What happens when researchers put their heads together and scrutinize “arrival”, seeing it not as a moment, but as a process in homes, neighborhoods, and cities? This is what could have been the guiding for the mid-term meeting of REFRAME. From 18–20 June 2025, we took the opportunity to gather at UCL’s Development Planning Unit in London. Colleagues from all subprojects joined.
We started the exchange with rapid research spotlights that mapped the project’s core strands based on research conducted up until that point. On the practices and regimes of housing, presentations traced how people craft dwelling strategies within and against austerity, how “interstitial” spaces become footholds for inhabitation, and how disaster knowledge shapes social membership among migrant and refugee groups in Istanbul. Other projects highlighted how discourses and perceptions of arrival travel into policy, and how the local governance of reception opens conflicts, but also opportunities to enable urban citizenship. We concluded the first day with an open discussion, exploring where these threads come together across sites.
The second day consolidated emerging themes and moved from conceptual work to hands-on structure. The group discussed a book idea, discussing framings for sections and sketching potential chapter line-ups. We then decided on a timeline for our plans, clarifying next steps for writing and comparative synthesis.
Field time matters, and so the final day took us to Hastings–Bexhill during Refugee Week. Over lunch at the Dove Café, we spoke with Rossana Leal of the Refugee Buddy Project about hospitality as everyday practice. We followed with visits to KNITSONIK’s “Listening to Knitting Patterns” installation and a contemporary exhibition at the De La Warr Pavilion, before closing at “Stitch for Change: Community as a Superpower,” where refugee and local women’s co-created capes told stories of strength, care, and shared place-making.
