The suggestions are the result of work done by master students at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, who followed the course In Transit – safe spaces in crisis context by NORCAP experts and architects, Tone Selmer-Olsen and Håvard Breivik, in cooperation with NORCAP Adviser, Jørn C. Øwre.
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“We travelled to Greece with the students last year to meet with the UNHCR and other partner organizations and to see how different transit and reception centres worked. Based on what we experienced and learned during our trip, the students developed projects responding to the needs of people in these situations, focusing on making the camps and centres more liveable by designing high quality common spaces for socializing, recreation and stress relief", Håvard Breivik says.
The Greek delegation was in Oslo this week to learn more about the Norwegian systems for receiving refugees and asylum seekers, and is hosted by NORCAP. NORCAP Director Benedicte Giæver felt it was a good idea to present the innovative camp solutions to the Greeks.
“This is very exciting and important work, which takes into account the changing displacement patterns we see today. Not only does it offer a solution for the refugees, it suggests how the structures can fill another purpose at a later stage, and also benefit the local communities”, she says.
Eager to learn more
Tone Selmer-Olsen and Håvard Breivik presented some of the ideas their students had come up with, for instance, the recommendation to use unfinished, abandoned and empty buildings in Athens to create accommodation for the thousands of refugees in the country.
"We particularly like this idea, because there are so many empty buildings in Athens and this way the structures can be used as housing for the local population once the refugees leave", says Maria Dimitripoulou.
Mr Voudouris asked many detailed questions and was impressed with the presentation.
"I did not expect to see such concrete solutions, but we like the idea of avoiding tents and containers for the refugees. We are very eager to learn more about this work and whether it can be applied to the situation in Greece, we make every effort towards this direction", he says.
