Learning across cultures and communities

• Published in: Future-proofing
• Main Authors: Simone, Carla, Wagner, Ina, Müller, Claudia, Weibert, Anne, Wulf, Volker
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Oxford University Press 03.02.2022
• Subjects: local ownership; practice-based research; socio-technical innovation; sustainable IT design; computer clubs; intercultural integration
• ISBN: 0198862504; 9780198862505
• DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198862505.003.0007

The chapter presents a research line developed at the University of Siegen in Germany that had improving the living conditions of migrant communities in their new social environment as its aim. To this purpose, the research team set up intercultural computer clubs in various German cities that had a high presence of migrant families. The positive experience in Germany motivated the research team to replicate the same idea in two completely different contexts, namely a refugee camp in Palestine and a community in the High Atlas in Morocco. The basic choices made regarding how to construct the initial computer clubs were almost similar in each instance but at the same time were adapted to the different situations and improved to offer more robust services to these critical communities. The key idea was to aim for cultural integration and leave the ownership of the technology to the locally involved stakeholders.