Vice Chancellor Professor Lynn Dobbs discusses a new initiative that sees London Met twinned with a Ukrainian university, and our other impactful work to support refugee communities.
Date: 19 July 2022
Our entire London Met community has been horrified by the events taking place in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria and all areas where people are being displaced through war; we are determined to do our part to provide support.
I’m proud of the work we’re doing at London Met to support refugees. This includes a number of research and practice-based projects from the School of Art, Architecture and Design to support refugees, such as the regeneration of the Municipality of Belmonte, a professional residency in Athens to support community, architecture and participation in partnership with refugee populations, and the pan-European course, Practices of Urban Inclusion.
The excellent work of our Refugee Assessment and Guidance Unit (RAGU), too, supports refugees who are health professionals, like Zakia, in partnership with the NHS; while a new Refugee Scholarship initiative, currently in development, will support refugees from across the world.
In addition to our ongoing work with refugees, earlier this year we signed up to an initiative organised by Universities UK International (UUKi) and the Cormack Consultancy Group to ‘twin’ British universities with higher education institutions in Ukraine.
Partner organisations have been twinned based on the current needs of the Ukrainian institution. Like London Met, NUPP has a strong focus on building the employability of its students by providing them with project-based experience and support for entrepreneurship to build their careers post-graduation.
London Met has now been twinned with National University "Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic" (NUPP), an institution based in the cultural hub of Poltava, which is known for being one of the greenest cities in Ukraine. Since the war began, Poltava has been under significant threat, with a recent missile strike targetting a shopping mall in the region and at time of writing, 21 known casualties.
London Met has a wealth of resources and expertise and through this initiative we are already helping students and staff in practical tangible ways. By providing their students with access to our remote resources, as well as offering collaboration with our Students’ Union and wellbeing services, we hope we can ensure NUPP’s students are supported through the horrific circumstances of this war.
We have been heartened by the response to the initiative across the sector, and are now appealing to our community to express interest in volunteering for it. Please contact Amy Rogerson to become a member of the working group.
