Child, migrant, refugee voices for viable cities

CIVIS focus area: Society, culture, heritage
Open to: Master's

Phd
Field of studies: Social Science and humanities

Environmental sciences, Urbanism, Geography
Type: Blended Intensive Programmes (BIP)
Course dates: 2 May - 20 July 2023

This interdisciplinary postgraduate course is jointly offered by 11 instructors from 4 CIVIS member universities (Aix-Marseille Université, France, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, as coordinating institution, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Austria, and Sapienza Università di Roma, Italy) working together to offer to 35-40 Master’s and PhD students coming from multiple disciplines a multi-faceted coverage of the societal challenges involved in making socially vulnerable groups of refugees, migrants and children become visible and have a voice on the sustainability of cities.

Course topics range from design of sustainable reception centres and ecological models for bio-psycho-social wellbeing of migrants and refugees, as well as relations between gender, transnational migration and conviviality, to intercultural pragmatics, communicative competences, inclusive multilingual education, as well as open government, public participation, playfulness, responsible research and innovation, co-creation, extended reality environments as frameworks for participating in the city and horizontal governance for sustainable cities.

Course methods encompass transdisciplinary learning, public and democratic science approaches, input by lecturers and research-led activities by students, the Ecological Fresco serious game on possible solutions crossing several sustainable development goals, playful brainstorming, lateral thinking and visual thinking, workshops, role play, debates, participatory visual ethnography, mobile phone filming and storytelling as well as an open challenge for students to organize an online exhibition of their works.

Main topics addressed

Design strategies and implementation measures for the design of sustainable reception centers (2 physical sessions by Alessandra Battisti, Sapienza Università Di Roma)
Ecological models for the bio-psycho-social wellbeing of migrants and refugees (1 virtual session by Silvia Iorio, Sapienza Università Di Roma)
Extended Reality environments and participating in the city (1 physical session by Dimitris Charitos, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)
Intercultural pragmatics and communicative competence for inclusive bilingual and multilingual education (2 physical and 1 virtual sessions by Maria Sfyroera, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)
Giving voice through more horizontal governance to imagine and design more sustainable cities (2 physical sessions by Laura Carmouze, Aix-Marseille Université and 1 virtual session by Christophe Alaux, Aix-Marseille Université)
Open government, public participation, playfulness, RRI and co-creation as frameworks for giving voice (1 physical and 1 virtual session by Dimitris Gouscos, Evika Karamagioli, Panagiotis Tragazikis and Alexandra Nakou, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)

Learning outcomes

Students taking the course will develop subject matter knowledge on the topics taught, as well as reflexivity, an essential soft skill for understanding the complexity of targets (children, migrants, refugees) and thinking about sustainable cities in time and space.

Through project assignments on course topics combined with cross-cutting issues, such as gender and intersectionality as research dimensions, cultural exchanges and artistic expression as frameworks of getting a voice and participating, and others, students will also develop transversal competences.

The assignment delivery process itself, encompassing study and research parts, working individually/in groups, reporting, presentation and peer-to-peer evaluation of fellow students’ projects, helps students develop scientific work skills, as well as soft skills on handling group dynamics and undertaking an evaluator mindset.

Dates: 2 May - 20 July 2023	Language: English (B2)
Location: Athens, Greece	ECTS: 6
Format: Blended	Workload: 180 hours
Contact: gouscos@media.uoa.gr

Recognition of ECTS depends on your home university.

Course activities encompass:

10 physical 4-hour teaching sessions offered in Athens, Greece during 1 week in May 2023
5 virtual 4-hour teaching sessions offered only during May-June 2023
Self-study and individual/small group project assignments to be delivered by the end of June 2023

Physical mobility

The physical mobility part will be running from 16 to 20 May 2023 in Athens, Greece.

Tuesday 16/05/2023

9.00-13.00 EET: Open government, public participation, playfulness, RRI and co-creation as frameworks for giving voice (1st part)
14.00–18.00 EET: Gender, transnational migration and conviviality (1st part)

Wednesday 17/05/2023

9.00-13.00 EET: Gender, transnational migration and conviviality (2nd part)
14.00–18.00 EET: Giving voice through more horizontal governance to imagine and design more sustainable cities (1st part)

Thursday 18/05/2023

9.00-13.00 EET: Giving voice through more horizontal governance to imagine and design more sustainable cities (2nd part)
14.00–18.00 EET: Design strategies and implementation measures for the design of sustainable reception centers (1st part)

Friday 19/05/2023

9.00-13.00 EET: Design strategies and implementation measures for the design of sustainable reception centers (2nd part)
14.00–18.00 EET: Intercultural pragmatics and communicative competence for inclusive bilingual and multilingual education (1st part)

Saturday 20/05/2023

9.00-13.00 EET: Intercultural pragmatics and communicative competence for inclusive bilingual and multilingual education (2nd part)
14.00–18.00 EET: Extended Reality environments and participating in the city

Virtual part

The virtual part will be running from 2 May to 20 July 2023.

