Migration and Transnational Cooperation

Conference

On the 2nd and 3rd of May 2016, about 200 high-ranking Arab and German scholars and leading university representatives from 19 countries discussed the topics of migration and transnational cooperation in education, research and innovation.
The two-day conference was organized by the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA) at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in Berlin under the title of "Migration and Transnational Cooperation in Education, Research and Innovation: An Arab-German Dialogue". The motivation for the conference was reflected by the German Federal Minister of Education and Research Prof. Dr. Johanna Wanka: “It is our duty to intensify the scientific dialogue between Germany and the Arab world given the current political developments and challenges in North Africa and the Middle East which have a direct impact on Germany and Europe”.

Migration and flight open up a wide variety of chances and cause at the same time major challenges to societies in the Arab world as well as in Europe, including Germany. The AGYA Working Group Arab and German Education provided new impetus on migration issues, in particular from Arab perspectives, and discussed on education across boarders. In five thematic workshops renowned scientists and highranking experts addressed the following topics:

• Integrating migrants into the university
• Innovation and knowledge transfer
• Online and blended learning initiatives and institutions
• Teacher education and education research
• Migration research and education

Furthermore, the event offered a dialogue platform for Arab and German university presidents to enhance the mutual recognition of conditions and requirements in the respective higher education systems and to facilitate circular migration of students and scientists.

During the two-day event a poster presentation of initiatives and projects supporting migrants/refugees in education was displayed.

In the framework of a competition AGYA acknowledged the best initiatives and projects with an AGYA Award:

1. Jusoor

Jusoor is an NGO of Syrian expatriates supporting the country’s development and helping Syrian youth realize their potential through programs in the fields of education, career development, and global community engagement.

2. NaTakallam

pairs students learning Arabic with displaced Syrians in Lebanon and beyond, for conversation-focused sessions over the internet.

3. Conquer Babel AND StARS: St. Andrew's Refugee Services

Conquer Babel offers free German classes, translation and further social services to overcome language barriers and isolation between refugees and local citizens in and around the city of Göttingen.

AND

StARS provides educational services to refugee children of a wide spectrum of refugee communities in Cairo who have no access to state schools.

Overall 16 initiatives had been selected to present their poster:

• Al Salam - Help Foundation (Witten/Herdecke, Germany)
• Collateral Repair Project (Amman, Jordan)
• Conquer Babel: Students for Refugees (Göttingen, Germany)
• FAU INTEGRA (Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany)
• GHATA: Bringing Education to Informal Tented Settlements (Beirut, Lebanon)
• IfF: Initiative für Flüchtlinge (Bonn, Germany)
• Jusoor (Philadelphia, USA)
• Kiron Open Higher Education (Berlin, Germany)
• Lernwerkstatt Halle 36 (Munich, Germany)
• NaTakallam - A different kinf of Arabic learning (New York City, USA)
• oncampus (Lübeck, Germany)
• READ: Room for Emancipation, Access and Dialogue (Potsdam, Germany)
• Science in Asylum (Vienna, Austria)
• StARS: St. Andrew's Refugee Services (Cairo, Egypt)
• Students4Refugees (Munich, Germany)
• Zusammen Essen, Denken und Leben (Freiburg, Germany)
   

The conference was realized with the kind support of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.