in refugee camps back in 2015 and over the course of the following years embarked on very different projects. To name just a few there is our buddy program, which provides support on an individual basis, our university language courses in Persian and Arabic, thought by native speakers who themselves fled to Dresden, and various other intercultural activities.
Presentation
Contact: Louis Kohaupt, louis.kohaupt@mailbox.tu-dresden.de
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