About University Refugee Week
University Refugee Week brings together higher education communities across the UK to recognise the contributions and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary, and to reflect on the role universities can play in fostering a culture of welcome, opportunity and belonging.
Through talks, creative events and shared conversations, the week invites students, staff and partners to deepen understanding of forced displacement, learn from lived experience, and explore how universities can offer meaningful support. University Refugee Week will take place from 2–8 March 2026.
Resources and Branding Materials for Universities
- Refugee Week Logos & Templates – Download logos and undated templates for your events: Access here
- Refugee Week Video – Use to promote events or share with your community: Access here
- Theory of Change – Understand the impact framework and approach of Refugee Week, useful for planning and aligning university initiatives: View PDF
- About Refugee Week – Learn about our values, mission, and history: Visit page
Upcoming Resources
Refugee Week are updating all resource packs (Event Organiser Pack, Children & Young People’s Pack, Social Media Toolkit, etc.), which will be announced at the conference on 25th February.
Public Events – Open to All
| Date & Time | University | Event | Registration or Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 24th March, 10:00-11:30 | Aston University (online) | Advancing Migrant Participation & Inclusion in Decision-Making As part of Universities Refugee Week, this event brings together leading practitioners, researchers, and community experts to share the latest evidence and innovative initiatives that support meaningful migrant participation in decision-making. The event will be of interest to migrant individuals, policymakers, local authorities, academics, civil society organisations, students, and migrant-led community groups working at the intersection of economic inclusion, governance, and social justice. | Sign up here |
| Monday 2 March, 1-3pm | Aston University (in person) | Share Your Craft Show-and-tell craft event for students, staff and local sanctuary community In collaboration with Birmingham City Council | Martin Luther King Multi-Faith Centre, Aston University |
| Monday 2 March, 1-3 pm | King’s College London (hybrid) | Higher Education at the Margins of Crisis: A Decolonial Participatory Action Research Study with Syrian Refugee Youth in Lebanon During University Refugee Week 2026, I will share the outcomes of my PhD research, Higher Education at the Margins of Crisis: A Decolonial Participatory Action Research Study with Syrian Refugee Youth in Lebanon. Co-produced with six Syrian refugee co-researchers, this study examines how refugee higher education is shaped at the intersection of humanitarian governance, neoliberal education reform, and Lebanon’s fragmented state institutions. These overlapping governance regimes are resulting in chronic uncertainty for refugee youth and contradictory policy practices that structure and constrain their educational trajectories. In collaboration with School of Education Communication & Society | Sign up here |
| Tuesday 3 March, 10 am – 4 pm | University of Birmingham | Culture, conflict and sanctuary Join us for a diverse programme of talks, films and displays exploring how culture sustains community across migration and illuminates the impact of conflict. This event is suited to those with a background/interest in migration/refugee communities/research or activities centred around these subject areas. | Sign up here |
| Monday 2 March, 3-4:30 pm | Queen’s University Belfast | Trauma Informed Practice Webinar Online webinar with Q&A for staff, students, and interested members of the public. To explore how a trauma-informed movement can help build safer spaces for people affected by trauma – just and welcoming communities – for everyone. | , Sign up here |
| Tuesday 3rd March, 6:00pm – 8:00pm | King’s College London (in-person) | For Sama – Film Screening and Q&A As part of University Refugee Week 2026, attend the film screening of the award-winning documentary For Sama, run by King’s 4 Change. Produced by Waad Al-Kateab, a Syrian journalist living in Aleppo during the siege, the documentary follows the producer’s experience of giving birth to her daughter Sama and documents the lives of civilians at war. By recording her life and the work of her husband, she shows us the harsh truths of the Syrian conflicts. This screening also gives the unique opportunity to discuss the documentary with Zahed Katurji – Waad’s husband – and his work with the NGO Action for Sama. | Sign up here |
| Wednesday, 4 March, 3-6 pm | Queen’s University Belfast | Sanctuary Pathways through Further & Higher Education – Information event for refugees and asylum seekers This event brings Northern Ireland’s regional colleges, teacher training colleges, universities, and other education providers all together under one roof here in Queen’s, to help refugees and asylum seekers map their pathway through Further and Higher Education. | Sign up here |
| Wednesday 4th March, 12:30pm – 2:00pm | King’s College London (in-person) | The Migrant Art of Coping Join us for an interactive book launch and wellbeing workshop with Dr Sohail Jannesari, Research Fellow at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, to celebrate the release of his new book The Migrant Art of Coping (Pluto Press, 2026). | Sign up here |
| Ongoing, 8:00am – 7:00pm Monday – Friday | King’s College London (in-person) | Battles of the Mind: Ella Baron Drawing Ukraine at War (Exhibition) The Art & Conflict Hub at King’s College London is pleased to host an exhibition of the artwork by Ella Baron a political cartoonist at The Guardian, who travelled to Ukraine in May 2025 to record and reflect on the human impact of war. In collaboration with NGO Médecins Sans Frontieres, Ella met patients in a rehabilitation centre for war veterans in Cherkasy and a mental health clinic for internally displaced families in Vinnytsia. | Sign up here |
| Thursday 5th March, 10am-11am | King’s College London (Online) | Creating Sanctuary At King’s (online) Join this online session to learn more about what the King’s Sanctuary Programme is doing to support forcibly displaced people in our community. Part of University Refugee Week 2026, you’ll hear from Paul Webb, Sanctuary Programme Manager, about the support offered at King’s ranging from education pathways and scholarships to new research and community partnerships. There will be plenty of time for you to ask the team questions. | Sign up here |
| Friday 6th March, 6:30pm – 8:00pm | King’s College London (In-person) | This is also Ukraine – Film Screening and Q&A Please join us for a film screening of This is also Ukraine, a film directed by artist James Leadbitter, aka the vacuum cleaner, in collaboration with ten young people in Ukraine, which powerfully captures what it means to live in a time of war. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the vacuum cleaner (artist/ director) and Veronika Skliarova (producer of This is also Ukraine and founder of ArtDot NGO). | Sign up here |
| Friday 20 March 20:00 – 22:00 | University of Kent | Funny Rabbit: Migrant Special Join a lively evening of migrant-themed comedy featuring acclaimed performers and Kent-grown student talent. | Sign up here |
Private Events – see event details for who can attend
King’s College London
Messages of Welcome at the Maughan Library – Monday 2nd March
Open to King’s students and staff only
Come meet the King’s Sanctuary Programme team in the Maughan Library to learn about our work supporting forcibly displaced people and discover the many ways you can get involved. In celebration of University Refugee Week, you’ll also have the opportunity to write a letter of welcome as part of Conversations over Borders’ Messages of Welcome campaign. Your message will be shared with people who have recently arrived in the UK to seek safety, helping them to build a sense of community and belonging
Messages of Welcome at The Shack – Tuesday 2nd March
Join us for University Refugee Week 2026 and meet the King’s Sanctuary Programme team at The Shack. Learn more about our work supporting forcibly displaced people and discover the many ways you can get involved. You’ll also have the opportunity to write a letter of welcome as part of Conversations over Borders’ Messages of Welcome campaign. Your message will be shared with people who have recently arrived in the UK to seek safety, helping them to build a sense of community and belonging.