Thursday 25/05/2023

9.00-13.00 CET: Gender, transnational migration and conviviality (3rd part)

Thursday 01/06/2023

14.00-18.00 CET: Open government, public participation, playfulness, RRI and co-creation as frameworks for giving voice (2nd part)

Thursday 15/06/2023

9.00-13.00 CET: Intercultural pragmatics and communicative competence for inclusive bilingual and multilingual education (3rd part)

Monday 19/06/2023

9.00-13.00 CET: Ecological models for the bio-psycho-social wellbeing of migrants and refugees

Wednesday 21/06/2023

9.00-13.00 CET: Giving voice through more horizontal governance to imagine and design more sustainable cities (3rd part)

Requirements

This course is open to Master's and PhD students at CIVIS member universities enrolled in the following fields of study: education, policy, communication, development, cultural, refugee, migration, urban and sustainability studies, or any other fields related.

A background on research methods and scientific writing is desirable.

NB: Visiting Students - Erasmus Funding Eligibility

To be eligible for your selected CIVIS programme, you must be a fully enrolled student at your CIVIS home university at the time you will be undertaking the programme. Click here to learn more about the eligibility criteria.

Application process

Interested students should apply by filling in the online application form by 28 February 2023.

Students will be selected based on the following criteria: academic degree, CV, motivation letter and study research project outlines.

Apply here

Assessment

Course evaluation is based on:

Mandatory attendance and lively/substantive participation in physical and virtual activities, including organized discussions;
Compliance to deadlines and guidelines;
Full compliance to respect for diversity, academic integrity and anti-plagiarism principles;
Delivery of final project assignments on an individual or small group (2 or 3 members) basis.

Final assignments comprise a written report, an oral presentation, and engaging in peer-to-peer assessment of fellow students’ projects according to guidelines.

Assignment topics are co-defined with students from the course topics and relevant global agendas, they encompass a balance of study/review work and formulating an open research question, and they may integrate cross-cutting aspects such as gender, cultural exchanges and artistic expression.

Blended Intensive Programme

This CIVIS course is a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP): a new format of Erasmus+ mobility which combines online teaching with a short trip to another campus to learn alongside students and professors across Europe. Click here to learn more about CIVIS BIPs.

GDPR Consent

The CIVIS alliance and its member universities will treat the information you provide with respect. Please refer to our privacy policy for more information on our privacy practices. By applying to this course you agree that we may process your information in accordance with these terms.

Christophe Alaux

Christophe Alaux, PhD is Maître de conférences en sciences de gestion, Agrégé de Sciences économiques et sociales, and Dean of the School of Public Management and Territorial Governance at Aix-Marseille Université, France. For more information, click here.

Alessandra Battisti

Alessandra Battisti, PhD, is Full Professor in Environmental Design at Sapienza Università di Roma, Italy. For more information, click here.

Laura Carmouze

Laura Carmouze, PhD, is Maître de Conférences en Sciences de Gestion at Aix-Marseille Université, France. For more information, click here.

Dimitris Charitos

Dimitris Charitos, PhD, is Associate Professor in Digital Communication Environments, and Chair of the Department of Digital Arts and Cinema at National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. For more information, click here.

Dimitris Gouscos

Dimitris Gouscos, PhD, Course Coordinator, is Assistant Professor in Digital Communication at National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. For more information, click here.

Silvia Iorio

Silvia Iorio, PhD, is Research Associate at Sapienza Università di Roma, Italy. For more information, click here.

Evika Karamagioli

Evika Karamagioli, PhD, is Research Associate at National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. More information available here.

Alexandra Nakou

Alexandra Nakou, MA, is Doctoral Researcher, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece and Scientific Personnel Member at the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs. More information available here.

Maria Sfyroera

Maria Sfyroera, PhD, is Associate Professor in Teaching Approaches in Early Childhood Education at National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. More information available here.

Kyoko Shinozaki

Kyoko Shinozaki, PhD, is Professor on Social Change and Mobility at Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Austria. More information available here.

Panagiotis Tragazikis

Panagiotis Tragazikis, PhD, is Research Associate at National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece and Public Primary School Director. More information available here.