Maria Nawrocka
Maria Nawrocka is a PhD candidate at the Doctoral School of Social Sciences, specializing in Sociology at the University of Warsaw. She holds a Master’s Degree in Journalism. Her studies and interests focus on migration, media, and discourse. In her doctoral project, she will be using linguistic analysis to research the ways refugees of different origins are presented in the media.
Steering group of the Project
Zainab Taqaddusi
Zainab is an Afghan researcher in the field of Social Sciences, with a master's degree in Sociology from Kateb University Kabul Afghanistan. She has been living in Poland as an immigrant since 2021.
She was the founder of 'Kawsar Social and Cultural Institution in 2017' whose activities were focused on Educational, Legal and Counseling support for girls and women. After the rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2021, this institution like hundreds of other institutions and organizations that used to work for women were blocked.
Zainab has 3 years of experience teaching at universities in Kabul and being a member of the scientific staff at the universities of Uruj, Kateb and the National Institution of Tourism and Hotel Management of Afghanistan. As a master's Thesis, Zainab has researched "The consequences of girls running away from home in the city of Kabul", published in the Sociology Journal of Kateb Studies Center. She has done research for the Ministry of Information and Culture of Afghanistan on "The role of women in the development of Afghanistan's tourism".
Currently, Zainab's studies and interests are focused on Socialization and Women's studies.
Marisol Reyes Soto
Ph.D. Research fellow/associate in the Institute for Research into Superdiversity at the University of Birmingham. Marisol led the evaluation of the UK Community Sponsorship Scheme directed by Professor Jenny Phillimore and coordinated the evaluations of six community sponsorship programmes in Europe. She has focused her research on the pro-social behaviour, motivations and experiences of the organisers and volunteers who join the sponsorship groups, as well as the impact of the sponsorship programmes in rural communities. Recent research includes policy recommendations for the sustainability of the European community sponsorship programmes and the experiences of hospitality and reciprocity of individuals who have hosted displaced Ukrainians in the UK ‘Homes for Ukraine’
Jenny Phillimore
Professor Jenny Phillimore was Founding Director of the Institute for Research into Superdiversity and is Professor of Migration and Superdiversity at the University of Birmingham.
Her work focuses upon forced migration, community sponsorship and integration and civil society and access to welfare in conditions of superdiversity.
She is currently the recipient of a Leverhulme Major Grant looking at the relationship between forced migration, sexual and gender-based violence and integration.
She has advised Governments across the globe on forced migration, sponsorship and integration.
Birgit Glorius
Prof. Birgit Glorius is human geographer and professor of human geography with a focus on European migration research at TU Chemnitz, Germany.
In her research, she focuses on recent migration phenomena in Europe, notably forced migration, and their effects on social cohesion and society formation.
Senait Cieplińska
Founder and president of the Adulis Foundation, coordinator of the integration counsellors program at the „Dobry Start” Foundation (former Foundation for Somalia).
Eritrean, activist in non-governmental organizations and translator from Tigrinya and Amharic. For several years, she has been conducting intercultural workshops in Warsaw kindergartens, primary schools, the University of Warsaw and community centres for seniors.
She translates and reads Eritrean fairy tales from the Tigrinya language to children.
She actively works for intercultural dialogue and against gender violence.
Based in Poland.
Kesira Adajewa
Kesira comes from a refugee family who found asylum in Poland in the year 2000 during the so-called II Chechen War. Her family has since been active in providing both direct and indirect aid to refugees, from the creation of the Institute of Culture of the Caucasus Nations and the SINTAR Foundation, which acted as an after-school educational and culture-exchange centre for refugee children, offering school and art-related classes, with focus on helping the children and their parents in integrating with the polish society; through providing refugees with temporary accommodation, as well as documentation and employment-related help; to conducting and partaking in national conferences, interviews, lectures and cultural events, spreading awareness of the war crimes taking place in Chechnya and how to realistically provide aid to refugees both on the individual and governmental scales. Kesira has volunteered in various refugee and otherwise humanitarian projects throughout her life, at SINTAR, Habitat for Humanity, Empowering Children Foundation, and individually.
Outside of her work in the AML field and volunteering, she's interested in the music industry and performance, and she's been performing at private and formal public events for 8 years. Her hobbies are business, pop-culture, psychology and politics, with a focus on humanitarian aid.
