Call for the third edition of the UB university transition course for students from conflict areas

The call offers 15 new grants for the course, pioneer in Spain and in Europe, which aims to ease the transition of these students to study a masterʼs degree in the UB, as the only chance to continue with their academic years. The transition course is built by a first part on intensive learning of Catalan and Spanish languages, and a second part on the field of human rights and conflict resolution. Also, the third edition includes this time, training on employability. The grants for the course cover the enrolment and accommodation in one of the UB university housing, as well as legal advice, psychological assistance and academic and social accompaniment, among others. Once the training is done, the students would course master studies with the same coverage.

When the call is published, 43 refugees and people from conflict areas will study at the University of Barcelona as part of its Support program, although more than a hundred have benefited from measures related to accommodation.

How to collaborate in the Support program for refugees

In the first phase, refugees and people from conflict areas that take part in the Program are hosted in the housing of the University of Barcelona, where they can find a national and international university environment. In the second phase, in order to favour their personal autonomy and social integration process, the Program promotes their move to shared apartments -the rent is funded by agreements with town councils (LʼHospitalet de Llobregat and Viladecans) and supramunicipal entities (Governing Council of Barcelona). In this sense, the University of Barcelona asks those in the university community and general citizens who have apartments to rent in Barcelona and its metropolitan area, to collaborate in the program. They can do so by sending an email to solidaritatub@ub.edu.

Also, regarding the academic year 2019-2020, Voluntariat UB will publish a new volunteering call for the accompaniment and language support to students who participate in the Program.

Other actions in the Support program for refugees

Since the beginning of the Program, the University of Barcelona has organized several activities on information, training and awareness regarding the refugee crisis and the reception experience of the UB. As part of the RESCUE project, in which the UB takes part  since 2016, support units for refugees (R-SOS units) have been created in Lebanon, the Iraqi Kurdistan and Jordan. Also, representatives from a Jordan university came to Mundet Campus to a course of specific tools at work for refugees.

To carry out these activities and projects, the program has worked on an internal work network with twenty groups, departments and areas of the UB; an inter-university collaboration network, and an external network to the University, which includes collaboration agreements with public administrations, educational centers and entities that work in shelter issues.

Social and sports days in Lesbos

Regarding cooperation on land, in mid-April, representatives of the University of Barcelona went to the island of Lesbos to study the possibility of implementing the methodology of the Social and Sports Days held at the UB in the city of Mytilene. This methodology, coordinated and launched by the UB lecturer Merche Ríos, from the Faculty of Education, consists on designing and practice socialization dynamics for collectives that are at risk of social exclusion through physical education. In Mytilene, the meetings will gather students from the University of the Aegean and the University of Barcelona and unaccompanied minors. The objectives will be, on the one hand, to favour the social integration of the minors through empowering and interaction with university students, and on the other hand, to increase mutual knowledge between both groups, overcoming stereotypes and prejudices.

Promotion to access of refugees to higher education has given the UB the Magisterio Prize (2017) and the selection of this Program as best practices by the European project inHERE.