Press Release
This year, hundreds of thousands of people crossed the Mediterranean and Europe’s eastern borders seeking refuge. But while global attention was fixed on the boats struggling through the waves, or huddled behind barbed-wire borders, little thought has been given to what happens next. Europe will soon find itself facing the dilemma of how to manage its newest residents - a challenge that Morocco has already faced.
As part of the winter field study course supported by MEI, 16 Harvard graduate students spent three weeks in Morocco and Italy exploring the lessons that Europe can learn from Morocco's considerable experience in, and novel approach to, managing migration. The students interviewed a host of stakeholders and experts to produce a podcast as part of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative's ATHA program, with support from MEI and the Migration Policy Centre in Florence.
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE.
You can also learn more about their findings by reading this policy paper or following their blog, In the Same Boat.
About the Harvard Field Study
Since 2006, Professor Claude Bruderlein and his team have run an experiential, field-based course on critical thinking and strategic planning in times of crisis for graduate students at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, the T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and other Harvard graduate schools. A group of 16 Harvard graduate students joined the field study course in January 2016. The 2016 course focuses on the policy response to challenges and dilemmas surrounding the migration crisis in the Maghreb and Mediterranean. It has centered on a three-week field-based mission, of which two weeks were spent in Morocco, and one in Italy.
The course has three major aims: to develop a nuanced understanding of the case in question, to explore and apply relevant critical thinking tools and strategic planning processes in a complex environment, and to introduce students to the methods of experiential learning. The first of these aims is scientific; students should understand Morocco's experience of migration, reflecting on its relevance for Europe as the continent considers its own response. The second objective entails the use of applicable critical and strategic assessment tools emphasizing collective reflections and exchanges. The last objective is centered on skill building, using the case of Morocco to further professional dialogue on political and ethical dilemmas, and to learn to approach situations through interdisciplinary scientific lenses, all the while developing practical and professional skills in mission planning and implementation.