Refugee Week 2025 events

The University proudly supports Refugee Week (16-22 June) — a national festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary. Explore the Refugee Week events taking place in our community.

University of Edinburgh Refugee Week events programme

Connected Learning in Contexts of Forced Displacement: Notes from the Field

When: Tuesday 10 June, 1 pm to 2.30 pm 

Where: Online

This event highlights connected learning initiatives in contexts of forced displacement, featuring contributions from a special issue of the Journal of Interactive Media in Education. 

Engage with authors discussing projects such as educational programs in the Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps, teacher training, and connected learning in Palestine and Niger. Explore themes of digital learning, participatory approaches, gender parity, and trauma-informed education for displaced populations. 


Research in Dialogue: A Conversation on Refugee Voices & Education

When: Tuesday 17 June, 10am - 12pm GMT+1

Where: Paterson's Land, The University of Edinburgh (Room 1.21), Holyrood Road, Edinburgh, EH8 8AQ

Join us in recognising Refugee Week as we focus on both academic and research experiences around the topic of refugee education.

Event Highlights:

  • Learning from scholars’ lived experiences refugee learners
  • Hearing about current research regarding refugee education
  • Participating in a World Café event to discuss your own research with other learners

Free coffee, tea, and snacks provided!

(Refreshments generously supported by Education Beyond Borders at the University of Edinburgh)


Connected Communities 2025 potluck

When: Tuesday 17 June, 1pm-3pm

Where: Godfrey Thomson Hall, Holyrood Road, University of Edinburgh

Join us for a heartwarming Potluck Gathering during Refugee Week 2025. This inclusive event welcomes everyone—students, staff, and community members—to share a dish that reflects their culture, heritage, or simply something they love.


Art Exhibition: Aesthetics of One Health

When: Tuesday 17 June, 3 pm to 4 pm 

Where: Crystal Macmillan Building foyer 

Join us for the "Aesthetics of One Health" exhibition event. Explore the various ways how Syrian agricultural heritage can be showcased through art and music. Speakers will guide you through how this unique and vibrant exploration was created. You’ll hear insights from two artists, Rawan Hasan and Rami Magharbeh, and from University leads, Dr Ann-Christin Zuntz and Professor Lisa Boden. 


Education Beyond Borders Refugee Week: Community as a Superpower

When: Wednesday 18 June, 2pm to 5pm 

Where: Paterson's Land, Room 1.18, University of Edinburgh, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh, EH8 8AQ 

Education Beyond Borders will host this event on the theme 'Community as a Superpower'. It aims to bring people together to celebrate the contributions of refugees in our communities and understand what community-based support looks like. 

  • Short Film: 'We depend on each other' by Zozan Yasar 
  • Panel: Reframing narratives around refugee experiences 
  • Discussion: What does community-based support look like? 
  • Session: Approaching mental health in community and University settings.
  • Poetry & Prose - Syrian voices in Scotland

Refugee Week Film Screen at University of Edinburgh

When: Friday, 20 June  2 - 4:30pm GMT+1

Where: 7 George Square #f 21 Edinburgh EH8 9JZ

Finish up your working week and celebrate World Refugee Day with two incredible films about displacement, belonging, community and hope!

Programme:

  • Life is Beautiful by Mohamed Jabaly (1 hr 36 min)
  • Break (5-10 mins)
  • My Refugee Life by Zozan Yasar (University of Edinburgh Master's student) (26 mins)
  • Discussion (15-20 mins) - We will be joined by Zozan to hear about why she made 'My Refugee Life' and open up the floor to the audiences reflections on the two films.

This event is hosted by Education Beyond Borders and the One Health FIELD Network.


Horses, Home & Heritage: A Day of Connection

When: Saturday 21 June, 11:00am – 3:00pm

Where: Quarry Farm, Lamberton, TD15 1XB

Eat, Sleep, Ride is hosting a relaxed open day for Refugee Festival Scotland, offering refugee families a chance to connect with the local community. Participants can engage in gentle horse interactions, share stories, and enjoy a barbecue around a welcoming fire. This event, set in our peaceful rural environment, focuses on fostering belonging and shared experiences through nature, building connections and community.

£7 donation for food and horse ride. Free for refugees and people going through the asylum process.


'Stories Behind Stories' book swap

When: Sunday 22 June, 11am to 2pm

Where: Words and Actions 4 Peace, 58 Ratcliffe Terrace, Edinburgh EH9 1ST

As part of Refugee Week, STAR is collaborating with the Edinburgh Refugee Sponsorship Circle to present ‘Stories behind Stories,’ a community book swap event. Our two organisations will host a curated collection of books specially chosen by members of our communities. This will be accompanied by written accounts describing the chosen stories’ significance and personal meaning, for guests to read and reflect upon.


