GLocalEAst

Studies on higher education curricula have been designed to provide an overview of the current state of migration education within the higher education systems of the countries involved in the project.

CROATIA_GlocalEAst_National-reportDownload

Transnational report O1 / A3 GlocalEAST on the analysis of education and training needs Final_O1_A3

The final report under O1 provides a comparative study, based on the cases of countries involved in the GlocalEAst project. It maps the requirements of practice for people who apply in the field of migration management and work with disporal communities. It also identifies the shortcomings of the currently offered educational areas in these areas precisely with regard to the requirements of practice.

O2 – Design, Development and Testing of common GLocalEAst Syllabi

The intellectual output of O2 is the mainstay of the project. It includes the design, development and testing of common GLocalEAst syllabi and teaching materials for the implementation of a new curriculum in the field of migration, diaspora and frontier studies with a focus on Eastern and Central Europe.

The prepared educational units reflect the needs of education and training during the first stage of project implementation (intellectual output O1). In addition, the consortium created 4 thematic units, within which the members of the association interdisciplinary content of education.

– Policy Department 1: Ethnicity and Identity Policy in Central and Eastern Europe;

– Policy Department 2: Moving Borders in Central and Eastern Europe;

– Theme 3: Global Migration, Diasporas and Integration of Migrants in Central and Eastern Europe;

– Theme 4: Conflict and security in Central and Eastern Europe.

Within the thematic units of the consortium, we prepared the theoretical background of the courses. The second part of the courses focus on the acquisition of practical skills and specific knowledge with a focus on time studies from the regions: Baltic, Visegrad, Western Balkans and Eastern Europe.

The project-implemented approach to the study of migration, diaspora and border issues brings the potential for portability as well as regional expertise. On the one hand, an interdisciplinary approach within the specified thematic areas allows the application of the transfer of educational and research practices to other regions as well; on the other hand, structuring the curriculum according to a case-by-case approach from the region can help to gain regional expertise and sensitivity to specific problems at local / regional level.

The Syllabus can be found here:O2 – SYLLABUS

The Workshop on Migration, Border and Diaspora Studies in East-Central Europe – course contents

At the course, students were expected to acquire a basic knowledge of the main methodological tools adopted in migration, border and diaspora studies, with a special focus on East-Central Europe. As a result of the learning activities, students were expected to be able to integrate insights from research, practice and policy, exploring global and local dynamics affecting the region.

The course offered students an interdisciplinary and innovative approach that provided practical skills and helped better address the challenges in the field. The course addressed the complex and interrelated challenges of migration, diaspora and borders: as students had the chance to explore during the course, the latter have a much longer history – also in relation to East-Central Europe. The region became a “transit area” in the so-called “refugee crisis” in the EU that peaked in 2015, but the region was also a site of migration to Western Europe from the socialist era to the post-Cold War period, lasting until today. More recently, the region has also become a place of immigration – for example, from Ukraine and other European states, but also from as far away as China. The proclamation of independent states after the fall of the Iron Curtain, which in some cases led to war and/or frozen border conflicts (as in Georgia, Moldova, and Kosovo), as well as EU association processes and new global constellations in general, affect migration in different ways. Migration – be it labor, family, educational, or flight migration – is based, at least in part, on international relations between states of the region and the European Union that attempt to channel migratory movements by adjusting their border and migration regimes. In the receiving and transit countries, immigration may lead to a strengthening of populism, which makes the integration of migrants very difficult, but it can also lead to new, creative forms of conviviality that respect a greater diversity in society. During the course, the lecturers addressed the current, complex and interconnected challenges related to migration, diaspora and borders by offering an inter- and transnational perspective, while at the same time providing a profound knowledge of regional and local processes.

The Moodle platform was a main platform for this e-learning course. Renowned scholars in the field of migration and border studies from the six partner universities conveyed central aspects in their lectures (core courses). On the course webpage on Moodle, students had the opportunity to learn about the main methodological tools adopted in migration, border and diaspora studies, thanks to a selection of readings, slides and ‘video-lectures’ created by the GlocalEAST team of academics.

A part of the course was also a series of webinars (6 classes; 12 academic hours). An accompanying series of webinars provided for open discussions on selected case studies, in order to give participants the opportunity to acquire practical knowledge on how to develop research in migration, diaspora and border studies.

Additionally to original plan in the project proposal, the intensive in-person final week was added to the the GlocalEAst e-learning course (for more details see information on project events GLocalEAst BIP).

O5 -GLocalEAst Joint Policy Paper Series

The output O5, the recommendations resulting from the implementation of the GLocalEAst project in the form of a Joint Policy Paper Series (JPPS) aim to bridge the academic community and civil society actors and decision-makers (state administration and local government). This output presents project findings and policy recommendations addressed to various target audiences from political institutions to higher education institutions.

GLocalEAst JPPS are available here: GlocalEast JPPS – 10_Final