By bringing together academic researchers and Dorset-based organisations working with refugees and migrants, RMLN aims to generate collaborative, community-led research to grow our knowledge of how leisure (including art, sport, culture and heritage) can contribute to refugee and migrant wellbeing.
Aims
- Build working relationships between researchers and organisations to better the lives of refugees and migrants, creating a dialogue of knowledge and understanding
- Offer a space for mutually beneficial relationships to develop between local organisations working with migrants and refugees
- Facilitate communication between partners, aiming to enable knowledge exchange and improve access to academic research for those working with migrants and refugees
- Conduct research with and for local people to generate understanding of the role leisure and events can play in the wellbeing of refugees and migrants across Dorset
- Encourage and develop interdisciplinary research grounded in everyday experiences and needs of those working with and for migrants and refugees in Dorset.
What will Bournemouth University provide?
- Networking events to be held three times a year to bring together partners, researchers and the university to discuss and combine best practise and further knowledge
- Host this network webpage to act as a hub of information and news updates for all partners
- Maintain established and active social media pages that engage and reflect the local community, develop conversation and build positive relationships.
What does membership entail for partners?
- Attendance of representatives at networking events
- Supply updates, news and relevant information to be used online and shared across social media
- Contribute to the exchange of knowledge
- Use of name/web link on the network’s website.
What are the benefits?
- Opportunity to build university-community capacity for funding
- Distribution of work and information across social media
- Building a web presence
- Opportunity to connect and grow relationships with other organisations (local and national) working in the field and with academic knowledge.
Our projects
Shahre Farang by Farhad BerahmanShahre Farang
One of the projects related to the Refugee & Migrant Leisure Network is the socially-engaged artwork entitled Shahre Farang by Farhad Berahman produced by b-side Arts Organisation. Farhad and his artwork appeared at Bridport and Dorchester markets, Poole Museum (during Refugee Week June 2017) and Bournemouth University Festival of Learning (July 2017). The Festival of Learning also featured artworks supported by Counterpoints Arts.
“If you could never return home, what would you do and where would you go if you were granted just one minute to be there?”
During Refugee Week, Iranian photographer Farhad Berahman also presented the memories of 20 Iranian asylum seekers who were unable to return home. By looking into the beautiful Shahre Farang (an Iranian peepbox used by wandering storytellers), visitors could and see their memories made real, meet the artist and join in with discussion and activities.
Multicultural lunches
The summer of 2017 also saw a series of Multicultural Lunches, supported by Dorset Race Equality Council and Unity in Vision. The lunches successfully brought together local people to enjoy food from around the world. A report evaluating the Multicultural Lunches is available (Multicultural lunches report (pdf 260kb)).
Network meetings
Network meetings take place approximately three times a year at Bournemouth University. The most recent meeting took place on Wednesday 5 December 2018. See: https://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/tag/refugee/ The next meeting will take place late spring 2019.
