Local community organizations in Antwerp working with migrants and refugees, including:

• Rising You Antwerp
• Health Kiosk 
• Protestant Social Center 
• De Loodsen

Community partners were included in the development of the winterschool program and the service-learning activities students engage in.

• Students contribute to the activities of the community organizations for one afternoon. They connect and interact with clients and employees of these organizations. 
• Clients and employees of the community partner can participate in the winterschool lectures for free 
• Community partners are invited for the ‘celebration dinner’ at the end of the week 
• Community partners can make use of the infrastructure of UCSIA for their activities during the winterschool 

The UCSIA Winterschool is an international, interdisciplinary programme of 3ECTS, taking place during the first week of February. Students participate in a 5 day, full-week program. The course can be implemented as an elective course in multiple local and international programs.

• Students know their individual potential as agents of change 
• Students critically reflect on a current, relevant issue  
• Students identify and uphold different forms of solidarity beyond the individual level 
• Students show critical reflection on a personal (questioning of the own reference framework) and societal (questioning existing structures and injustices) dimension. 
• Students show understanding of and appreciation for cultural diversity.  

Service activities

• Students contribute one afternoon to the activities of a community organization working with migrants and/or refugees. The content of the service activity depends on the context of the community organization. Focus in this service activity is the encounter with the target group. 
• Students write a refugee story from the perspective of a migrant or refugee they’ve met during the practice experience. In this fictional story, the community organization and the work that they do is also highlighted and promoted. 

Learning activities

• Lectures and panel sessions focussing on migration in Europe from different disciplinary perspectives (historical, philosophical, socio-political, legal) 
• Meeting with employees of community organizations working with migrants and refugees in Antwerp 
• Excursion to the European Parliament and the House of Europe 

Students decide themselves how they shape the evaluation assignments.

Reflection takes place before and after the service activity:

• Before: group reflection together with other students & representatives from the community organizations
• After: Group reflection with other students and teacher as moderator, individual portfolio questions and individual writing of a fictional refugee story

Role of reflection in learning: 

• Connecting theoretical concepts and frameworks to practical implications of migration 
• Connecting theoretical concepts and frameworks to the practice experience & activities of community organizations 
• Fostering solidarity empathy, and appreciation for cultural diversity 

• Portfolio: Students answer reflection questions linked to the concepts, mechanisms and theoretical frameworks that are discussed during the lectures in the winter school (individual) 
• Fictional refugee story: students write a fictional story from the perspective of a refugee or migrant they met during the practical experience, describing a day in the life of this person, emphasizing both the difficulties and the strengths in the story (individual) 
• Presentation ‘Roadmap to European Migration Solidarity’: students create and present a visual representation illustrating their take on the concepts and theories discussed in the winter school (in group) 

• Valuing human dignity and human rights 
• Valuing cultural diversity 
• Openness to cultural otherness and to other beliefs, world views and practices
• Analytical and critical thinking skills 
• Co-operation skills
• Empathy 
• Linguistic, communicative and plurilingual skills
• Knowledge and critical understanding of the world 

• Valuing human dignity & cultural diversity: through the encounter with migrants and refugees during the service-learning activity and by the connecting reflection activities 
• Openness to cultural otherness: through the encounter with migrants and refugees during the service-learning activity and by the connecting reflection activities 
• Analytical and critical thinking skills: through the lectures, reflection questions in the portfolio, presentation and group reflection 
• Co-operation skills: through the internationa, interdisciplinary group work and final group presentation
• Empathy: through the service-learning activity and the writing of the fictional refugee story 
• Linguistic, communicative and plurlingual skills: through the international collaboration with fellow students
• Knowledge and critical understanding of the world: through the interdisciplinary lectures, reflection questions and presentations

• Students know their individual potential as agents of change 
• Students identify and uphold different forms of solidarity beyond the individual level 
• Students show critical reflection on a personal (questioning of the own reference framework) and societal (questioning existing structures and injustices) dimension. 
• Students show understanding of and appreciation for cultural diversity.  

• Community organizations receive assistance from students in their activities. 
• Fictional refugee stories can be used by community organizations to gain visibility of the issues of migration. 

Short-term program with very limited time for the practice experience, limiting the social impact of student’s activities.