As a person who has been on both ends of the spectrum - having experienced life as a refugee herself and received help on the individual scale from friends as well as on the governmental level while simultaneously providing help to other refugees – she wants to engage in conversations and projects exploring the societal attitudes and policies directed at refugees, with the hope to share her insider perspective and help address the actual and intricate challenges they face.
Michaela Hynie
Ph.D. Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Interim Director of the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University. She is also an Honourary Professor in the College of Medicine at the University of Rwanda. Dr. Hynie is the past president of the Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies.
Michaela conducts community-based research on the social determinants of health with communities experiencing social conflict, social exclusion, or forced displacement and migration. She collaborates with communities, community-serving agencies and activist groups in the development and/or evaluation of social, institutional and/or policy interventions that can improve mental health and well-being by addressing social exclusion.
Her work has primarily been situated in Canada and Rwanda, but also the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Liberia, Nepal, Sierra Leone and South Africa.
Sanjar Hoshimi
Journalist, programmer and refugee living in Poland for over 4 years as a refugee.
He graduated in journalism in Tajikistan and has 5 years of experience in this sector.
While working as a journalist in Tajikistan, he was interested in the life of refugees, but he did not think that he would live as a refugee himself.
Sanjar says: "The word refugee has become synonymous with my name and all refugees are my fellow countrymen. I am always ready to help refugees and will be happy to discuss it."
Now Sanjar is in the process of transitioning to IT and also works with COPOCS and other refugee NGOs. He wants to write a book about the life of refugees in Poland.
Natalia Pashchenko
Natalia has been in Poland since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.
In Ukraine she used to work as an English teacher, graduated from V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University with a Master in management.
She was a member of Ukrainian NGOs - FRI, "Our case" involved in organizing non-formal educational projects. She also has taken part in Erasmus exchanges in Spain and Germany.
She likes learning languages – now she is learning Spanish and Polish.
By participating in the COPOCS project, she wants to help other people understand and overcome the difficulties that she has faced recently.
Wojciech Onyszkiewicz
An alumnus of the "Czarna Jedynka" scout team.
An activist of democratic opposition (Workers' Defence Committee), the Civic Committees movement 1989 - 1990 (elections 1989, local elections 1990), the third sector (many organizations, e.g. "Social Welfare Foundation" by Jacek Kuroń, the SOS Food Bank Foundation and several informal initiatives).
Recently, with a group of friends, he attempts to provide safety and development to a young widow from Libya, and her five small kids, preventing her return to the civil war-torn country of origin.
He believes in the power of role models, learning from precedents, and introducing big social changes via small concrete steps.
Sanjar Hoshimi
Journalist, programmer and refugee living in Poland for over 4 years as a refugee.
He graduated in journalism in Tajikistan and has 5 years of experience in this sector.
While working as a journalist in Tajikistan, he was interested in the life of refugees, but he did not think that he would live as a refugee himself.
Sanjar says: "The word refugee has become synonymous with my name and all refugees are my fellow countrymen. I am always ready to help refugees and will be happy to discuss it."
Now Sanjar is in the process of transitioning to IT and also works with COPOCS and other refugee NGOs. He wants to write a book about the life of refugees in Poland.
Agnieszka Kosowicz
Founder and president of the Polish Migration Forum Foundation, one of the leading organizations supporting refugees and migrants in Poland.
Author and promotor of numerous integration initiatives, often addressing niche and vulnerable groups. Speaker and trainer on migration, refugee and inter-cultural topics.
Co-founder of the Migration Consortium in Poland, and co-founder of Grupa Granica.
Activist devoted to cross-sectoral dialogue on the protection of refugees and migrants, involved in migration-related work since 2000.
Journalist by profession, author of a blog on migration issues (https://agnieszkakosowiczblog.wordpress.com/)
Paulina Berczyńska
Social worker at the Warsaw Family Support Centre (Warszawskie Centrum Pomocy Rodzinie).
She has been supporting the integration of foreigners in Poland since 2015, e.g. as a co-founder and head of the Refugees Szczecin Association. Since 2019 in Warsaw professionally engaged in running individual integration programs for foreigners who were granted refugee status and subsidiary protection in Poland.
She conducts trainings for employees of social welfare units in Poland and volunteers in non-governmental organizations on social work with foreigners, interculturalism and stereotypes.
An Skiba
a PhD candidate in sociology at the University of Warsaw, with a master’s degree in sociology.
