Developing a new curriculum in Global Migration, Diaspora and Border Studies in East-Central Europe

glocal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unibo structure involved: Department of Political and Social Science - SPS
Scientific manager: Stefano Bianchini
Unibo Team: Marco Puleri (Member of the Steering Committee), Francesco Privitera, Marco Zoppi
Project Web page: www.glocal.sk
Erasmus+ Action type: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices Strategic Partnerships for higher education
Project reference: 2020-1-SK01-KA203-078263
Start Date: 1 September 2020
End Date: 31 August 2023
Budget:       Total: 398,265       UNIBO: € 117,130 

Coordinator
UNIVERZITA KOMENSKEHO V BRATISLAVE (SK)

Partners
SVEUCILISTE U ZAGREBU (HR)
STIFTUNG EUROPA-UNIVERSITAET VIADRINA FRANKFURT (ODER) (DE)
UNIVERZITET U BEOGRADU (RS)
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - UNIVERSITÀ DI BOLOGNA (IT)
VYTAUTO DIDZIOJO UNIVERSITETAS (LT) 

Summary
As emblematically invoked in the November 2015 European University Association release 'European Universities for an Open World', recent migration-related "complex and interconnected challenges" require "global solutions". GLocalEAst strategic partnership in migration, diaspora and border studies is designed to address the contemporary Global and Local challenges in East-Central Europe by promoting research, practice and political links in addressing migration issues, following both transnational and trans-sectoral perspectives.

The project embodies the simultaneous creation of an innovative curriculum in Migration, Diaspora and Border Studies and a platform of experts from academic, NGOs and local governmental institutions monitoring migration and integration processes in East-Central Europe. On the one hand, the implementation of a network gathering together local actors in the academic world and civil society, at both regional and national levels, is meant to lay the groundwork for designing and developing new learning outcomes-based educational tools (including digital) that will be integrated in existing curricula to meet the labor market and societal needs, thus tackling skill gaps in managing migration issues. On the other, the GLocalEAst network will work as a platform for analyzing both local and global dimensions of migration flows, together with dynamics of social inclusion, encouraging training of academics and exchange of good practices in new and innovative multi-disciplinary pedagogies.

The project will last 36 months, and will be undertaken by a consortium made of 6 Higher Education Institutions as partners, and 10 associated partners among NGOs, research centers and governmental actors from Lithuania, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Croatia and Serbia.

Through the lens of migration, diaspora and border studies, the project activities are aimed to implement innovative practices in the field of education and to promote the specialization of youth workers by:

  • raising a nuanced and comprehensive understanding of the refugee crisis in Europe, focusing on both the local and global dimensions of migration, thanks to the implementation of a new curriculum in Migration, Diaspora and Border Studies in East-Central Europe;
  • addressing the global analysis of the needs and problems undermining territorial and political cohesion in East-Central Europe in the aftermath of recent crisis in the Western Balkans (2015-);
  • promoting knowledge-based and evidence-based practices that have a political impact thanks to the transnational collaboration of EU and extra-EU Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and non-governmental institutions (NGO);
  • linking the work of HEIs and NGOs, thus impacting on the actions of local and regional governmental authorities.

More in details, the following intellectual outputs will be produced throughout GLocalEAst project life:

  • GLocalEAst transnational report on educational and training needs analysis: it is the groundwork for the development of the project, as it includes the drafting of accurate reports aimed to map national, regional and local migration actors, policies, processes and practices that nowadays characterize migration issues in every partner country involved in the project. The full partners will scrutinize the practices adopted in national and local migration policies, highlighting related needs and constraints in a transnational perspective.
  • GLocalEAst course Syllabi and Teaching units: it is the most important project pillar as it includes the joint design, development and testing of the syllabi and teaching units for the implementation of the new curriculum in Migration, Diaspora and Border Studies in East-Central Europe. The educational and training needs detected in the GLocalEAst transnational report will be categorized and assigned to 4 thematic macro-areas, preliminarily identified as follows:

       - Macro-area 1: Ethnicity and Politics of Identity in East-Central Europe;
       - Macro-area 2: Borders in Motion in East-Central Europe;
       - Macro-area 3: Global Migration, Diasporas and Migrant Integration in East-Central Europe;
       - Macro-area 4: Conflict and Security in East-Central Europe.

  • GLocalEAst MOOC for NGOs: An NGO-oriented MOOC course will be created, with the multiple goals of fostering the cooperation between HEIs and the civil society, improving teaching programs and creating links between educational programs and labor market.
  • GLocalEAst e-learning course: A student-oriented e-learning course in Diaspora, Migration and Border Studies will be created. This will be then integrated in the respective master courses preliminarily identified by the members of the consortium during preparatory activities.
  • GLocalEAst Recommendations for policy-makers: it aims at effectively bridging higher education, governmental and non-governmental institutions thanks to the elaboration of Joint Policy paper series on global and local migration.