RESEARCH

CURRENT TOPICS

Human capacity develo­p­ment, migra­tion gover­nance, trans­mis­sion of values, immigra­tion & integra­tion, cross-cultural manage­ment, perspec­ti­vity, impact monito­ring, inter­cul­tural didactics.

Research Networks & cooperations

–> Bonner Institut für Migra­ti­ons­for­schung und Inter­kul­tu­relles Lernen
–> Netzwerk Flucht­for­schung
–> Research­gate
–> Publi­ca­tions

COMPLETED PROJECTS

Human Capacity Development for Migration Governance (2020)

The Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly & Regular Migra­tion (GCM) pose numerous new challenges for inter­na­tional organiza­tions (such as UNHCR, IOM, World Bank) and national decision-makers. In coope­ra­tion with the GIZ, the research project Human Capacity Develo­p­ment for Migra­tion Gover­nance (HCD4MG) at the HVF inves­ti­gates the question of how indivi­dual and organi­sa­tional capaci­ties are developed in selected count­ries in order to achieve a so-called ”triple-win effect” (for count­ries of origin, host count­ries and those seeking protec­tion) and thus ideally also contri­bute to achie­ving the Sustainable Develo­p­ment Goals (SDG) of the United Nations. Central to this is the concept of (multi-level) ”migra­tion gover­nance”, which usually refers to processes in which politics, business, civil society, refugees, migrants and other inter­de­pen­dent actors are involved in govern­ment action in order to develop — and imple­ment — coherent migra­tion policies. The analysis of training scripts, parti­ci­pa­tory obser­va­tion in capacity develo­p­ment measures and the syste­matic questio­ning of key actors in this context currently indicates that much of what has long been estab­lished as best practice in German Develo­p­ment Coope­ra­tion from advisory work with minis­tries, states and munici­pa­li­ties is being repli­cated; innova­tions (for example, in remit­tances manage­ment, ICT4refugees, the-future-of-work), however, are emana­ting precisely from count­ries such as Indonesia, Ecuador, Kosovo and the Global Forum on Migra­tion and Develo­p­ment (GFMD).

Transmission of values in the youth welfare system of Bonn  (2019–2020)

Almost 30% of the people in North Rhine-Westphalia have a so-called ”migra­tion background”. At the begin­ning of 2019, 41,211 unaccom­pa­nied minors were living in Germany under youth welfare law.
Although their absolute number has been decre­asing conti­nuously since the end of 2016, after a phase of initial care, the socio-pedago­gical, psycho­lo­gical and youth welfare experi­ences and issues concer­ning ”integra­tion” and ”inter­cul­tural conflicts” in the coexis­tence of more than 40 nations are increasing.
The exami­na­tion of values and norms within German society as well as the cultural perspec­tives of young people from diffe­rent count­ries of origin is the starting point of this study at HVF. Reflec­tions on ”value forma­tion” (which is more profound than the mere ”media­tion” of norms and values) will be developed in a parti­ci­pa­tory manner with the key actors in youth welfare and brought into exchange with inter­di­sci­pli­nary value research in the German-speaking world.

Action Research Projects

Intercultural changes of perspective of students and refugees: Black Forest (2017, 2018, 2019)

Flatbread or Swabian raviolis? The negotia­tion processes of students of adminis­tra­tive sciences and refugees from Syria and numerous other count­ries of origin, who have already reached A2 language level in Germany and who together in a Black Forest cabin enter into an in-depth dialogue on culture, integra­tion, resis­tance, flight, de-Chris­tia­niza­tion of the Occident, moder­niza­tion of Islam, cultural standards, etc., are applied research par excel­lence.

Development of teaching materials at the Instituto Cathólico para Formação de Professores in Baucau: East Timor (2002–2005)

For a long time, ethno­lo­gists have tended to do research on foreig­ners instead of entering into a dialogue with people of other cultures, which inspires each other and initiates develo­p­ment processes. In East Timor, follo­wing the country’s indepen­dence, the oppor­tu­nity arose to work together with young local resear­chers not only to discover unique ethno­gra­phic material (e.g. on the sacred house recon­s­truc­tions of the Makassae) and to observe the post-conflict processes in Asia’s least developed country (LCD), but also to make a sustainable contri­bu­tion to the develo­p­ment of the country’s educa­tion system by estab­li­shing a teacher training insti­tute (ICFP).

Film productions on intercultural communication in Chiang Mai, Thailand (1999)

In the VOP Studio, Chiang Mai, numerous films on typical Critical Incidents were produced in coope­ra­tion between Asian and German partners. Later films on inter­cul­tural commu­ni­ca­tion in African, Oriental and South American contexts followed at the German Founda­tion for Inter­na­tional Development.

With ships, buses & Trans-Siberian Railway from the edge of South East Asia to Paris

As is well known, detours increase the knowledge of the place. And if you want to reach your desti­na­tion quickly, you should — so Confu­cius advises — go slowly. After three years in insular Southeast Asia, the rappro­che­ment with Germany in 2005 took place slowly via Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, China, Mongolia, Russia and Eastern Europe. But the re-entry shock in the face of the intro­duc­tion of the Euro during a longer period of absence did not fail to occur …