For several years they have been working as a researcher in institutions such as the University of Warsaw or Zapomniane Foundation. They are also currently involved in a research project about offering accommodation and supporting refugees from Ukraine in Poland.
Their studies and interests focus on the sociology of health and illness, Polish and Indonesian migrants, and health-related aspects of digital society.
In the doctoral dissertation, they will focus on the potential usage of the concept of “healthcare bricolage” in research on combining different methods of treatment by Polish migrants in the Netherlands.
Paulina Babis
She is a graduate of the University of Warsaw who has been dealing with issues of integration of foreigners since 2005.
She is an employee of the government administration – social policy branch and represents Poland in international forums, among others in the European Integration Network.
She has been cooperating for many years with international organisations, NGOs, research institutions and social partners, as well as with local authorities on issues related to the integration of foreigners.
She cooperates with other central offices in the implementation of European funds and is the initiator and person involved in the realisation of integration projects implemented by the Ministry of Family and Social Policy.
Dominik Wach
Political Scientist, a PhD student at the University of Warsaw, an affiliate at the Centre of Migration Research, and an assistant researcher at the SGH Warsaw School of Economics.
Previously worked as a human rights observer in the West Bank (oPt) and humanitarian worker in Jordan. He was working on the projects: “IMINTEG – in search for models of relations between immigration and integration policies” between 2016 and 2019 and “Foreigners – Varsovians. Diagnosis and Recommendations of Integration Activities” in 2021. He was professionally involved in the integration of refugees between 2008 and 2022.
Currently, he is involved in the projects:
“ARICA – A Multi-directional Analysis of Refugee/IDP Camp Areas based on HR/VHR Satellite Data” and “Investing in ‘Welcoming Spaces’ in Europe: Revitalizing Shrinking Areas by Hosting non-EU Migrants”.
Political Scientist, a PhD student at the University of Warsaw, an affiliate at the Centre of Migration Research, and an assistant researcher at the SGH Warsaw School of Economics.
Previously worked as a human rights observer in the West Bank (oPt) and humanitarian worker in Jordan. He was working on the projects: “IMINTEG – in search for models of relations between immigration and integration policies” between 2016 and 2019 and “Foreigners – Varsovians. Diagnosis and Recommendations of Integration Activities” in 2021. He was professionally involved in the integration of refugees between 2008 and 2022.
Currently, he is involved in the projects:
“ARICA – A Multi-directional Analysis of Refugee/IDP Camp Areas based on HR/VHR Satellite Data” and “Investing in ‘Welcoming Spaces’ in Europe: Revitalizing Shrinking Areas by Hosting non-EU Migrants”.
Renata Stefańska
Renata Stefańska is a PhD candidate in Political Science at the University of Warsaw, with a Master's Degree in Political Science with a focus on social policy.
She is an Associate Researcher at the Centre for Migration Research at the University of Warsaw.
Her main research interests include: migration policy and politics, the politicisation of immigration, with a particular focus on the role of political parties, discourse on immigration and immigrant integration.
Patrycja Ziółkowska
Ph.D. candidate in sociology at the University of Warsaw, with a master’s degree in Psychology.
Previously worked as a researcher and social educator in several institutions such as Multicultural Center in Warsaw, Center for Research on Prejudice at the University of Warsaw, or Statistics Poland.
Currently, she is a volunteer of several organizations supporting people with refugee experience.
Her studies and interests focus on intergroup relations and attitudes, inequality and inclusion, as well as on pro-social activism. In her thesis, she considers the issue of the agency of people with refugee experience.
Aleksandra Grzymala-Kazlowska (PhD Hab.) is a Professor at the University of Warsaw in the Faculty of Sociology and the Centre of Migration Research.
She is also a Research Associate at the Institute for Research into Superdiversity at the University of Birmingham, which hosted her Individual Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship.
Aleksandra is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Central and Eastern European Migration Review. She is a sociologist with a background in psychology and anthropology and an interest in social policy, conducting cross-disciplinary research.
Her studies focus on different dimensions and implications of migration and diversity related to adaptation, identity, social relations, attitudes and discourses, inequality and inclusion.
Her recent book "Rethinking settlement and integration. Migrants' anchoring in an age of insecurity" was published by the Manchester University Press in 2020.
Aleksandra
Grzymała-Kazłowska
COPOCS Principal Investigator (PI)
PEOPLE
INVOLVED
18 Karowa St.,
Warsaw,
00-324
(Grant No UMA-2021/41/B/HS5/04071)
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