[EN] GEITONIES - Generating Interethnic Tolerance and Neighbourhood Integration in European Urban Spaces

 Go to the GEITONIES website

To Consult GEITONIES documents from Lisbon:

 CITY SURVEY REPORT: LISBON (2010)

 CITY REPORT LISBON (2008)

Project Summary/Resumo do Projecto:

GEITONIES (meaning ‘Neighbourhoods’ in Greek) is a research project funded by the European Union's 7th Framework Programme. GEITONIES is concerned with how interethnic interactions, in local neighbourhoods, in European cities, may influence the creation of a more tolerant, cohesive and integrated society. In Europe multiculturalism and integration have become hotly debated issues, and are often used as banners by opposing camps. Integration, and even assimilation, are concepts that bear increasing weight, as concerns about the cohesion of society have grown steadily due to global processes and dramatic events clothed in symbolism that stress global cultural differences. Long-established policies of dealing with immigrant populations and of ‘managing’ diversity and difference are currently at stake.

Despite the value of these debates in political terms, they do point to a significant lack of scientific knowledge on how cultural interactions actually develop between individuals and groups of different ethnic background, in contexts were they meet on a daily basis. Also, we lack data on how these interactions are related to an interchange of skills and attitudes (acculturation) and how they bear on the social status of the individuals and groups engaged in contact. This project intends to address these issues from a relational perspective through the lens of place, assuming that in contemporary multi-ethnic European cities spaces of intercultural communication and engagement are vital to promote tolerance, cohesion, participation and inclusion in society.

The research will be implemented in 6 European cities using cross-comparative analysis, in response to the consensus which recognises the need for comparative evidence across Europe. A survey with a longitudinal design, using a calendar format questionnaire, will be implemented to 600 residents in 18 neighborhoods in 6 European cities (Lisbon, Rotterdam, Bilbao, Warsaw, Thessaloniki and Vienna).

Coordinating Institution/Instituição Coordenadora: Instituto de Geografia e Ordenamento do Território, Centro de Estudos Geográficos (Centre for Geographical Studies), Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal

Research Team/Equipa de Investigação: The project coordinator is Professora Maria Lucinda Fonseca. The research team is Jorge Malheiros, Alina Esteves, Jennifer McGarrigle, Luís Moreno, Dora Sampaio and Rui Carvalho

Project Funding/Financiamento by the EU Commission - Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).