Chords of courage: A musical evening exploring war and healing

When: Thursday 26 June

Where: St Cecilia’s Hall: Concert Room & Music Museum, 50 Niddry Street, Edinburgh EH1 1LG

Join us for a remarkable live performance featuring the Yemeni pianist, Saber Bamatraf, whose moving compositions draw from his deep personal experiences as a war refugee from Yemen now residing in Scotland. Saber will be accompanied by the talented Phil Westwell (uilleann pipes, flute and whistle) and Katherine Campbell (cello).


Other Refugee Week events taking place in Edinburgh

Events below are taking place from 12-22 June 2025.

When: 12–23 June 2025, open daily, 10am–5pm

Where: St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh EH12 5AW

Free – No booking required

Join us for a powerful and inspiring photography exhibition presented by the RAM Working Group. This milestone event showcases the perspectives of New Scots who, having had access to photographic equipment for the first time, captured stunning images of Edinburgh as part of a creative journey through their new home.

Housed in the beautiful St Mary’s Cathedral, the exhibition is fully wheelchair accessible, with good public transport links and on-site toilets.

Come along and celebrate these incredible stories through the lens – everyone is welcome.


When: Thursday, 19 June 2025

Where: Edinburgh Napier University

Free: Registration required

Register here

Join the Migration and Mobilities Research Network at Edinburgh Napier University for a one-day, in-person conference as part of Refugee Week 2025.

This year's theme explores migration, liminality, and displacement, focusing on the precarious, in-between spaces navigated by migrants today. Highlights include a keynote by Professor Julia O’Connell Davidson and a screening of participatory documentaries.


When: Saturday 21 June, 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Where: Community Garden on The Meadows, East Meadows, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH8 9 LJ, United Kingdom

Ticket Price: Free

Olga Niekrasova will exhibit recent photos of Kyiv and surroundings at the Community Garden, along with other groups that support Ukraine, demonstrating the power of communities. 

 


When: Saturday 21 June, 4:00 pm - 6:30 pm

Where: The Studio, Festival Theatre, Studio Auditorium, 13-29 Nicolson St, Edinburgh, EH8 9FT, United Kingdom

Ticket Price: £15

What if the UK apologised for the Balfour Declaration—and committed to reparations?

In this bold and provocative performance lecture, Palestinian choreographer Farah Saleh imagines a future in which the UK acknowledges its role in the colonisation of Palestine. Blending dance, archival materials, and participatory theatre, The Balfour Reparations 2025–2045 invites audiences to reflect on justice, accountability, and the power of cultural resistance.


When: Sunday 22 June, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Where: The Palestine Museum, 13a Dundas Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6QG, United Kingdom

Join artists Robert Rae, Ghazi Hussein, Diline Abushaban, and photographer Laleh Sherkat for an evening of conversation, poetry, and film exploring Karamah — a powerful creative project documenting the experiences of Palestinians under occupation and in exile, with a focus on Gazans in Scotland.

Rooted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Karamah affirms the right to cultural expression and memory. The event invites open discussion on art, dignity, cultural rights, and the responsibilities of creative practice in times of crisis.

Audience participation is encouraged, and attendees will also have the chance to explore the newly opened Palestine Museum. This is the first step in a journey that culminates on Human Rights Day, 10 December 2025.

Part of Art27’s CULTURE = LIFE programme for Refugee Week.


When: Tuesday, 24 June

Where: IASH, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9NW

How can art illuminate the lived realities of displacement?

Displaced Arts brings together scholars, artists, and activists to explore how creative practices — from literature and photography to theatre and film — expose, navigate, and contest global geographies of asylum.

With keynote talks by Professor Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh (UCL) and Dr Esa Aldegheri (University of Glasgow), the symposium considers themes of belonging, solidarity, and creative resistance in the face of securitised borders and forced displacement.

Supported by the Leverhulme Trust.Enquiries: displacedarts25@gmail.com


When: Sunday 22 June, 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Where: University of Edinburgh Buildings Screening Room 50 George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9NT, United Kingdom

Ticket Price: £5

Join us for a special screening and conversation with Moayed Abu Ammouna, a filmmaker and artist from Gaza City and the 2025 Artist at Risk Fellow at IASH. Through powerful films and experimental storytelling, Abu Ammouna explores land, identity, displacement, and the trauma of colonialism.

The event will feature a selection of his short films, followed by a Q&A where the artist will discuss his creative process and the role of art in cultural resistance and survival.

Presented by the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH), this is a rare chance to engage directly with one of Palestine’s most vital contemporary voices.


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