Online UNESCO RIELA Spring School: The Arts of Integration (Caring & Sharing)
Online conference looking at intergenerational caring & sharing in the context of (forced) migration. Organised by the UNESCO Chair on Refugee Integration through Education, Languages, and Arts and building on the in-person edition of this event which took place in May. We are linking up with international scholars and poets to explore this year's theme together.
Social Sciences Hub
Date: Monday 02 November 2026 - Friday 06 November 2026
Time: 09:00 - 17:00
Venue: Entirely online
Category: Conferences, Public lectures, Academic events, Student events, Alumni events, Community events
Speaker: Samantha Disbray, Piki Diamond, Lisa Eckenwiler, Ayesha Ahmad, Alessia Mangiavillano, Sylvia Agbih, Anna Dzubian, Movement in Thyme, Aleksandra Gros,
The UNESCO RIELA Spring School: The Arts of Integrating is a bi-annual knowledge exchange event, organised and hosted by the UNESCO Chair on Refugee Integration through Education, Languages, and Arts (UNESCO RIELA). The in-person component of this event was hosted in May and we are now opening registration for the online edition during the Southern Hemisphere Spring, 2-6 November 2026. At our 9th annual Spring School in 2026, we will explore intergenerational caring and the sharing of knowledge, wisdom and practices in the context of (forced) migration and restorative integration through education, languages and the arts.
How can Elders, the living archives among us, pass on their language, history, culture and wisdom to younger and future generations when spatial, temporal and political barriers stand in the way? How is care organised when people are forced to flee? Who carries culture forward, and how is it kept alive when communities are broken up and dispersed? Can cultural heritage be maintained and transmitted within new communities, and what mechanisms or efforts are involved? How can destination countries support those experiencing the loss of cultural and linguistic heritage? How do refugees and people seeking asylum access knowledge about their own cultural heritage? UNESCO has declared a Decade of Indigenous Languages and the wisdom-speech, linguistic inheritance and forms of speech of elders, and of those beginning steps in the languages of home are critical to intergenerational forms of care for intangible cultural heritage. How are the generations undertaking care for culture and language in times of genocide, pain and protest?
We want to understand how intercultural caring and sharing is organised, how it can be supported by longstanding communities and what we can learn from these practices. We have curated a programme that offers practical examples, as well as performances and academic reflections, to cater for all
Join us to come and think these questions through with us!