The University of La Laguna collaborates in the welcoming model of Welcoming Tenerife

Tenerife is preparing to be a reference in Spain for the Welcoming International program, with more than a decade of experience in various countries for the development of reception and inclusion processes for migrants and refugees. Under the name of Welcoming Tenerife, this model is adapted to the island through the participation of people residing in Tenerife who have experienced migratory processes, as well as citizens, LGTBIQ + groups and representatives of public organizations and the economic-business sector. All of them have contributed their views on the value of cultural diversity and the challenges to facilitate inclusive processes through a series of meetings organized by Boards In the same direction, the strategy for promoting intercultural coexistence in Tenerife,

Specifically, a total of five sessions have been held that began at the beginning of 2020, together with the promoter of Welcoming International, David Lubell, to listen to people who have experienced a migration process, and people who, without living it, have wanted to contribute to coexistence in Tenerife. Subsequently, four work tables were held. Specifically, with representatives of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Chamber of Commerce and Ashotel, as well as employed workers; another with temporary employment agencies, in which the Barrios por el Empleo project: Juntos más Fuertes and FIFEDE also participates; a third with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association of the Canary Islands, Algarabía; and the most recent, with technical staff from the municipalities of Arico, Buenavista del Norte,

With the contributions made in these meetings, Welcoming Tenerife will be launched, with the aim of improving the reception and inclusion of migrants who arrive on the island, while deepening the importance of enjoying an adequate intercultural coexistence. “After the unanimous approval of the plenary session of the Cabildo de Tenerife of the Strategic Framework for intercultural coexistence ‘Tenerife vive Diversidad’, it is necessary to continue taking steps to advance from theory to practice in social cohesion processes, which are not understood if they do not include the perspective of cultural diversity in a context of globalization such as the one we are experiencing. Create synergies with well-known programs such as Welcoming International and implement our own Welcoming Tenerife on the island,

The rector of the University of La Laguna, Rosa María Aguilar, who welcomed the launch of this initiative, agrees: “It is a pride that a program of international prestige such as Welcoming International has paid attention to the work that Together In the same management has been developing on the island for more than a decade, with the participation of our University, to link innovation in the transfer of knowledge to the values ​​of sustainability, social justice and equality ”.

For Vicente Zapata, director of Boards In the same direction, “having the technical and professional vision is essential to continue the journey started with other stakeholders, so that we can gradually identify which barriers are interposed in the reception processes and the opportunities offered by the installation of new neighbors on the island. The plural vision that they have shared, as a result of their experience in different municipalities of Tenerife, enriches the scheme that we have been putting together for a year in agreement with Welcoming International ”.

La Universidad de La Laguna colabora en el modelo de acogida de Welcoming Tenerife