Poles Apart? A model for Polish community integration in Scotland

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Divinity, History, Philosophy & Art History

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Poles Apart? A model for Polish community integration in Scotland
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This is a past event

Part of the BEING HUMAN FESTIVAL organised by the University of Aberdeen

Scotland is an attractive destination for migrants from Eastern Europe. Figures showing a higher than UK average increase of East European migrants to Scotland bear this out, yet charities and councils have few resources to address this phenomenon. This public roundtable and discussion forum will draw on theoretical models and practical experience of Scotland as a prime destination for Polish migrants. Even before the recent wave of Polish migrants triggered by Poland’s EU entry in 2004, Scotland had seen several waves of Polish migration since the Second World War. What have the benefits to Scottish society from these migrants been, and how well have Poles settled and integrated into Scottish society? What are the benefits of the acquisition of this new East Central European business community? How does the experience of integration reflect in community relations, and what impact does it have on economic and market forces, with Polish businesses and skilled labour joining the Scottish economy? The roundtable is invited to think how such experiences can relate to a wider European migration context.

 Speakers:

Key Note - Professor Anne White (School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London)

Jean Urquhart (MSP Highlands and Island, Chair of the Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group on Poland): The work of the Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group on Poland

Dr Anna Gasior Niemiec (Political Sciences, University of Rzeszów) and Dr Paulina Trevena (University of Glasgow): Polish attitudes to the Scottish Referendum

Martin Stepek (Scottish Family Business Organisation): Polish Businesses in Scotland – opportunities and obstacles

Magda Czarnecka (Secretary of FENIKS. Counselling, Personal Development and Support Services Ltd.): Cultural differences and barriers in integration among Polish migrants in Scotland

Dr Marta Trzebiatowska (Sociology, University of Aberdeen):The advent of the 'EasyJet Priest’? The Catholic community and integration.

Sameness and Difference – the role of literary imagination in integration processes

Photographic Exhibition

Neighbours  - Photographs of Polish migrants in Scotland by Aberdeen-based artists Blazej Marczak (with an introduction by the artist)

Music and Poems

The Polish-Scottish Choir, Elphinstone Institute, Aberdeen

Prof. Mairead Nic Craith (Heriot Watt University)

Please register until 16 November at this link

Financed by the Scottish Universities Insight Institute http://www.scottishinsight.ac.uk/Programmes/Programmes20142015/LinkingNorthernCommunities.aspx

Hosted by
Prof Karin Friedrich
Venue
Satrosphere Science Centre, 179 Constitution St, Aberdeen, AB24 5TU