Cycle 39 (2023/2024)
39th Cycle: Alek Barovic, Elisa Gamba, Sara Lina Kamoun, Asude Oruklu, Carlo Zanetti, Denise Zucchini
Alek Barovic
The Memorialization of Genocide: Between Politics, Religion and Nation-building
Curriculum: Human Rights, Society and Multilevel Governance
Supervisors: Amedeo Osti Guerrazzi
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6901-5927
Summary
My research deals with the problem how religion affects the construction of national identity and collective memory through the lens of the memorialization of genocide. Collective trauma plays a significant role in shaping the identity of post-conflict societies. Such traumatic experiences can be a turning point in the construction of a new national identity. My research examines this process through the prism of religion. What is the role of religious communities in the process of building national identity in post-genocide societies? This is the question I am trying to find an answer to. My research focuses on the cases of Bosnia, Armenia, and Iraqi Kurdistan.
Keywords: Memorialization of genocide, Genocide and religion, Nation identity building, Collective memory
Refugees in the higher education system: overcoming the challenges of inclusion
Curriculum: Inclusion and psychological growth
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-5582-9929
Supervisor: Marco Mascia
Funded by: PNRR - Public Administration
Keywords: refugees, students at risk, university, higher education, inclusion
Research question: How can universities work for a real inclusion of refugees in the higher education system?
Summary
Enrolment into the local educational system represents a fundamental component of the integration process for refugees, as well highlighted by UNHCR.
Yet, despite the tragically constant increase in the number of refugees worldwide (120 million according to the latest UNHCR report), university enrollment numbers are well below the global average: 7%, compared to 42%.
UNHCR, regarding the commitment to ensure the right to higher education, has set the ambitious 15x30 goal: i.e., to reach, globally, 15% of refugees enrolled in universities by 2030.
For years, UNHCR has been implementing concrete actions to reach this goal. Among these, University corridors facilitate refugees' entry into the host country for study purposes.
The Italian example is leading in Europe, thanks to the UNICORE (University Corridors for Refugees) programme.
Established in 2019 at the University of Bologna, the programme was subsequently extended to other Italian universities in 2020. Thanks to the programme, each adhering university can select refugees and support their enrollment in Italy.
However, why should universities undertake such demanding activities?
Universities, as places of culture, knowledge dissemination, and cultural defense, on one hand, and as public institutions rooted in the community, on the other, have a duty to improve the very societies they inhabit. Culture elevates: and if one intends to elevate young minds and spirits, the best way to do so is by example, and in this case, the example consists of concretely trying to address the injustices of our time.
Many universities in Italy and abroad have created welcoming and supporting programmes for refugees, asylum seekers and students at risk: the Author will investigate possible successful models, such as the UNICORE programme and the ones created in Ireland, with the final aim of drafting a national inclusion plan for refugees in Italian universities.
Keywords: refugees, students at risk, university, higher education, inclusion
Sara Lina Kamoun
Enhancing Post-Conflict Security: The Role of Stability Policing and Community-Oriented Policing in Peacekeeping Operations
Curriculum: Human Rights, Society and Multilevel Governance
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9623-2451
Supervisor: Sara Pennicino
Funded by: PNRR DM 118/2023
Summary
This research aims to investigate the evolution, effectiveness, and adaptability of Stability Policing (SP) within peacekeeping operations. SP represents a unique approach bridging military and policing functions to address post-conflict security challenges, while disarmament efforts aim to reduce the proliferation of weapons and enhance civilian safety. The study will explore how SP and disarmament contribute to Security Sector Reform (SSR), public order maintenance, civilian protection, and long-term stability in conflict-affected regions. An analysis will be conducted across selected peacekeeping missions to identify best practices, challenges, and synergies between SP and disarmament strategies.
The effectiveness and integration of Stability Policing (SP), disarmament strategies, and the Carabinieri model within peacekeeping operations remain understudied and poorly understood. While SP and disarmament are critical components of post-conflict security and governance, the Carabinieri model offers a unique approach combining military and policing functions. There exists a lack of comprehensive analysis across these strategies. Understanding how these approaches contribute to public order, civilian protection, and long-term stability in conflict-affected regions is essential for optimising peacekeeping strategies and promoting sustainable peacebuilding efforts.
Keywords: Post-conflict reconstruction, Stability Policing (SP), Community-based policing (CBP)
Asude Oruklu
Access to Remedy: Assessing the Role of Grievance Mechanisms in Providing Safeguarding and Effective Remedy for Severe Labour Exploitation
Curriculum: Human Rights, Society and Multilevel Governance
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1826-316X
Supervisor: Maria Grazia Giammarinaro
Summary
The professional literature has largely overlooked the importance of safeguarding measures and the effectiveness of remedy outcomes of grievance mechanisms despite their significance, in particular, for “at-risk” groups such as migrant workers. Within the right legitimate context, non-state-based mechanisms may complement and as well as supplement domestic legal and regulatory regimes. Yet, their limitations in particular achieving effectiveness criteria and eventually providing a remedy are evolving topics. Since its official launch in 2014, OHCHR’s Accountability and Remedy Project (ARP) produced several guidance documents focusing on implementing the third pillar of the UNGPs including implementing an operational grievance channel by adhering to effectiveness criteria. A recent note, unpacking the effectiveness criteria presented by the Project highlights the importance of “keeping people safe” under various principles namely accessibility, transparency, and right compatibility, and noted cross-cutting issues such as incorporating gender perspective.
