51社区黑料

Professor Aude-Claire Fourot has won a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Connection Grant and Partnership Engage Grant.

support short-term events and outreach activities like Fourot and partner 鈥檚 (PUCA鈥檚) June 2021 Paris conference, focused on how cities are dealing with immigration and migration patterns. Fourot and her colleagues Anouk Flamant and Aisling Healy describe the conference鈥檚 theme further:

鈥淪ecuritization and criminalization of immigration policies, as well as the development of camps, squats and emergency shelters, have put cities under the microscope. This higher visibility contributed to the growing awareness that local actors鈥攕uch as municipal governments, civil society and private actors鈥攎atter, even though they are still disconnected from the major sites of political decision. In this context, research on the 鈥榣ocal turn鈥� of migration policies has flourished. This conference aims to take stock of the research by focusing on the roles of networks and multi-level governance arrangements. It will also offer an opportunity to foster a dialogue between disciplines, methods and actors involved in the governance of migration. By looking at the supranational, national and local levels of governance across the world, this conference will provide a comprehensive picture of why, how and with which results cities are dealing with challenges and opportunities created by current migration patterns.鈥�

Fourot has also been awarded a . These grants offer short-term support to partnered research activities that will affect decision-making at a partner organization. Fourot鈥檚 partnership is with , a Surrey-based community resources society. Instructor Clare McGovern is also a member of the research team. Fourot describes the focus of their research activities:

鈥淔aced with a growing number of refugees arriving to the province, Surrey has remained the top city in B.C. for refugee resettlement. In this context, many immigration service provider organizations (SPOs) like DIVERSEcity have been working towards creating support programs to facilitate refugees' adjustment and to foster their sense of belonging to Canada, notably through programming focused on language development and employment. However, gaining employment is often not a priority for a significant portion of the refugee population, such as youth, seniors and mothers of young children. This results in specific challenges for SPOs because the lack of services tailored to these groups exacerbates existing barriers to integration and prevents the development of a sense of belonging. Moreover, SPOs cannot benefit from academic research in this area, since few researchers have studied the specific needs that youth, seniors and mothers of young children have.

The overall goal of the partnership between DIVERSEcity and 51社区黑料 is to incorporate the voices of youth, seniors and mothers of young children with a refugee experience by asking about their definition of 鈥榮ense of belonging鈥� and what fosters or hinders their sense of belonging to Canada. Focus groups with these three categories of refugees will be used to uncover the following: (i) definitions of belonging and what concrete experiences lead to feeling 鈥榮ecure鈥� and 鈥榓t home鈥� in a new country; (ii) refugees' needs and barriers to belonging; (iii) types of programming which may influence their sense of belonging; (iv) and the extent to which there is a 鈥榙uty鈥� to belong. We will analyze the results in examining whether the meaning of belonging varies over time and how differences among groups and individuals (age, entry status, etc.) might influence feelings of belonging.鈥