The university as an advocate for responsible education about migration in Europe

Project summary

The life of many individuals is shaped by mobility. In 2015, almost 5 million individuals migrated to the 28 EU member-states, of which about half held citizenship outside the European Union. While migration management is on the political agenda, questions about equality and inclusion are at the heart of debates about mobility and immigration in Europe. REMix focuses on the social, educational and intellectual role of the European university as an agent advocating for inclusion, equality and social justice in matters relating to migration. The engagement of universities in public contemporary debates plays an important role in shaping student‘s understanding of societal matters and democratic and civic engagement. The main objectives of the project are 1) to strengthen the role played by the university in advocating for constructive, responsible and inclusive education about migration in Europe, 2) to facilitate and improve the possibilities for immigrants and refugees to have access to higher education and 3)to encourage European universities to provide a rational vehicle for contributions to the knowledge and the informed debate around migration. The consortium is composed of six entities that have been involved in the fields of innovation in education and work on immigration and cultural rights – each bringing with them a certain expertise and considerable knowledge: University of Akureyri (Iceland), University of Szeged (Hungary), University of Florence (Italy), Aristotle University of Thelassoniki (Greece), University of Madeira (Portugal) and the network ARMES Progetti (Italy). Activities undertaken by the project include research, collection and analysis of successful practices, compilation of a Handbook for Higher Education professionals and the delivery of an international and interdisciplinary course (MOOC) for students in migration studies. The methodology is action research: starting from a problem that is considered strategic for all researchers they follow the following steps: 1) Definition of the overarching problem (refugees and migrants do not have access to higher education) and design of a map of involved stakeholders that might bear solution 2) At the local level, collection of data, quantitative and qualitative, in order to define what is the current situation and the opportunities for change 3) Analysis of data and feed back of stakeholders in order to produce reccomendations 4) Sharing at the partnership level and formulation of final recommendations. The expected result is twofolded: not only to collect information and understand a problem in depth, but also to activate stakeholders, make them responsible, for their possible solution During the collection of practices a wide variety of stakeholders, within and outside the University will be involved through interviews and seminars. This will create interest and deepen reflection on University role. According to partners, in most of the cases it will emerge that inclusion strategies are weak or almost non-existing. The expected impact also implies creating awareness on the issue by education policy makers. The university also holds a responsibility in educating competent researchers and practitioners. Students in health sciences, social sciences, and particularly in nursing, education, social work, journalism, law, and police science need to be able to enrich their theoretical understanding with a practical approach to develop cross-cultural and multicultural sensitivity and skills.