Measures for safeguarding and gender inclusiveness are critical elements for an effective grievance mechanism for vulnerable groups such as migrant workers, in particular for women migrant workers. When these groups face exploitative conditions, they can be afraid to speak out due to fear of punishment, deportation, or termination. A special emphasis needs to be placed on examining the “safeguarding” or as named by the Project “keep people safe” measures available to them as well as the effectiveness of the remedy outcomes and interaction with the state’s mechanisms when protection is needed. Indeed, this interaction assumes critical significance in situations where specific groups are deemed as “at risk” and necessitate “special protection” or access to public services (e.g., referral to health services or education). Nevertheless, if the state's legal framework has limitations (e.g., lack of firewalls or definition of the exploitative terms) in providing access to remedy and/or protective measures are insufficient, the non-judicial mechanisms should still have necessary measures in place and take special care to ensure the safety of right holders in any engagement with State actors. This research focuses on the grievance mechanism provided by multistakeholder initiatives and aims to assess their effectiveness in terms of providing effective safeguarding and remedy by using qualitative and empirical approaches. It also seeks to generate insights and recommendations that will be widely disseminated, contributing to the understanding and improvement of the grievance mechanisms in providing effective remedy while safeguarding vulnerable groups.
Key-words: labour exploitation, non-judicial grievance mechanisms, forced labour, modern slavery, multi stakeholder- initiatives, access to remedy
Carlo Zanetti
Heatwaves and Climate Justice: Integrated Risk Mapping and Assessment of Mitigation and Adaptation Scenarios from a GIScience Perspective
Curriculum: Human Rights Protection and Social Justice
Supervisors: Alberto Lanzavecchia, Salvatore Eugenio Pappalardo
IRIS page: https://www.research.unipd.it/cris/rp/rp201505
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2343-5536
Funded by: DM 118/2023
Summary
The research project aims to investigate the urban dimension of climate justice in relation to extreme events, considering physical, spatial, social, and territorial aspects. The spatial and territorial impacts of climate change are crucial for assessing inequalities related to heat stress risks, factoring in social dimensions and microclimatic variability across different urban contexts.
The research starts with examining the physical and climatic characteristics of two case studies cities in Europe and Latin America. Climate analysis will be conducted using Geographic Information Systems software and open-source statistical tools. Existing databases will be utilized and integrated with future climate models at a regional scale, driven by emission scenarios. Spatial climate variability will be examined using satellite images and participatory data collection employing low-cost devices to measure temperature, humidity, and air quality.
These tools will analyse territorial characteristics contributing to the Urban Heat Island effect, employing geo-statistical modelling based on satellite and drone images, orthophotos, LIDAR point clouds, and geo-databases to quantify temperature anomalies due to factors such as land use, building height, albedo, and proximity to urban green areas and water bodies. Additionally, Citizen Science activities will engage citizens in data collection and the development of adaptation and mitigation solutions for extreme heat events.
Microclimate analysis will produce hazard maps for extreme temperatures in urban areas, both current and future, which will be integrated with vulnerability and exposure maps to create comprehensive risk maps. Vulnerability and exposure maps will be developed using demographic and income data provided by municipalities or national agencies, integrated with health geo-databases of cardio-respiratory pathologies. These risk maps will help identify priority areas for implementing adaptation strategies. Finally, ENVI-met software will be used to evaluate the reduction of climate risk resulting from the implementation of Nature-Based Solutions, such as green roofs, green areas, artificial lakes, hedges, and trees.
Keywords: Climate Justice, Heatwaves, Urban Heat Island, Climate Adaptation, GIS
Denise Zucchini
Peace and war concepts and attitudes for designing an inclusive and equitable future construction in Youth
Curriculum: Inclusion and psychological growth
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-6411-1626
Supervisor: Sara Santilli
Summary
The present and the near future are characterised by change and complexity and require the development of competencies that make today's young people able to act in contexts to promote their own and others' well-being, coping with what is also considered the main challenges of tomorrow, such as war (Nota et al., 2020). War stands in opposition to the goals for a collective future promoted by the United Nations through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The concept of sustainable development is linked to that of peace when we understand by this term an active construction of social justice, aimed at promoting security, harmony, equality, sustainability, diversity and equity, which are fundamental elements for a projection towards a future that is mindful of others and the environment.
In line with Life Design for an inclusive, equitable, and sustainable future based on social justice, it is, therefore, necessary to analyse the youth’s attitudes towards peace and war (Velez, 2022). The ecological approach related to attitudes emphasises how individuals develop them since early childhood from systemic influences at different levels, especially at the micro-meso and macro levels (Hearn et al. 2020). Consequently, it becomes important to consider how everyone can contribute in fostering peaceful environments also through individual actions and in a long-term perspective. These can take shape in the individual decision of how to carry out a professional activity (Oswald Spring, 2019). It is important to address these issues to provide support systems that empower young people, involve them in peacebuilding efforts and empower them to become agents of positive change, with the opportunity to shape their own future and the direction of society. A central role of the young generation as peacebuilders is outlined, but there is a lack of research on the influence that ideas and attitudes towards peace and war have on their process of designing fair and inclusive futures. In my project I will develop new survey instruments to investigate ideas and attitudes towards peace and war in Italian Youth and examine the influence of ideas and attitudes towards peace and war in the future design and the activation of pro-social behaviour, aimed at inclusive and equitable future construction. Finally, I would design a career education intervention to increase a more complex concept about peace and war and to promote positive attitudes toward peace and inclusive and equal future construction.
Keywords: Peace; war; career education; sustainable future