Progetto Europeo Horizon 2020

Responsabile del progetto: Matteo Al Kalak

Partecipante: Maria Chiara Rioli

Partner: Sorbonne Université, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - Unhcr Haut Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les refugies Hcr, Universiteit Leiden, Ethniko kai Kapodistriako Panepistimio Athinon, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Cnrs, Universita degli Studi di Milano, Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (per l’anno 2021), Archivio delle Memorie Migranti Aps - Archive of Migrant Memories, Association Arcs Tunisie, Institute Of Geography Named H.A. Aliyev National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, Universite Al Akhawayn d’Ifrane

2021 -

The ITHACA project aims to focus narratives on migrations in the past and present, analysing them in a rigorous historical framework, through an interdisciplinary methodology, and adopting a comparative and transnational approach. The project is based on the idea of creating a digital platform (the ITHACA Platform) that brings together - through a clear system, easy searchability and a user-friendly interface - migration narratives from the 15th century to the present. The Platform, at the heart of the project, intends to present innovative analysis of narratives on migrations, whilst considering different causes, actors involved, geopolitical scenarios and migration routes. In particular, the project will take into account migration narratives related to religious causes, humanitarian crises, political reasons, decolonization processes, environmental and climate causes (section past). As well, we will investigate narratives related to the present, especially those regarding irregular migration in Europe, the socio-economic contexts of origin and those of potential migrants.

Progetto europeo (linea AMIF)

Responsabile di unità: Claudio Baraldi

Partner internazionali: City of Mechelen (BE, coordinatore), Comune di Modena, City of Fuenlabrada (ES), City of Vienna (A), City of Livadia (GR), Metropolitan City of Grenoble (F), International Institute of Humanitarian Law (I), Karel de Grote Hogeschool (BE)

2022 -

MUST-a-Lab proposes a systemic and long-term involvement of stakeholders in cities and communities through the methodology of Policy Labs (PLs), in which existing local integration strategies are discussed and improved. These Labs bring together different types of local stakeholders: official stakeholders, normally involved in local policies, and grassroots stakeholders, close to the final implementation of policies, as well as established migrant stakeholders and influencers in the migrant communities. Each PL concentrates on specific topics in one of two areas selected by the consortium in accordance with the European 'Action plan on Integration and Inclusion 2021-2027': 1) Education, lifelong learning, rights and professionalisation and 2) Care, work-life balance and gender equality. The topics will be chosen based on the experiences and needs of local stakeholders. These PLs will discuss, evaluate and improve existing local strategies using input from all participants,   reframe the integration challenges and invite participants to devise and test new measures and finally help implement the improved or adapted multi-stakeholder strategies. The PLs will have a long-term impact on local integration in four ways: firstly, migrants and asylum seekers become active actors in local integration strategies, able to influence the implementation of those strategies by sharing their views and experiences with relevant stakeholders. Secondly, local stakeholders become collaborative actors who have the necessary information to implement strategies that work. Thirdly, PLs will enable stakeholders to develop actions that are complementary to those of other stakeholders. Fourth, the practice of the PLs allows communities to optimise their integration strategies. Broad communication and engagement activities will ensure that the practice of PLs will be adopted by municipalities and that it is extended beyond the partnership, at the European level. In particular, the UNIMORE partner leads the WP of Evaluative research. The general objective of this WP is to ensure an effective evaluation of the policy lab method employed in the project to enhance stakeholders’ involvement in local policies of integration of migrants. A comprehensive methodology of evaluative research is considered pivotal in reaching a full understanding of the method and its effectiveness and outcomes. The accurate knowledge of the policy labs’ advantages and possible obstacles will make possible to apply the method fruitfully for future policies of integration. Against this background, specific objectives of this work package are:

1. To investigate whether small or larger adjustments of the ongoing policy labs are necessary and to describe those adjustments, thus gaining knowledge on how policy labs work: analysis of the process of discussion and deliberation with the contribution of all participants (stakeholders, facilitators, representatives of local administrations)
2. To gain knowledge about the ways participants and facilitators of the policy labs understand and assess its activities from a responsive perspective: what works for whom under which circumstances?
3. To improve participants’ proposition and decision-making capacity during the policy labs
4. To gain knowledge on the follow-up of policy labs in the political system (new narratives and devices)
5. To provide preliminary and final reports for stakeholders and local and European policy makers
6. To create guidelines for a successful organisation, facilitation and follow-up of policy labs.

Progetto Europeo (linea MSCA)

Responsabile: Riccardo Castagnetti

Istituzioni coinvolte: Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia – Harvard University

2022-

Handwritten correspondence was a vital means of communication during the 18th Century. Through their letters, people kept in touch with family and friends, exchanged information, sought patronage, and did business. Musicians’ correspondence bears witness to every aspects of musical life, as well as to socio-economic issues related to music production and listening. The overarching-project objective is to create a representation of 18th-century European musical environment through the reconstruction and analysis of the correspondence and epistolary network that Franciscan friar Giambattista Martini (1706-1784) entertained with musicians, music lovers, scholars and editors, men and women, from across Italy and from Europe’s most important courts and musical centers. Until now, research has been restricted only to the 6,000 letters received from some 970 correspondents collected by Martini in his library. Moreover, the methodologies followed have reduced epistolary content to a static dataset, not considering that it is the output of dynamic social network, requiring a philological, historical, and sociological approach within the epistemological framework provided by digital humanities. The research will focus on an extensive archival investigation and a detailed indexation of the documents to identify the key themes of the correspondence. Finally, specific topics of the correspondence will be categorised applying the Social Network Analysis tools.

