Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki is primarily involved in offering programs to address issues of the social marginalisation of refugees through the rubric of the Open Learning Initiative Weekend Program. AUTH provides courses designed to assist refugees and asylum seekers in the Thessaloniki area access higher education and to gain employment, advocacy and other skills that assist in their social inclusion. Given the complex situation of refugees in Greece at the moment, such programs fill a large gap.

In addition to its specific role in the project, the university is well placed to share its experience in cultivating diversity in university environments developed as part of a previous Erasmus+ project. One of the key aims of the REIs2 project is to cultivate university administrative structures and classrooms that recognize and value diversity. AUTH’s experience and expertise in this helps orient the project’s understanding of this aim. Additionally, AUTH has been involved in other programs directly connected to issues related to REIs. AUTH has built expertise in developing programs to cultivate rights and citizenship education, and in teaching migrants entrepreneurial skills and assisting their social inclusion through projects facilitating volunteering by migrants.

Our school also aims at expanding knowledge on journalism and communications current affairs, providing at the same time students with the necessary tools to address challenging issues. One of them is the refugee crisis and its coverage by Greek media organizations. Our school aims at raising awareness and providing education among students and professionals on how to talk about refugees and how to help them make better-informed decisions. So far in cooperation with the Journalists’ Union of Macedonian and Thrace daily newspapers, our school worked on the initiative of the "Map of Edomeni" to strengthen the ethical principles in the journalistic coverage of refugee, immigrant and minority issues.