Session on "Ten Years of University and Refuge"

This October marks ten years since the statement "Catalan universities: on the side of the refugees" was published by the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP). In many ways, the document marked the starting point of university programmes created to defend and give support to people who were being forced to seek refuge in another country.

This session is organised by the UAB Refugee Programme, and aims to ba a space for collective reflection and networking by Catalonia's public universities, civil society and the public administration.

The activity forms part of the work plan of the Technical Network for Cooperation, Volunteering and Refuge of the Interuniversity Council of Catalonia and includes the support of the Catalan Development Cooperation Agency (ACCD).

Programme

9:30 a.m. – Inaugural speeches
Andrea Costafreda Quesada, directora general of Cooperation (ACCD)
Xavier Martínez-Celorrio, secretary general of the Interuniversity Council of Catalonia
Esther Zapater Duque, secretary general of the UAB

10:00 a.m. – Ten Years of University and Refuge: accords, consensus and challenges
Artistic proposal: Yuyay: Memory. A monologue combining humour and dance to address migration, loss and resilience, inviting reflection on memory and violence. Written and starring Edith Laverde, Colombian human rights defender, refugee in Catalonia and PhD student at the UAB.

Round table: University and Refuge: where do we come from and where are we going? With representatives of university and social entities working with refugees:
Shurouq Alimam Alnajjar, UAB student and Palestinian refugee
Xavier López Arnabat, director of the UB Fundació Solidaritat 
Estel·la Pareja Morte, lecturer, consultant and social researcher, and former director of CCAR
Jordi Prat Fernàndez, director of the UAB Fundació Autònoma Solidària
Laura Riba Singla,  director of Irídia and member of the board of directors of La Fede
Moderated by: Pamela Urrutia, researcher from the School for a Culture of Peace
11:10 a.m. – Coffee break
11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. – Group work session: Protocol of guidelines for the academic reception of people in refugee situations at Catalan universities.

2:00 p.m. – Closing event
Oscar Jané Checa, vice-rector for International Relations (UAB)