The Summer School on Forced Migration and Asylum will be held in Bologna from 11th until 16th July 2016. Participants will be social workers, researchers, students, journalists, members of international organizations and NGOs, national and European public officials, who will have the chance to be involved in moments of training and sharing of experiences, best practices and knowledge on the topic of forced migration and asylum under the direction of international experts, academics and professionals in the field. 1. Context of reference The migratory influxes vary with time, following a series of variables that are often impossible to control. Over the last few years, the world has been witnessing one of the greatest waves of migration since Second World War, with around 60 million migrants (data provided by UNHCR-‐2014 Report) being forced to leave their homelands for various reasons, among which the growing unrest caused by globalisation, which contributes to make inequalities, conflicts and environmental disasters increase. According to the most recent information published by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in 2015 around 1,321,560 asylum seekers reached Europe by crossing the Mediterranean Sea or following the Balkan Route, marking a substantial increase compared to the previous year (625,920 in the whole of 2014, according to Eurostat). The massive influx of migrants and asylum seekers coming from different areas of the globe has created political, legal, social and media upheaval in the Old Continent, which has led to a growing sense of confusion about the migratory issue, caused by the scarcity of analytical tools most-‐suited to deciphering the reality of the situation and worsened by the predominance of the securitarian approach in the mainstream media. This has prioritised the need to increment moments of exchange and sharing of experience both from a practical and academic perspective on the forced migrations, to keep alive a dialogue that is capable of rethinking the key issues, ethics and constructive welcome of asylum seekers in Europe. In this view, Bologna and the region of Emilia-‐Romagna have a mix of political programs and practical experience that can represent an interesting starting point for a study on the current migration phenomenon. Emilia-‐Romagna is, in fact, the Italian region with the highest recordings of foreign residents in Italy, which according to the Dossier Statistico
Immigrazione IDOS/UNAR 2015 amounts to some 536,747, or 12.1% of the total population of the region (compared to the national average of 8.2%). What’s more, Bologna plays host to the first Italian experience of Regional Hub of first reception for asylum seekers, in action since July 2014. Since its beginning, the Regional Hub has counted around 12,000 attendances and serves as the centre for hosting the asylum seekers before they are relocated into more suitable structures located in the Region according to their age and family condition. 2. Objectives The Summer School would form a deep analysis of the fundamental issues associated with the current migration phenomenon, drawing on the instruments offered by the many disciplinary approaches that deal with the topic, such as sociology, history, etnopsychiatry, cultural and media studies, without neglecting the importance of a methodological approach directed towards praxis. On the one hand, the Summer School aims to provide the participants with extensive and multidisciplinary awareness, thanks to the experience and knowledge of well-‐known theorists and researchers of the field. On the other hand, leveraging the longstanding experience of the organizers in working for the reception and integration of migrants, the participants will be acquainted to a methodological approach that is oriented to praxis; this will be done through meetings with social workers working in reception and field visits in the so-‐called “extraordinary reception centres” in the Province of Bologna (upon agreement with the Prefecture of Bologna), so that the theoretical knowledge will be complemented with the essential empirical observation of the several approaches to the practice of reception. Furthermore, the participation of people coming from different European and non-‐European countries will spur a fruitful debate and the sharing of experiences, best practices and perspectives, aiming to produce new knowledge and connections between the people involved in the field. 3. Method and structure Starting with this approach, the Summer School will be structured according to the following guidelines:
− The proposed panels will be finalised to form a multidisciplinary analysis of the various themes connected to migration and asylum. The contents of the School will consider the topics associated with all the various phases of the migration process – departure, journey, welcome and integration – focusing on the study of borders, of the routes followed by the migrants, of search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean, of the legal and regulatory contexts both at an Italian and European level, of the communication activities that the sector of reception is investing on more and more; − Similarly to the theoretical panels, the program will include a series of field visits and meetings with social workers involved in reception, thanks to which the participants will have the chance to find out about some Italian reception centres for asylum seekers (upon agreement of the Prefecture of Bologna). The Summer School will last 5 full days with a final session of presentation of the work on the morning of the 6th day. 4. Beneficiaries The ideal candidates for the Summer School are graduates with second class degrees, researchers, journalists, experts and social workers who work in the field of migration and communication. The fee will include the participation to the Summer School (6 days), with facilitations to finding an accommodation and catering services. 5. Partnership and collaborations The Summer School will be organised by Africa e Mediterraneo in collaboration with the La-‐ momo cooperative society (presented briefly at the end of this document). The official partner is BMW Group Italy. The project has received the non-‐binding support of the City of Bologna with the protocol PG 47191/2016. Among the collaborations and organisations already involved are the following: -‐
Alliance Columbia of New York (http://alliance.columbia.edu/)
The Alliance Columbia is a joint-‐venture of excellence at a interuniversity level which since 2002 joins the University of Colombia in New York with three French universities, the University Panthéon-‐ Sorbonne, the École Polytechnique and Science Po Paris; -‐
University of Studies in Urbino “Carlo Bo”
With more than five hundred years of experience, the university of Urbino is one of the oldest Italian universities, where academic excellence and high level of internationalisation every year produce students and researchers of international exhibition; -‐
Centre of Study and Research IDOS
