Keeping each other safe: Young refugees’ navigation towards a good life in Finland, Norway, and Scotland

Keeping each other safe: Young refugees’ navigation towards a good life in Finland, Norway, and Scotland

Description

Video produced by Petter Korkman.

The so-called ‘refugee crisis’ peaked in 2015 in Europe, as people sought asylum from war, persecution and conflict. One in 10 were young people, travelling unaccompanied by their parents or caregivers.

The Drawing Together project explored this experience for these young refugees in Norway, Finland and Scotland as they grew into adulthood, far away from their families. The project focused on the impacts of social networks in terms of wellbeing and connection.

In a series of online and in person events participants were invited to reflect on the question:

What does it mean to live well with others, and to care for, and be cared for by others?

The responses were framed through movement. The sea in which the young people moved was at first murky and uncharted, with cultural, political and bureaucratic cross currents but they managed to navigate through it.

There were three kinds of movements young people engaged with:

  1. Movement with others – shared experiences as they navigated challenges to find a home in a new cultural and social environment. This involved caring for, and being cared for, by others.
  2. Movement for others – being present and showing compassion for others, and helping those in need. Caring for others made one’s own journey better.
  3. Movement in relation to others, especially those important to them – these were things like being a good citizen, friend or brother. It was how young people defined what they needed to do to live well.

The young refugees paint a picture of a changing world where people – through relationships based on reciprocity and care – navigate towards harmony in a world worth living for all.

The Drawing Together project was funded by NordForsk.

Book chapter

We wrote about this project in Chapter 10, titled Keeping Each Other Safe: Young Refugees’ Navigation Towards a Good Life in Finland, Norway, and Scotland, in the book called Living Well in a World Worth Living in for All, Volume 1: Current Practices of Social Justice, Sustainability and Wellbeing.

The authors of this chapter are:

  • Nick Haswell (Tampere University, Finland)
  • Mervi Kaukko (Tampere University, Finland)
  • Marte Knag Fylkesnes (Norwegian Research Centre, NORCE, Norway)
  • Paul Sullivan (University of Strathclyde, Glasgow)