Moving North

Purpose and goal:

Moving North explored and reflected on the relationships between host and guest in relation to Skelleftea´s growing population, and various forms of reception for new arrivals. Working with a local community organization the team identified the social spaces which provide a strong support network for new arrivals, and long term displaced people. Using collaboration and participant-based methods, Moving North critically explored how different placemaking processes promote social participation and social sustainability, and uncovered many gaps in Swedish refugee support.

Expected results and effects:

During the project, the team participated in a BBQ with the refugee community, and met new workers at the bowling alley. We worked with students with experience of migration and the local context to make a short film reflecting on conversations with people in the area, suggesting proposals to increase social integration by exploring forms of reciprocity between migrants, refugees and host communities.

The team met with representatives from Skelleftea municipality, and local networks to better understand the increasing demand for labour and housing in the rapidly expanding city. Approach and implementation:

Moving North is a cross-sectoral team consisting of an artist, a curator, architects, a geographer , architecture students and the community organization Hej Främling. We visited Skelleftea for three days, to listen to local people about their experiences of public space and arriving in the city. We were shocked by our findings; and our sketched proposals for future developments are embedded within a discursive documentary which deals with the disparity between the current labour shortages and the restrictions on refugee work permits.