This research has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement number 101031614.

Progetto europeo (Erasmus+, KA3)

Coordinatore del progetto: Claudio Baraldi

Partecipanti: Vittorio Iervese, Chiara Ballestri (assegnista)

Partner internazionali: University f Jena; University of Suffolk

2016-2018

The project has promoted migrant-background children’s inclusion and learning, through facilitation of  children’s production of shared memories in dialogic communication. The project has involved 48 classrooms of 9-11 year old  children, in three countries, fostering recognition and empowerment of migrant-background children, avoiding their differentiation from non-migrant children. The project has implemented the following actions: 

1. Promotion of children’s collection and production of visual materials, in particular photos, representing their personal and cultural memories

2. Involvement of children’s families in this action 

3. Training of teachers and facilitators in using visual materials during classroom communication 

4. Facilitation of description, comparison and sharing of visual materials and memories in classroom communication 

5. Implementation of a web platform including an archive of visual materials 

6. Evaluation of the whole process and its results. 

On these bases, the  project has produced five outcomes: 

(1) public web platform 

(2) public archive of visual materials produced by students 

(3) package for facilitation of use of visual materials  for dialogue 

(4) training package for teachers 

(5) package for evaluation. 

These actions have provided experimentation of a new ways of working with children in schools. The project outcomes have provided effective tools for transferring its results in national and transnational educational landscapes, implementing a new policy throughout Europe. This policy gives relevance to:  migrant-background children as active participants in learning processes and social inclusion: facilitative and dialogic methods of teaching as promoting children’s learning and participation effectively; synergetic connections between schools and their social contexts as important aspects of education: visual materials tools for both personal expression and social exchanges; integrated use of visual, oral, written and digital media as primarily relevant for learning and dialogue.

The project fostered the assessment of children’s production and use of visual materials and children’s active participation in classroom dialogues, strengthening the professional profile of teachers providing (a) methodological guidelines, (b) package for training, (c) online open course, (d) open access website including guidelines of classroom activities, € public archive of visual materials, (f) evaluation tools.

Progetto Europeo HORIZON 2020

Coordinatore del progetto europeo: Claudio Baraldi

Partecipanti: Laura Gavioli, Vittorio Iervese, Elisa Rossi., Sara Amadasi (assegnista), Chiara Ballestri (assegnista)

Partner internazionali: Université de Liege (Belgium); Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences (Finland); Zentrum für Forschung, Weiterbildung und Beratung – Evangelische Hochschule Dresden (Germany); Jagiellonian University Krakov (Poland); Malmö University (Sweden) University of Northampton (The United Kingdom), International Institute of Humanitarian Law (Italy), Federation des Regions pour la Recherche, l’Education et la Formation (France), European School Head Association  (The Netherlands)

Partner locali: scuole a Modena e provincia, Reggio Emilia e provincia, Comune di Modena, Uffici scolastici di Modena e Reggio Emilia; cooperativa Mediando, cooperative Gulliver, cooperativa Dimora d’Abramo; associazione Pro.di.Gio; CEIS Onlus.

2019-2022

CHILD-UP (www.child-up.eu) researched the social conditions of migrant children’s integration through social participation, taking in primary account gender differences, legal status and age groups. with the final aim to propose an innovative approach to understand and transform their social condition.  The general objective of CHILD-UP included (1) the analysis of the current enhancement of migrant children’s exercise of agency in participating in changing their social and cultural conditions of integration, and (2) an investigation of the way this agency is accounted for and engaged with in educational interventions and policies, and in the children’s relations with social protection services, families and communities.  The general objective is split into specific objectives of research, interventions and policy.  First specific objective was providing an European overview, collection of data and evaluation concerning children’s conditions of living, protection and education. In selected contexts in seven countries, the research focused on: (1) policies and practices of integration in schools, reception centres, social services and communities; (2) children’s, parents’ and professionals’ experiences, perceptions and expectations of integration;  (3) specific practices of language teaching, facilitation of dialogue, intercultural education and mediation. Second objective was providing support for migrant children’s exercise of agency in changing their own conditions of integration and constructing hybrid identities and hybrid integration. This objective was achieved through the promotion of a dialogic system of practices, in schools and in their relations with partners (social services, reception centres, education and mediation agencies) and families. Third objective was informing policies at the local, national and European level through dissemination and exploitation of research outcomes and tools. This objective was achieved through the collaboration of international and local stakeholder committees. CHILD-UP included the following actions:

1. Preliminary analysis of social and political factors that influence the integration of child migrants at regional and European levels, including a literature review and analysis of relevant policy documents. 
2. Quantitative research on education, involving children, parents and professionals (teachers, social workers and mediators) investigating (1) children’s trajectories of migration; (2) children’s access to education (3) relevant expectations, roles, attitudes and actions of actors in schools and educational centres; (4) points of view on intercultural issues.
3. Qualitative research on children’s and professionals’ perspectives: roles and attitudes in schools and educational centres; understanding of school access and achievement; integration in the community; needs of resources and educational policies; educational opportunities. 
4. Qualitative and quantitative research on relevant examples of participatory approach in schools, about ways of facilitating children’s agency. 
5. Production of a digital archive hosting research materials and tools, guidelines for dialogic activities in schools, written and online training packages for teachers and other professionals, a package for self-evaluation of activities. These tools aimed to support co-action of teachers and other professionals, and coordinated planning between schools and their partners.