Methodology
General methodology
The MOOC has been structured in eight modules. Each of the modules deals with a basic concept, which has been analyzed from three different perspectives, each one provided by a country corresponding to the southern border of Europe: Greece, specifically from the island of Lesbos (capsule 1 of each module); Spain, specifically from the cities of Ceuta and Melilla (capsule 2 of each module) and Italy (capsule 3 of each module).
At the beginning of each module, you will find a description of the main concept that articulates the content of the module, together with the specific perspective with which it has been approached in each capsule/border site.
Next, we offer a brief description of the methodology chosen by each border site for the elaboration of the contents, both textual and audiovisual, in each of the capsules. We advise you to carry out this brief reading as it will help you to better understand the heterogeneity of the materials that you will find in this MOOC.
Specific methodology used in the Greek capsules (Capsule 1 of each Module)
From Greece we wanted to tell a story of migration as it is known in the local context of the island of Lesbos, Greece, in both visual and textual format. The migration story told covers the main snapshots of the history and current life of migrants and refugees in the Greek border space of Lesbos.
The chosen visual format consists of short videos, maximum eight minutes long. Five of the eight videos consist of interviews with key persons of the relevant subject matter: practitioners, academics, and activists and three of them are videos made by the University of the Aegean and professionals of Lesbos Solidarity.
The textual format consists of academic articles, texts taken from various resources such as bibliography, websites, etc., as well as texts written for the specific purpose of the MOOC by local practitioners. All texts include detailed material and references to other bibliographic and webgraphic resources from the fields of human geography, (geo)politics, critical approaches to migration management, sociology of movements, etc.
Specific methodology used in the Spanish capsules (Capsule 2 of each Module)
In the case of Spain, we have focused on the border cities of Ceuta and Melilla, especially Ceuta. Both cities share certain parallels, being the only two European cities in African territory. Specifically, these cities, which although European constitute two exceptionalities in the Schengen agreement, have physical walls that separate them from Morocco. We therefore contemplate the cross-border in terms of control and resistance, from different groups to whom the border crosses all areas of their lives.
The texts have been created from reports of NGOs, associations, and media, which work in the denunciation and support of the situation of vulnerable groups in these border cities. The audiovisual part has been made, for the most part, through interviews conducted exclusively for this MOOC in May 2022 in the city of Ceuta. There are two exceptions. Module 2 has an audio format and includes an interview given by the No Borders Granada collective to the activist Sani Ladan. Module 3 contains a video provided by the audiovisual collective La Barraca Transfronteriza.
We express our special thanks to journalists Paloma Fernández and Antonio Sempere of the journal El Foro de Ceuta, for their support in conducting the interviews. We also thank APDHA, GADEM, MAAKUM Ceuta, ELIN, La Barraca Transfronteriza, and all the people who have contributed to the creation of the contents of these capsules, for their constant work in denouncing the border situation of these cities.
Specific methodology used in the Italian capsules (Capsule 3 of each Module)
In the case of Italy, we drew up a path to be followed starting from a general framework - the Italian context, historical perspectives - to concrete experiences, thus drawing a complete picture of the migration situation in Italy. For the stages of this path we involved different types of professionals: university professors such as Katia Lotteria; socio-cultural integration operators such as Patrizia Moscara, Carmelo Chianura or the psychologist Annalisa Antonucci, up to the protagonists of the daily interaction between cultures in our territory such as Andrea Ferreri or Ablaye Seye.
In the group of modules belonging to the Italian context, the podcast format has been chosen as an educational tool. Each podcast - between 3 and 6 minutes long - represents a more in-depth study/testimony of the contents of the capsule through the participation of experts in the sector or professionals such as university professors, NGO workers, socio-cultural operators, migrants, etc. The content of the podcast was studied and written by each of the experts in collaboration with the producer of the podcast: both produced a text that was read/interpreted during the recording phase of the podcast.