In February, as part of my doctoral fieldwork research within the GRABS project, I was in K’jipuktuk-Halifax*, Nova Scotia, Canada, where I worked in collaboration with the Halifax Refugee Clinic and YMCA Youth Outreach to facilitate several focus group discussions (FGDs) with young people. During the FGDs, which lasted about two hours each, participants were…
La première exposition à Paris du projet Grandir aux frontières s’est ouverte le 26 février à la Maison des Réfugiés. L’événement, inauguré par la Professeure Jane Freedman, de l’Université Paris 8, et financé par le Conseil européen de la recherche, a réuni les jeunes artistes et le public dans un moment de convivialité et d’échange. À destination…
Episode 18: KZNSA Gallery exhibition coverage by Jorojina and Matilda, featuring audience and artists’ perspectives
Glenda Santana de Andrade and Israel Wabikamba (one of the young GRABS participants in South Africa) were recently interviewed by France 24 about our recent photo exhibition at the KZNSA Gallery in eThekwini-Durban. Glenda explained to international viewers the origins and objectives of our project, whilst Israel spoke about his photographs and what participating in…
Athens Soundscape. By Nemo, Dino, Izzy & Jane
From 8 to 25 January, Glenda Santana de Andrade conducted a field trip in Johannesburg as part of the Growing Up Across Borders (GRABS) project, in close collaboration with our local partners RCP – Refugee Children’s Project and Aron Tesfai. The visit focused on participatory creative workshops using photography and podcasting with young people. The objective was to create…
The GRABS project organised our first photo exhibition in a public art gallery, the KZNSA Gallery in eThekwini-Durban in South Africa. The exhibition, a culmination of our photography workshops, brought together a series of photos taken by young refugees on the theme of belonging/difference. The young people involved brought their own imagination to interpret what…
Episode 16: Peer pressure and gender equality by Byran, Ghostie, Michele, Emmanuel, Saidy and Estie
Episode 15: Experiences as migrant by Catherine, Jael, Maria, Loyiso and Lerato
Episode 14: Youth as the essence of change by Merveille, Hortence, Jemima, Esther and Samuella
Episode 13: Sense of belonging by Joyce, Exaucée, Lucy and Colette
Jane and Glenda led a second phase of participatory research activities in Paris involving participatory photography workshops with two groups of young women. One photography workshop was carried out in partnership with the Utopia56 association. All participants were minors, some of them currently awaiting recognition of their status as unaccompanied minors. The second photography workshop,…
Two of our team — Jane Freedman and Glenda Santana de Andrade — conducted a two-part trip to South Africa between 11 and 29 November 2025, working closely with young people on the move and with our valued local partners, Africa Unite and Refugee Social Services. Cape Town (11–24 November): Podcast & Photography Production with Africa Unite From 11 to…
Episode 12: Mothers’ love and GBV by Khrestie, Esther, Joshua and Shallom
Episode 11: Sense of Identity by Victoire, Asia and Jay-Jay
Episode 10: Stateless but not voiceless by Sean, Jojo, Jean & Marie-Claire
In October 2025 Jane and Izzy visited Athens to work with young people in situations of forced migration. We met young women and men at two organisations – Melissa Network and Velos Youth. It was great to spend time there and talk to the young people about their different experiences. One of the issues that…
The first round of participatory activities in Paris has now come to an end. In this initial phase, we organised focus group discussions and held two participatory photography workshops and one podcast workshop with young participants.
