Interdisciplinary approaches in addressing humanitarian challenges

22. Aug 2022By Irina Mihălcuț and Jon Elvestad

In a joint effort to assist Ukrainian refugees and the communities hosting them in Romania, NORCAP and the Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO) are leading an innovative project. The aim is to create sustainable contingency plans that prioritize the well-being of refugees while also considering the needs of the host communities.

As part of this initiative, students from AHO's In Transit Studio program will be heading to Romania this autumn for field missions. Their main task is to provide insights to support the development of contingency plans by the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs. These plans are aimed at helping Romania manage the influx of refugees from Ukraine, especially in urban areas.

In preparation for their mission, the coordinators of the master program invited Stikado to offer the students a lecture based on its experience in Romania, especially in this humanitarian context. We were very happy to meet the AHO master students and their coordinators, to learn more about the In Transit Studio program and to share with them our knowledge and experiences.

We covered in our lecture various topics, including Romania's historical relations with Russia, the socio-economic impact of communism, and its profound influence on the architecture of the country.

Socialist architecture in Romania

We have also tried to shed a light on the humanitarian response in Romania to the refugees coming from Ukraine, drawing from our experience in the field. By sharing firsthand experiences and insights, Stikado offered valuable information to the students, helping them understand the complexities of the refugee crisis and the challenges faced by both refugees and host communities in Romania.

The Romanian response to the Ukrainian crisis

The students will use this knowledge to prepare their field trips in Romania and to develop project proposals to present to the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs and other stakeholders in Bucharest. These proposals are expected to contribute to the national action plans and to the creation of more sustainable systems for accommodating refugees.

The uniqueness of the Ukraine refugee crisis

With the war in Ukraine showing no signs of ending soon, initiatives like the NORCAP-AHO collaboration serve as a positive example, demonstrating the power of interdisciplinary approaches in addressing humanitarian challenges.