Dear colleagues and friends,
We welcome you to the first newsletter of the VOLARE – VOice LAb REpository project!
Since November 2023, our team has been researching, creating, and learning with the goal of developing a digital repository based on the testimonies of individuals with refugee and migrant backgrounds.
In a difficult historical moment, when the voices of migrants and refugees are repeatedly trapped behind both symbolic and real borders, and as racism and ethnocentric narratives are gaining ground globally, our initiative traces a different path. At the heart of this effort lie the experiences, stories and lives of migrants and refugees.
We utilize ethnographic approaches and participatory learning methodologies and we propose an innovative and interdisciplinary educational approach for higher education. We invite you to become active members of the VOLARE community, to get to know our work, and to make use of the tools we are creating for higher education. Your perspective is valuable to us, because through exchange and dialogue, viewpoints multiply and our approaches are enriched.
We’ll be here every month until the completion of the project, sharing with you the implementation process and some of the material. Below, you can see who we are and what we’ve done so far. If you wish, you can subscribe to our newsletter to receive our updates by entering your email here.
Alexandra Androusou,
Professor of Teaching Methodology & Development of Educational Material, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Team Leader & Academic Coordinator of VOLARE
Welcome to VOLARE!
We are a team of academics, educators and researchers from three European universities working within this project to document and highlight the stories of people with migrant and refugee backgrounds and their relationship with education.
* The Laboratory of Intercultural Education and Pedagogical Intervention of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (https://en.uoa.gr/)
* St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia (https://www.uni-sofia.bg/index.php/eng)
* Paris 8 Vincennes–Saint-Denis University (https://www.univ-paris8.fr/en/)
* The Technological Cooperative Sociality (https://sociality.coop/)
In addition to the four main partners, there are also three affiliated partners joining forces for the implementation of VOLARE:
1. The Observatory of the Refugee and Migration Crisis in the Aegean (http://archive-refugeeobservatory.ekt.gr/refugeeobservatory/?locale=en)
2. The Contemporary Social History Archives (ASKI) (https://www.askiweb.eu/index.php/en/)
3. The Research Unit for the History of Migrant and Refugee Movements (https://keni.panteion.gr/index.php/en/labs-el/emim) at Panteion University
What does VOLARE do?
By placing human testimonies at the forefront, we are developing a digital platform with innovative learning tools accessible to all.
The platform we are preparing will include:
- Videos
- Podcasts
- Games
- Books
- Academic articles
- Dissertations
- VR video
- Virtual museums
- Films
This multimodal educational material frames the testimonies of individuals we have collected. It is an open-access digital repository that will highlight diverse stories and how these can become a source of knowledge for contemporary educational methodologies.
See what VOLARE does through a short video in Greek , Bulgarian and French !
Why is it important?
Higher education must meaningfully include, without exclusions, the experiences and testimonies of minority groups. The VOLARE platform aims to fill this gap through innovative learning and teaching methodologies that are sorely missing from university education. At the same time, the platform will include a variety of ethnographic, archival, and educational materials on issues related to the inclusion of minority, migrant, and refugee children in host societies.
What have we done so far?
We have completed field research and gathered multimodal materials and bibliography.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=28032771913037063
The collaborative design and development of the platform is already underway!
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=28032771913037063
First stop for our in-person meetings was Sofia!
Sofia, 23-26 April 2024: first in person meeting of the VOLARE team
Second stop: Paris!
Paris, 16-21 novembre 2024: deuxième réunion en présentiel de l’équipe VOLARE