In October, the young people we work with in Athens, Greece, were presented with a printed copy of their photobooks! These books were created from a series of participatory photography workshops organised in collaboration with Velos Youth and Melissa Network. Participants took fantastic pictures, discussed each other’s work meaningfully and categorised their photos. The group…
Episide 9: Cultural differences in parenting and family relationships by Ramazani, Mel, Aisha & Maria
Episode 8 : Discovering yourself and finding your purpose by Jorojina, Alex & Joy
Episode 7: Migrations à Paris, par Sylla et Abdoulaye The GRABS podcast – Episode 7: Migrations à Paris, par Sylla et Abdoulaye (en français)
Episode 6: Refugee Social Services Anniversary The GRABS podcast – Episode 6: Refugee Social Services Anniversary
Episode 5: On the Reality of Being a Young Refugee in South Africa, by Anna, Blacksmith and Nelli Episode 5: On the Reality of Being a Young Refugee in South Africa, by Anna, Blacksmith and Nelli
Episode 4: On Discrimination and Stereotypes, by Ramazani, Maria & Mel The GRABS podcast – Episode 4 – On Discrimination and Stereotypes, by Ramazani, Maria & Mel
Episode 3: What Being Non-South African Means, by Mathilda, Mocktail, Shada & Salva The GRABS podcast – Episode 3: What Being Non-South African Means, by Mathilda, Mocktail, Shada & Salva
Episode 2: On Discrimination, by Jorojina, Alex, Aisha & Joy The GRABS podcast – Episode 2: On Discrimination, by Jorojina, Alex, Aisha & Joy
Episode 1: Presenting the team, by Jane, Glenda, Jessi, Izzy, and Juan Manuel It’s here! Our team’s first podcast is now live. We’re diving into who we are, what we’re working on, and why it matters. Tune in to learn more about GRABS and the questions driving our research. You can listen to it here…
The GRABS team took part in the SOCIN Conference in Macerata, Italy (23–26 September 2025). We presented a paper entitled “Innovative Research with Young People on the Move: Challenging Coloniality and Extractivism in Knowledge Production.”
In late July, Juan Manuel Moreno, one of GRABS PhD candidates, travelled to K’jipuktuk-Halifax, in Eastern Canada for a two-week fieldwork and scoping visit. K’jipuktuk-Halifax is the ancestral land of the Mi’kmaq who lived in these lands for over 11000 years. Today, K’jipuktuk-Halifax is the capital of what is known as the province of Nova…
In July and August 2025 two members of our team, Jane Freedman and Glenda Santana de Andrade travelled to eThekwini (Durban) South Africa. Working in collaboration with colleagues from the HEARD team at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Refugee Social Services (RSS), we organised participatory photography/photovoice and podcasting workshops with five groups of young people.…
On 2nd July, the GRABS team hosted an online panel part of the 22nd IMISCOE Annual Conference Decentering migration studies, organised by the Institute Convergences Migrations, at Paris-Aubervilliers, France. Our panel Growing Up Across Borders: Experience of Young People in Forced Migration was chaired by Jane, and the three papers presented included: Discussing the use…
On 20th of June, Jessi took part in the PhD Conference ‘Reimagining Migration: Decolonisation and Identity Across Time and Space’, organised by the Migration Research Group at the University of Sheffield, UK. Jessi contributed to the panel on Temporalities and Geographies with a presentation entitled ‘Temporality and Geographies’ with a presentation titled Temporality and Borders:…
On 20 May 2025, Izzy and Jane from the GRABS team presented our project to the Asylum and Refugee Research Group at the University of Manchester. The presentation was followed by a discussion and questions. We were delighted to engage with other researchers working on similar topics and exchange about our research in progress. Thanks…
In collaboration with the HEARD team from Kwazulu-Natal University and Refugee Social Services (RSS), the GRABS team conducted focus group discussions with young people.
The GRABS team conducted a scoping research trip to Greece from February 24th to 28th.
Insights and Challenges at the UK-France Border This blog post shares some initial findings and reflections from our research scoping trip to Calais and Dunkerque at the end of January 2025. By Isabel Morrell At the end of January, our team embarked on a scoping trip to Calais and Dunkerque on the north coast of…
We’re launching a survey to see what kinds of activities young people would like to be involved in. If you are concerned (young person on the move/young migrant aged 15-25) please reply. For others feel free to share in your networks Thank you https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgijVGRfQtfH2e-rQMwrcPbNBTOPRXaWLPet0RQnibVjTEJA/viewform?usp=headerhttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgijVGRfQtfH2e-rQMwrcPbNBTOPRXaWLPet0RQnibVjTEJA/viewform?usp=header
Maureen Freed, a UPCA and UKCP-accredited counsellor and psychotherapist with a particular focus on trauma, delivered an insightful session on Vicarious Trauma.
On November 7–8, the third joint workshop was held at UVSQ, focusing on ethics in research with forced migrants. The event featured the participation of Professor Nando Sigona and Professor Ilse Van Liempt.
The GRABS team, collaborated with GENDEREDCLIMATEMIG (CGM) team for a series of brainstorming workshop sessions from October to December addressing various topics. The introductory workshop session was held at Campus Condorcet, Université Paris 8. It provided an opportunity for both teams to introduce their research, share experiences, and discuss the integration of intersectional and feminist approaches to…
