Elvio Pasca
We are pleased to announce the dates and host city for the next UNITED conference. Entitled “Moving Stories: Narratives of Migration Crossing Europe”, the conference will take place from 22-27 April 2016 at a venue near Torino, Italy.
Representatives of NGOs and grassroots organisations from all over Europe will spend five days reviewing different perspectives on the situation of migration and asylum in Europe, exploring various tools and methods for challenging narratives on migrants and refugees, sharing best practices and getting to know other activists and organisations.
We would like to invite your organisation to nominate a delegate for this conference and join us in Italy in order to meet, learn, and network. We offer you the opportunity to get connected and build networks across Europe, to share your approaches in migrant and refugee rights work and contribute to developing new ways for public engagement and media campaigning on the issue.
If you are interested in taking part in the event, please keep the dates free and look out for the official call for nominations which will be published mid January on the UNITED Network Conference Facebook page, on this website and through E-News
Best wishes
Geert Ates
Balint Josa
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UNITED Conference prepared by:
The programme of this conference is prepared by:
* Associazione Trepuntozero (Italy)
* APS YARD – Youth Action for Rights Development (Italy)
* Menedék – Hungarian Association for Migrants (Hungary)
* Movimiento Contra la Intolerancia (Spain)
* Omladinski Centar CK13 – Youth Centre CK13 (Serbia)
* Walter – Association for Promoting Multiculturality (Finland)
* UNITED for Intercultural Action
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What can you expect from this conference?
“They take our jobs. They put pressure on our social services. They bring war, disease and uncivilised social practices. They degrade our culture and threaten our societies. Everything was better before they arrived…”
These are just a few of the myths on migrants and refugees that are routinely spread by the mainstream media and politicians in Europe. Depicting migrants, refugees and asylum seekers as a burden on national economies and a danger to social cohesion, these myths combine to build a specific “narrative” on migration that leads to fear and anxiety among the public and oppressive reactions from governments.
Just how big is the gap between the mainstream narrative and the hard facts on migration and asylum in Europe? How can we understand and challenge this narrative? What can we do to ensure that refugees and migrants are granted the full rights they are entitled to as members of European society? These are the questions that will be dealt with at the upcoming UNITED conference “Moving Stories: Narratives of Migration Crossing Europe”, which will take place near Torino, Italy, from 22 to 27 April 2016.
Considering this complex situation, our conference aims to create a platform:
– To explore the data and statistics on migration and asylum in Europe and examine the gap between hard facts and media narrative
– To investigate ways of challenging narrative and creating and spreading positive counter-narratives
– To exchange best practices that have already been implemented by organisations all over Europe
– To network, strengthening existing ties and building new relationships for the benefit of the antiracist movement in Europe
Participant profile
The conference is planned for 75 participants living in the countries of the Council of Europe who represent national and international antiracist, antifascist, migrant and minority rights organisations. Priority will be given to nominations from young delegates (up to 30 years old) with a minority background. We are especially interested in applications from migrant and refugee support groups and organisations that work closely with the media in this field. Preference will be given to those who can demonstrate expertise in the field and can contribute to the conference program, as well as those who can contribute to their own travel costs.
Each organisation can nominate only ONE delegate.
UNITED network conferences
UNITED is the largest pan-European anti-racist network of more than 550 organisations. Twice a year, at the UNITED network conferences, antiracist and human rights activists from all over Europe meet and discuss effective ways of combating racism and discrimination. At a recent UNITED conference held in October 2015 in Hungary, participants from 35 countries discussed the topic of antiracist youth work in Europe.
For an impression from previous conferences have a look at the posts on facebook.com/UNITEDnetworkConference
Call for nominations
will be published mid January on the UNITED Network Conference Facebook page, on this website and through E-News.
This event is made possible with the financial support of:
• European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe
• Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union
