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[Descoperiți Alianța CIVIS ](https://civis.eu/ro/discover-civis-alliance) 2. [Activitatea noastră ](https://civis.eu/ro/discover-civis-alliance/our-work) 3. [Laboratoare deschise & Implicare civică ](https://civis.eu/ro/discover-civis-alliance/our-work/open-labs-civic-engagement) 4. Migrant Storytelling about Home and Belonging as a Transformative Tool Migrant Storytelling about Home and Belonging as a Transformative Tool ======================================================================== Between May and August 2025, creative workshops in Madrid, Glasgow, and Johannesburg brought together forcibly displaced people who settled in these three cities, over the age of eighteen, and from a diverse range of nationalities. Participants used different artistic methods to reflect on “home” and “belonging” as both physical spaces and emotional experiences, expressing the trauma of displacement and the resilience of rebuilding. The project results in the eBook ***Home as Story, Stories of Home: Transformations of Belonging***, showcasing 60 participant-created artworks from the workshops. This artistic compilation sparks transnational dialogue, counters stereotypes, and interprets migration as a shared, deeply human experience. [Learn more about the project](https://civis.eu/storage/files/migrant-storytelling-about-home.pdf) Main Beneficiaries & Social Impact --------------------------------------- ### Main Beneficiaries Over the course of three to four workshops in Madrid, Glasgow, and Johannesburg, a total of **30 individuals from diverse nationalities** contributed their voices and artworks. Each work becomes a bridge, connecting memory, identity, and belonging, while challenging the dehumanizing narratives that frequently dominate public discourse. This eBook is designed for a wide range audience. By presenting first-hand artistic narratives by displaced people, it aims to foster understanding and empathy, challenge stereotypes, and provide nuanced insights into the realities of migration. Thus, it serves as a resource for those involved in designing policies, programs, or educational initiatives, **offering evidence-based perspectives that highlight the voices and experiences of displaced communities.** [Read the e-book](https://civis.eu/en/resources/home-as-story-stories-from-home-transformations-of-belonging-2026) ### Social Impact The project challenges dehumanized and stereotypical portrayals of displaced people by centering their first-hand narratives. **Participants reclaim their stories by speaking in the first person, becoming co-creators of knowledge rather than passive subjects.** Creative workshops functioned as both artistic and safe spaces, fostering trust, dialogue, and peer support while enabling participants to reflect on migration, home, and belonging. By amplifying displaced people’s perspectives, **the project dignifies their experiences, counters marginalization, and promotes broader understanding of migration,** while supporting participants’ emotional well-being. The project also strengthens collaboration between universities and non-academic partners, demonstrating how participatory art and storytelling can empower displaced people, amplify marginalized voices, and foster more inclusive societies. ### Value of our project: - Deepen intersectoral networks. - Enhance narrative and transmedia platforms as strategic means of communication and convey alternative viewpoints - Establish knowledge co-creating teams involving associated academic and non-academic partners from three different countries - Address global problems, such as the forced displacement of people, as an international issue - Boost civic engagement beyond national borders - Bringing to light the importance of universities' commitment and responsibility to collaborate with non-academic organizations Core Methodology ----------------- The project uses a **participatory arts-based and storytelling methodology** that places the voices and creative expressions of forcibly displaced people at the centre. The approach is **trauma-informed, collaborative, and inclusive**, involving researchers, community organizations, and art-therapy practitioners to ensure safe spaces and ethical participation. The project combines creative co-production, multilingual expression, and cross-cultural dialogue. Events in the Project ---------------------- **Event Name** **Date(s)** **Location** **Description (purpose, audience)** Workshop at "Glasgow Open Doors Festival" **19-09-2025** Glasgow Open Door Festival (Glasgow) Share the artistic material produced in the workshops with the public. Presentation in “Conference on Interculturality and Sex-Gender Diversity”, held at Universidad Complutense **19-09-2025** Complutense University (Madrid) Share the artistic material produced in the workshops with the public. Presentation of eBook. Knowledge exchange event **29-04-2026** Centro cultural La Corrala, Madrid (18:00) General public Presentation of eBook. Knowledge exchange event. **TBA** Glasgow General Public Testimonial ------------ Art is a language of the soul, and this project proves how much this is the case. The eBook ***Home as Story, Stories of Home: Transformations of Belonging*** is not just a compilation of stories about the loss and memory of home. It is also a journey through the hearts of the participants, who, in their generosity and courage, used art to open and express their feelings of deeply traumatic experiences which they overcame with a different degree of success. Each of these artistic works invites not only empathy but rational compassion, connection, and awareness of what it is like to be marginalized, ignored, misunderstood and/or misrepresented. ![Participant](https://civis.eu/storage/files/civis-coms-unit-details-13.jpg) > I wanted to sincerely thank you for the opportunity you gave us to write a short story in this class. This exercise not only helped me to better understand my creativity but also made me look at narrative and writing from a different perspective. The supportive atmosphere of the class, the constructive feedback, and the freedom to choose the topic made it a very pleasant and inspiring experience for me. Participant Partners --------- [Marzanna Antoniak](https://www.migrantvoice.org/meet-the-team) **Stakeholder** Glasgow Network Coordinator in Migrant Voice [Francisco Fuentes Antrás](https://www.uam.es/fyl/facultad/departamentos/filologia-inglesa/francisco-fuentes-antras) **Academic** Lecturer in British literature at the Autónoma University of Madrid [Elwira Grossman](https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/mlc/staff/elwiragrossman/) **Academic** Senior lecturer in Polish and Comparative Literature at the University of Glasgow [Nina Ivashinenko](https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/socialpolitical/staff/ninaivashinenko/) **Academic** Lecturer in Political and International Studies [Cristina Montero](https://www.cear.es/) **Stakeholder** Senior Psychologist in Inclusion. CEAR Central Services [Nereida Ripero Muñiz](https://nereidariperomuniz.com/) **Academic** Senior lecturer at the University of Witwatersrand [María Ángeles Plaza Crespo](https://www.cear.es/) **Stakeholder** Senior Psychologist in Inclusion. CEAR Central Services [Kate Shand](https://kateshand.co.za/) **Stakeholder** Art therapist [Mirna Solic](https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/mlc/staff/mirnasolic/) **Academic** Senior lecturer ### Contact Point ### Lecturer ![Lecturer](https://civis.eu/storage/files/universidad-autonoma-de-madrid.png)- Francisco Fuentes Antrás - [Email](mailto:Francisco.fuentes@uam.es) ![CIVIS – Europe’s Civic University Alliance](https://civis.eu/build/assets/civis-CCpvK1nT.svg) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Europe’s Civic University Alliance ![Co-funded by the European Union](https://civis.eu/build/assets/co-funded-by-the-european-union-DSKLW1us.png)Views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). 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