Building Futures: Aspirations of Syrian Youth Refugees and Host Population Responses in Lebanon, Greece & the UK

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This project is an innovative interdisciplinary study of the experiences, skills and aspirations of young Syrian refugees, who have been forcibly displaced by the conflict in their home country, and the corresponding attitudes and belief structures of the host population in three receiving states: Lebanon, Greece and the United Kingdom. We will conduct surveys with these young refugees, exploring their aspirations and giving centre stage to their own perspectives on their needs. We will also survey members of the host populations, some of whom may be analogously disadvantaged, to identify their attitudes to refugee's training needs. We will then compare the responses of both groups to reveal contrasts and points of convergence in the underlying ethical frameworks that shape their understanding of the needs, rights and duties involved in this complex situation.This research will advance our theoretical understanding, and promote important social and political ends, in a number of ways. First, our data on their aspirations will allow us to formulate policy recommendations to meet the training and skills needs of young refugees, with a view to facilitating either reintegration in Syria or integration in their host nations. Second, our comparative approach will give guidance on how such policy should be framed and advocated in a context of strained public resources and anti-immigration sentiment. By focussing on shared ethical commitments, we will offer ways to develop training and skills policy which builds consensus and cross-community understanding.We will disseminate this research by producing five academic articles in journals across a number of relevant fields. We will also engage in an ambitious programme of knowledge exchange and public engagement, through concise publications aimed at policymakers and general audiences in all three countries, and through a series of six public events. We will make our data available for sharing through the UK Data Archive at the end of the project, following an embargo period that will allow for publication of key outputs. By drawing on our research expertise in the social sciences and the arts, we seek to influence both the content of training and skills policy, and also the public discourse surrounding such policy. By focussing on the ethical perspectives of both migrant and host populations, we will promote social cohesion and welfare for both groups: the former can have their training and skills needs met in a more supportive social context, and the latter can be reassured that the principles governing the distribution of scarce resources are ones which resonate with reasons they also share.