This year's programme was developed in collaboration with the Institute for Collective Place Leadership at Teesside University and was supported by the National Library of Scotland's Moving Image Archive and Multilingual Matters.

Theme: intergenerational caring and sharing in the context of (forced) migration

The Spring School is a 3-day in person knowledge exchange event, organised and hosted by UNESCO RIELA. We host this annual event in person in May, with an online edition during the Southern Hemisphere Spring in November. At our 9th annual Spring School in 2026, we will explore intergenerational caring and the sharing of knowledge, wisdom and practices in the context of (forced) migration and restorative integration through education, languages and the arts.

How can Elders, the living archives amongst us, pass on their language, history, culture and wisdom to younger and future generations when spatial, temporal and political barriers stand in the way? How is care organised when people are forced to flee? Who carries culture forward, and how is it kept alive when communities are broken up and dispersed? Can cultural heritage be maintained and transmitted within new communities, and what mechanisms or efforts are involved? How can destination countries support those experiencing the loss of cultural and linguistic heritage? How do refugees and people seeking asylum access knowledge about their own cultural heritage? UNESCO has declared a Decade of Indigenous Languages and the wisdom-speech, linguistic inheritance and forms of speech of elders, and of those beginning steps in the languages of home are critical to intergenerational forms of care for intangible cultural heritage. How are the generations undertaking care for culture and language in times of genocide, pain and protest?

We want to understand how intercultural caring and sharing is organised, how it can be supported by longstanding communities and what we can learn from these practices. We have curated a programme that offers practical examples, as well as performances and academic reflections.

This is a free event with limited spaces due to budgetary and spacial restraints. Please only register your place if you are sure you will be attending. Thank you!

The UNESCO Chair on Refugee Integration through Education, Languages, and Arts (UNESCO RIELA) hosted within the School of Education at the University of Glasgow undertakes a programme of work focused on multilingual knowledge exchange in the area of refugee and humanitarian protection, with a focus on fostering multilingual, multimodal and multilateral models of integration through creative and cultural expressions.

Contact the host of UNESCO RIELA Spring School: The Arts of Integrating (Caring & Sharing)

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