Since 1992 the Centre of Study and Research IDOS works to annually produce the “Statistical Dossier on Immigration”, the first genuine collection in Italy of statistical data on immigration material, a unique publication from an Italian viewpoint to understand the trend in the foreign population in Italy; -‐
UNAR (National Office Anti-‐racial Discrimination) of the Presidency of the Council of Ministries
Since 2003 UNAR works to promote the equality of treatment and the removal of discrimination based on race and ethnic origin, providing the Italian state with an essential tool with which to fight against all forms of discrimination; -‐
The European network ENAR (European Network Against Racism) with its headquarters in Brussels
Founded in 1998, ENAR represents the most authoritative voice at a European level in the battle against racism on the continent. Primary interlocutor of the European institute on the issue of antiracism, ENAR serves as research, advocacy and coordination organisation for the European NGOs that work within the framework of antiracism; -‐ Ethical Journalist Network -‐ London The Ethical Journalist Network is an international coalition born in 2011 and composed of international professionals on media and ethical communication governance; -‐ ECRE (European Council on Refugees and Exiles) The European Council on Refugees and Exiles is the umbrella organization that gathers the main European national associations dealing with asylum. ECRE is a fundamental voice in the third sector and for the European Institutions;
-‐ ARDI (European Parliament Anti-‐Racism and Diversity Intergroup)
ARDI exists to promote racial equality, counter racism, and educate about non-‐discrimination in the work of the European Parliament; -‐ No Hate Parliamentary Alliance, Council of Europe No Hate Parliamentary Alliance is an alliance of parliamentarians who commit to taking open, firm and pro-‐active stands against racism, hatred and intolerance on whatever grounds and however they manifest themselves. The Alliance is open to members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; -‐ Europe Direct Centre -‐ Emilia Romagna Region With more than 48 centres in Italy and more than 500 in the EU countries, the Europe Direct Information Desks offer help, assistance and orientation on policies, programmes and funding of European Union. Finally, On.le Milena Santerini, General rapporteur on combating racism and intolerance, Coordinator of the No Hate Parliamentary Alliance, Council of Europe gave its endorsement. 6. Brief presentation from the proposing organisations Africa e Mediterraneo Africa e Mediterraneo is a non-‐profit organisation created to promote intercultural awareness and to conduct development education mostly among young people. The association in the strong potential of creativity and communication as powerful means to foster mutual understanding amongst people from different backgrounds. It promotes the knowledge of African and migrant artists’ and intellectuals’ work in Europe through publications (such as the Africa e Mediterraneo biannual journal, comics catalogues, etc.), videos, exhibitions, conferences and web 2.0 campaigns. Beside, we organise intercultural workshops in both school and out-‐of-‐school contexts. Recent projects include: -‐ Comics for Equality (www.comix4equality.eu): selected among 600 applications from 100 countries to receive one of the Intercultural Innovation Awards given by the UNAOC United Nations Alliance of Civilisations and the BMW Group. ComiX4= uses the attractive educational
tools of comics produced by second generations of migrants and migrants to strengthen connection and cohesion between all Europeans. Comics for Equality’s innovative approach proved successful in reaching a wide audience thanks to its online and offline work: 41 artists from 21 EU countries participated in the Comics Award. -‐ Screens – Southern Visions of the Millenium Development Goals www.mdgscreens.eu, stems from a simple but not trivial question: “what is the opinion of those living in the Southern Hemisphere on the 8 Millennium Development Goals?”. The interpretation and analysis of the development and the MDGs rarely takes into account the opinion of those in the South. We went in search of the records, interpretations and visions of artists, professionals, and academics from the African continent. This project sees Africa not merely as a source of emigrational proceedings but as an active place and as a producer of research, culture and information. Africa e Mediterraneo has been collaborating with the Cooperative society Lai-‐momo for years, which provides services in the field of social communication, immigration and research. Lai-‐momo has 15 years of experience in cultural cooperation, producing publications and providing consultancy for local and international projects. Since 2007, Lai-‐momo has developed high and valuable competences in the immigration field, working and collaborating with local authorities, Italian and international non profit organisations advocating and supporting migrants, including asylum seekers and refugees. At the moment, Lai-‐momo is implementing reception activities in favour of asylum seekers and international protection beneficiaries in the territory of the Municipality of Bologna. Finally, Lai-‐momo manages informative and guidance desks called “Migrant Points” in 17 different towns of the province of Bologna. In the field of social communication, recent relevant projects include: -‐ Generation Africa: on January 14th, the renowned annual Pitti Fashion Show hosted a very unusual runaway show: Generation Africa. On the catwalk the creations of four African brands – AKJP (South Africa), Ikiré Jones (USA/Nigeria), Lukhanyo Mdinigi x Nicolas Coutts (South Africa) and U.Mi-‐1 (Nigeria) and the models who are also asylum seekers. The project Generation Africa was born from the partnership of Pitty Discovery Foundation and
ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI), and was created to provide support to examples of African micro-‐entrepreneurship in the fashion sector. Lai-‐momo is now partner with EFI. -‐ Bologna cares! (http://www.bolognacares.it/): the campaign is part of the SPRAR project of the Municipality of Bologna and aims at raising awareness among the citizens on the topic of protection of asylum seekers and refugees: http://on.fb.me/1J4iJDo. -‐ Communicating Migration publication (http://bit.ly/1GlCMWV), a practical guide for journalists and professionals on how to communicate and deal with the issue of migration with European data, statistics, laws and regulations and Italian media work on the issue. -‐ The social media communication and promotion of Consumer Classroom platform www.consumerclassroom.eu, a European 23-‐language database for teachers on critical and sustainable consumption. -‐ Asylum Corner new online media platform www.asylumcorner.eu: the contributions from the world of asylum in Europe – politicians, experts, researchers and social workers with first-‐ hand experience in the asylum process – are heard, analysed and shared with the public.
