Events
Social sciences events going on across the University of Glasgow and beyond.
UNESCO RIELA Spring School: The Arts of Integrating
A 3-day event exploring intergenerational caring & sharing of knowledge and cultural practices in the context of (forced) migration and restorative integration.
Social Sciences Hub
Date: Tuesday 26 May 2026 - Thursday 28 May 2026
Time: 9:30 - 17:00
Venue: Kelvin Hall
Category: Concerts and music, Conferences, Exhibitions, Public lectures, Academic events, Student events, Alumni events, Community events
Speaker: Alison Phipps, Larry Bottinick, Antonella Sorace, Grace Franklin, Leena Nammara, Coinneach Maclean and many others
Theme: intergenerational caring and sharing in the context of (forced) migration
The Spring School is a 3-day in person knowledge exchange event, organised and hosted by UNESCO RIELA. We host this annual event in person in May, with an online edition during the Southern Hemisphere Spring in November. 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 amongst 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.
This is a free event with limited spaces due to budgetary and spacial restraints. Please only register your place if you are sure you will be attending. Thank you!
The UNESCO Chair on Refugee Integration through Education, Languages, and Arts (UNESCO RIELA) hosted within the School of Education at the University of Glasgow undertakes a programme of work focused on multilingual knowledge exchange in the area of refugee and humanitarian protection, with a focus on fostering multilingual, multimodal and multilateral models of integration through creative and cultural expressions.
Keynote speakers:
* Prof Alison Phipps (University of Glasgow)
* Larry Bottinick (UNHCR)
* Coinneach Maclean (independent tour guide)
* Antonella Sorace (Bilingualism Matters & University of Edinburgh)
* Grace Franklin (International Welcome Club)
* Leena Nammari (independent artist & University of Dundee)
Keynote listeners:
* Holly Trundle
* Sawsan Al-Areeqe
* Paria Goodarzi
Exhibitions:
* Women's Collectives in the Social and Solidarity Economy for the Sustainability of Life in México - by Andrea B. Reyes & María Guadalupe Reyes García (COFEMESSS)
* 折り紙 Origami – collective act of folding for caring and sharing - by Misa Kanno-Watson (independent)
* Bigger than I: solidarity and help in dark times - by Anna Lenchovska (Tolerspace)
* Eskaintza (Offering) - Nerea Bello Sagarzazu & Ane López (independent artists)
* “My babcia always used to say...” Sharing intergenerational idioms - by Sally Zacharias & Dobrochna Futro (both University of Glasgow)
* Sharing is Caring: Co-constructing Inclusive, Creative, and Love Community Across ‘Difference’ in Glasgow’s Southside - by Ray Di Marco Campbell & colleagues (Glasgow Autonomous Space)
* Care Engine - by Erdem Avşar (University of Glasgow)
* What We Carry Together - by Paria Goodarzi (independent artist)
* Showcase of archival films - by The National Library of Scotland’s Moving Image & Sound Archive
* Momentary and Fleeting: A Life Documenting Conflict and All That It Displaces - Exhibition of the photojournalism of Robin Taudevin (14.03.1977 - 14.05.2006) curated by Julia Taudevin
Sessions 26 May:
* Songs as Living Archives - by Solo Way Ukrainian Choir
* The Story of the Traveling Plate: Returning What We Receive - by Dilara Özel (independent researcher) and Erdem Avşar (University of Glasgow)
* Caring Through Creation: Intergenerational Transmission Across Glasgow - by Radia Mohammed Al Madhagi (Together Reaching Higher CIC)
* Amaro Kheliben (Our Dance) - by Sonia Michalewicz (Romano Lav)
* My Story, Our Future: story connections as acts of care - by Bria Angelle Trosclair (University of Glasgow), Helena Fox, John Weeks, Louna, Mena, Salma & Edith (all ESOL Scotland)
