CURVE was born from the cooperation between 10 UK partners from Universities to NGOs, CICs, arts organizations working at different levels on issues related to migrants in its wider meaning that includes refugees, asylum seekers, climate and economic migrants . This includes training, research, community-based activities and spaces, legal and financial assistance, mental health support, housing, climate change effects on migration and sustainable development. The common goal of these organisations is to improve living conditions of the above groups by raising
awareness of how climate change is affecting migration and what can be done to help migrants integrate in the local
communities using different means from mental health support, to architecture, arts, social media.
The staff of the consortium will be attending a 6-day structured training in Italy, Spain or Greece during which the
participants will be able to learn new skills in order to achieve to objectives of the project.
A) Context/background of project;
The project is tailored on the need of the staff of the national consortium to be better prepared and acquire new
competencies as regards to the reception and integration of migrants. One of the most urgent needs is to investigate the link between climate change and forced migration, raise awareness on the subject and promote action to tackle this issue.
Linked to this issue, is also the need to explore new solutions, such as portable and emergency architecture, which
encompasses lightweight and autonomous structures for flexible mobility and emergency situations. Despite the fact that there is a lot of training offer in the field of migration, such training programme as the one proposed by the project, which encompasses different disciplines such as mental health, training, architecture, arts, etc. is very innovative and currently not available from any provider. Moreover by doing the training in countries of first arrival, participants will have the opportunity to experience first-hand what system is in place and what migrants have to face once they land in Europe
B) Objectives of the project;
– To build on good practices in order to tackle the negative perception of migrants due to populist discourse and build a
better sense of community.
– To have a better understanding of the concept of forced migration due to climate change and the impact climate change will have on societies and the environment if urgent action is not taken.
– Raising awareness on the dangers of hate speech, especially against migrants, which can lead to discrimination,
violence, and violation of human rights.
– To understand the effects of migration management practices on people on the moving.
– To look at architecture as a human right and get familiar with “low budget and emergency” architectural solutions that
respect dignity.
– To share on a local, regional, national level the idea that migrants can and have to be seen as a richness and not only
as a problem.
– To avoid socio-spatial segregation, and involve both migrants and vulnerable people with the local community in the
decision-making process.
C) Number and profile of participants;
120 participants will be selected from the staff of the organisations in the consortium. The promoter is a UK-led consortium made up of 10 partners ranging from training organisations (Kairos Europe, KCL, London Met, Creating
Ground, and Oxford Brookes), charities (British Red Cross, Cardinal Hume Centre and Laamiga) and art organizations
(Eye4change,Counterpoints Arts) .
D) Description of activities;
During the 2 year project there will be 6 flows and participants will attend a 6-day structured course including lectures,
panel discussions, visits to local centres working with migrants, intercultural workshops, and interventions from experts
working in the field.
E) Description of results;
– The main results will be:
– Staff better prepared to deal with issues affecting migrants and acquisition of relevant intercultural awareness and
communication skills needed to relate with people from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds .
– Development of new curricula and acquisition of new skills to be used by the national consortium partners for training
mentors, volunteers, community workers and leaders
– Creation of synergies between participants in the project and participating organisations, which will reflect in more joint
coordinated efforts to the benefit of local communities.
F) Long-term benefits
Participants will have a deeper understanding of how climate change is affecting migration and will explore possible ideas to tackle the problem from low budget bio-architecture to other forms of sustainable development. They will get new ideas on how to update their approach and methods and help migrants in needs. It will also give the participants the confidence to develop a more international approach in their day by day work.
Cultivating Understanding of Refugees and Vulnerable Environments
