Abstract

A talk about the impact of the refugee crisis in Lesvos, with a historical overview and update on recent developments including inspiring actions by local people, NGOs and volunteers from all over the world. There will also be a screening of and introduction to clips from “Janus’ Legacy: Refugee Passage to Europe” (Anti-Racist Observator, University of the Aegean, dir: Dimitris Papageorgiou & Alexandros Spathis).

DIMITRIS BALLAS is Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of the Aegean (Lesvos island campus). In September 2017, he will join the Faculty of Spatial Sciences at the University of Groningen to take up a chair in Economic Geography. He was also as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield and a visiting academic at Harvard University, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (Austria) and Ritsumeikan University (Japan). His most recent published work is ‘The Human Atlas of Europe: a continent united in diversity’ (2017, Policy Press, co-authored with Danny Dorling and Benjamin Hennig).

VICKY YIAGOPOULOU has been volunteering as a Community Manager at the Office of Displaced Designers, Mytilene, Lesvos island, where she has recently been involved in workshops aimed at bringing together the local community and refugees. She is a firm believer in empowering people and communities through education and skills sharing. She holds an MA in Librarianship from the University of Sheffield, an MA in Communications Studies from the University of Leeds and a first degree (Ptychion) in Journalism and Mass Communication from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Lunch and refreshments will be provided.