* Learning from Practice: Community Practitioners' Insights for Social Prescribing Training - by Victoria Touzel & Carlotta Filius (both Bielefeld University)
* Caring without inheritance: an ethnographic reflection on unaccompanied migrant youth in Catalonia - by Domingo Clemente Cruz (Blanquerna - Universitat Ramon Llull)
* The Power of Three Ms: From Gaza to Glasgow - A family Story of Sharing and Caring - by Manar Al-Houbi (University of Glasgow), Mohammed Alshaikh (independent researcher) & Mira
* Educational Justice Across Borders: Care, Equity and Humanisation in Global contexts - by Marta Moskal, Gaston Bacquet & Sihui Wang (GLACIER network, all University of Glasgow)
* Cloth of gratitude - by Rachel Morley (University of Glasgow)
* Folding a River by Heart - Tawona Sitholé & Alison Phipps (both University of Glasgow)
Sessions 27 May:
* Hakka Women’s Stories, and Meeting Glasgow’s Elderly Anarchists - A storytelling duo performance followed by artist talks and discussion - by Peilin Shi, Josey-Ann Green & Boya Li (independent artists)
* Jagged Roots- How elders and communities carry culture forward - by Aisha Abbas (independent researcher)
* Caring Hands, Living Heritage: Ukrainian Intergenerational Art Practices in a Scottish Context - Mariia Miskova & Nataliia Spyrydonova (Mission of Innocents)
* What We Carry: Memory and Intergenerational Exchange - by Christina Kyriakidou, Hadia Mohammadi, Lina Fernanda Rangel, Luz Dary Rodríguez, Mohammad Hamami, Tahereh Samori, Diana Pimiento Castro, Isabella Solano, Taylor Del Castillo & Peilin Shi (The Central and West Integration (CWIN) Art Group)
* The ‘work’ of passing on - by Deborah Olivier (Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg) & Hyab Yohannes (University of Glasgow)
* Zines of Care: Crafting Intergenerational Literacies - by Sih Ying (Iris) Hsieh (University of Glasgow)
* Carelaborations of Spring Schools past and present - by Sarah Stewart (Friends of Scottish Settlers)
* Weaving a sens of belonging - by Agathe Galina Johanna Leroy (University of Glasgow)
* No More Bad News – Strikes Back! - by Erdem Avşar & Bella Hoogeveen (both University of Glasgow)
* Care, Language, and the Space Between Us - by Gizem Karaköse (Nicolaus Copernicus University)
* “Əldən ələ” — From Hospitality to Trust - by Samira Hassanzade & Narmin Aliyeva (both University of Glasgow)
* Mai arrendersi, never give up: when stories become pathways of resistance - by Esa Aldegheri (University of Glasgow)
Sessions 28 May:
* How can social care services be reimagined to develop intergenerational approaches to support older adults? An Appreciative Inquiry Approach - by Ali Huntley (Research in Practice)
* When Displaced Voices Speak: Listening, Language, and the Meaning of Care in Multilingual Societies - by Raneem Knaj (University of Glasgow)
* Subject to Review: Pending - by Pinar Aksu (University of Glasgow) & Chafik Kazkaz (independent artist)
* Sharing is Caring: Co-constructing Inclusive, Creative, and Love Community Across ‘Difference’ - by Ray di Marco Campbell (Glasgow Autonomous Space)
* Weight for light to inherit an Icon - Towards a synaesthe-tic Formation - by René Landspersky (independent artist)
* A not-so-simple origin story: Tracing a melody across borders, bureaucracy and (post)migrant bodies in Berlin - by Eli Vardzhiyska (Freie Universität & Humboldt Universität Berlin)
* Listening to Language: Care, Silence and Untranslatability - by Azadeh Fatehrad (Teesside University) & Hyab Yohannes (University of Glasgow)
* Grounding, Guidance and Giggles (creating an ancestral atlas of care) - by Mirna Šolić (University of Glasgow), Marzanna Antoniak & Ali Zaregol (independent artists)
* The Lyrical Tradition: Cultural homeland, nostalgic writing, and poetical dwelling - by 汪筱薔 Hsiao-Chiang (Hope) Wang & Tawona Ganyamatopé Sitholé (both University of Glasgow)