Europe-wide exchange on the integration of refugees in higher education
Both EU-funded projects (GREET under Horizon 2020, Academic Refuge under Erasmus+) focus on higher education programmes for refugees at universities. The conference addressed the role of European higher education institutions and national agencies in supporting refugee students and academics.
GREET - Guiding Refugees via European Exchange and Training
The project strengthens European cooperation and information exchange for and about the integration of highly skilled refugees in the education system and labour market of the host countries. Over the last one and a half years, the project has provided an opportunity for representatives of higher education institutions and national agencies to exchange and discuss their experiences, questions and working methods with colleagues from the main European host countries through a Peer Learning Activity and three webinars. The DAAD and the Finnish National Agency for Education EDUFI are project partners in the consortium led by ACA (Academic Cooperation Association).
At the stakeholder conference, the results of these project activities were presented to a large expert and stakeholder community and served as a basis for the exchange of experiences between the nearly 150 participants from universities, national education agencies, EU Institutions and European associations.
Themis Christophidou, Director-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture of the European CommissionErasmus+ has become an important instrument for the integration of refugees.
This exchange was supported by inspiring introductory talks and parallel workshops. The GREET project organised three workshops:
In this workshop, the IIE Scholar Rescue Fund and two universities from Finland and Norway made clear, in which countries scientists are threatened on a global scale and how universities can give support.
The University of Giessen shared its experiences with the successful implementation of the BMBF-funded “Welcome Programme” and discussed the lessons learned with the workshop participants.
In this session, the experiences of VLIR (Vlaamse Interuniversitaire Raad), the University of Strasbourg and ACA were used to debate to what extent university networks and national agencies can support programmes for refugees at universities.
The presentations and results of the event can be found on the GREET event page.
More on Twitter: #HE4integration #GREET
GREET report [PDF 770.43 KB]
Refugees in higher education – DAAD programmes and measures
The DAAD wishes to strengthen the potential of academically qualified refugees and provide them access to higher education in Germany. In collaboration with universities and partner organisations, the DAAD is developing various programmes to promote integration of refugees at German universities:
- Integra – Integration of refugees into the study course
- Welcome – Students Helping Refugees
- NRWege ins Studium. Integrating Refugees at Higher Education Institutions in North Rhine-Westphalia
Publications:
- “Paths to the Future – Sucesses and Challanges of Refugee Integration in German Higher Education”
- Study of Integration of Refugees at German Institutions of Higher Education – Report on the Higher Education Programmes for Refugees
Part 1: Academic preparation and access to higher education [PDF 749.10 KB]
Part 2: Study Preparation and Transition into Regular Degree Programmes [PDF 788.51 KB]
For further information at daad.de.
