Dialogue for hybrid integration
Narratives and promotion of agency of children with migrant background
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Info
CHILD-UP is a European research project that addresses the issue of migrant children in Europe through an innovative perspective, based on the concepts of children's agency and hybrid cultural integration. The Final Conference will be held in Brussels (Belgium) on 9 and 10 June 2022 and will present the main research results and the ways through which an impact on grassroots practice, research and policy has been envisaged and already partially achieved by the project.
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Against the mainstream discourse focusing on children's needs, children’s self-determination is at the centre of this project: children should be encouraged to select cultural elements of the originating country and hosting country, of generational discourse, and of local and global perspectives, to combine them in an original and unique personal synthesis.
Against the opposed logics of assimilation and preservation, it proposes a view of cultural “combination” -hybrid cultural integration- enacted by the child (supported in this exercise by “competent” and “willing” school staff, families and community facilitators) who shapes her/his authentic inclusion strategy at school and in the local and virtual community of reference.
CHILD-UP studied current school practices in the local contexts of 7 EU countries that have different migrant communities and profiles, and identified, analysed and disseminated evidence of good practices. CHILP-UP is a project held by the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE), the ehs Zentrum, Malmö University, the Institute of Sociology of the Jagiellonian University, the University of Liège, the University of Northampton, Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences, the European School Heads Association, the International Institute of Humanitarian Law (IIHL), the Fondation des Régions Européennes pour la Recherche l’Education et la Formation (FREREF)
It was largely based on the broad and intense involvement of stakeholders at the local and international levels who were involved in discussions of the analytical and operational approaches. It also investigated how to support the multiplication of good practices across countries and how to eventually influence public policies.
It first offered the school communities the opportunity to be actively involved in the research, and subsequently provided them with a battery of tools to use for the successful inclusion of children with a migrant background. This supports the objective of improving not only migrant children's school conditions but the school conditions for all children, families and local communities.
Finally, CHILD-UP wishes to provide the research community with new evidence, gathered through substantial field research and impact analysis of current policies, thus supporting both policy-makers and civil society in the establishment of more integrated and effective inclusion policies, benefitting not only migrant children but the whole local contexts.
The conference
The Final Conference will present the main research results and the ways through which an impact on grassroots practice, research and policy has been envisaged and already partially achieved by the project.
The conference is designed as both a research dissemination event -with several sessions gathering researchers from different projects and laboratories active in the same field- and as a gathering opportunity for the worlds of school education, protection of children, research and public policy at different institutional levels.
Research results will be considered not only as a source of new knowledge in this multidisciplinary research field, or of new questions to be further studied, but also in terms of suggestions for daily practice at school and in local communities. It also shares 'lessons learnt' that can positively influence public policies from the local to the EU level.
The conference structure will not only allow the presentation and discussion of results but will also offer an opportunity to share experiences and to address the many open challenges in the field of migrant children’s inclusion in the European society.
The participants
The project team of over 25 researchers will meet other researchers, decision-makers, school managers, teachers, mediators and representatives of the migrant communities.
Everybody will have the chance to express her/his own view in highly participatory parallel sessions, particularly to make proposals for the project's follow-up activities.
Suggestions will be discussed and reported to the Local Innovation Laboratories established -between researchers and stakeholders- in each of the 7 pilot sites in Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Program
DAY 1
9.30-10.00 am | Welcome address
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia(UNIMORE), University of Liege, Federation Wallonie-Bruxelles
10.00-11.15 am | Presentation of the CHILD-UP project and its results
UNIMORE and CHILD-UP partners
11.15-11.30 am | Coffee break
11.30am-1.00 pm | Discussion panel
- Representative of the CHILD-UP Scientific Advisory Board
- Representative of the International Stakeholders Committee
- Representative of the EU Commission
- National authorities representatives
1.00 pm | Lunch break
2.00-2.45 pm | Keynote speech
Representative of the CHILD-UP Scientific Advisory Board
2.45-5.30 pm | Parallel sessions (with coffee break at 4.15pm)
Research: Research progress and further questions
Practices: Grassroots innovative practice: how to re-contextualise and multiply?
Policy-making: Lessons learnt for policy-makers
Evening social programme
DAY 2
9.00-10.15 am | Presentation of parallel sessions’ results
(20 minutes & 1 rapporteur per session)
10.15-11.00 am | Ideas forum: Hackathon
Moderated by UNIMORE and CHILD-UP partners
11.00-11.30 am | Coffee break
11.30am-12.45 pm | Ideas forum: Round table discussing hackathon proposals
- 2 Representatives of the research component
- 2 Representatives of the policy-making component
- 2 Developers of good practices studied during the project
- 2 Representatives from the H2020-funded projects IMMERSE and MICREATE
12.45-1.00 pm | Final remarks
UNIMORE and CHILD-UP partners
Preparatory Events
The main conference will be prepared by local and thematic 'preparatory events' organised by project partners. Stay informed about these and other project resources, including research reports and free training activities, by regularly visiting the project website www.child-up.eu and taking part in the project community.
Registration & Contacts
Conference attendance is free and registration is compulsory.
Do you need more information on the project or the conference?
Visit the CHILD-UP website at and/or contact us
Sara Amadasi, UNIMORE
Shannon Damery, University of Liege
Edoardo Gimigliano, International Institute of Humanitarian Law