Creating Sanctuary At King’s (in-person) – Wednesday 4th March
Join this interactive session to learn more about what the King’s Sanctuary Programme is doing to support forcibly displaced people in our community. Part of University Refugee Week 2026, you’ll hear from Paul Webb, Sanctuary Programme Manager, about the support offered at King’s ranging from education pathways and scholarships to new research and community partnerships. There will be plenty of time for you to ask the team questions. Attendees will also have the opportunity to write a letter of welcome as part of Conversations over Borders’ Messages of Welcome campaign. Your messages will be shared with people who have recently arrived in the UK to seek safety, helping them settle in and build a sense of community and belonging.
King’s 4 Change Walkathon– Wednesday 4th March, 5:00pm – 7:00pm
As part of University Refugee Week 2026, join King’s 4 Change, KCLSU and KCL Student Action for Refugee on a fundraising Walkathon in support of Community Action for Refugees, an organisation dedicated to helping asylum seekers throughout their integration process.
Connecting with Charities: University Refugee Week – Thursday 5th March 12-3pm
Held in collaboration with King’s Volunteering and the King’s Sanctuary Programme, this special edition of Connecting with Charities forms part of University Refugee Week 2026. Join us for Connecting with Charities: University Refugee Week, a relaxed, drop-in event where you can meet charities supporting refugees and people seeking sanctuary and explore volunteering opportunities that contribute to more inclusive and welcoming communities. Whether your interests lie in advocacy, community support, education, or wellbeing, this event offers the chance to connect with organisations doing vital work and discover ways to get involved.
University Refugee Week Research Panel – Thursday 12th March, 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Join us for an inspiring panel event where researchers from across King’s, alongside a peer researcher from Race On The Agenda, share powerful insights and findings from their work.
Queen’s University Belfast
International Women’s Day: Afghan Dance event – Sunday 8th March
Invitation only
An event marking International Women’s Day 2026, involving music performance and Afghan dancing. Beyond Skin (Intercultural and peace-building organisation) is bringing Afghan dancer Fahima Mirzaie to Belfast for a programme of events, of which this is one. It will be hosted at Queen’s.
University of Gloucestershire
Big Questions Cafe: Forced Migration Week – Wednesday 4th March
Open to University of Gloucestershire students
Join us for a free vegetarian lunch and discuss some of the issues surrounding forced migration with students from different countries, backgrounds and beliefs.
Launch of the Global Voices for Rights and Refuge Research Group – Friday 6th March
Open to University of Gloucestershire academics, researchers, artists, practitioners and students
This is the launch event for the Voices for Rights and Refuge Research Group at the University of Gloucestershire. This new group aims to create a space for shared thinking, dialogue and collaboration across disciplines, practices, and lived experiences. We are interested in how displacement and migration are understood, represented and experienced, and how ideas of otherness are produced, challenged and reimagined across cultural, social, political, and creative contexts. This event will offer opportunities to share research-in-progress, creative practice, pedagogical approaches and potential funding or partnership ideas, as well as to connect with others working in related areas.
📚 Refugee Week Reading Walls
Edinburgh Napier University
2–6 March 2026
📍 Merchiston Library & Sighthill Library
To mark Universities Refugee Week, Edinburgh Napier University Libraries are hosting Refugee Week Reading Walls across two campuses: Merchiston and Sighthill.
The displays showcase stories of displacement and resilience, exploring refugee narratives through cultural, historical, and artistic perspectives. Alongside a curated selection of books and film recommendations about people seeking international protection, the Reading Walls also highlight local organisations supporting refugees within the community.
A full list of recommended resources, contributed by ENU lecturers, is available on the Library Blog:
“University Refugee Week 2026: A Celebration of Courage” – The Library Blog
No additional events are planned in connection with the display.
Oxford Brookes University
2–6 March 2026
📍 Welcome Area, University Library, Headington Campus
To mark Universities Refugee Week, Oxford Brookes University Library is hosting a public, interactive Refugee Reading Wall.
Visitors are invited to recommend books written by refugees or people seeking sanctuary, contributing to a collective display of stories and voices. Alongside the interactive wall, there will be a themed selection of books by and about people who have experienced forced displacement, available to browse and borrow.
This is a public event and all are welcome to participate.