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Testing out a theory

Kent scholar awarded for refugee-led social enterprise

Kent is delighted that PhD scholar, Basma Taysir El Doukhi, and her social enterprise, Roouh, have been selected as one of the 30 winners of the 2025 Visa Everywhere Pioneers awards for Europe.  This award celebrates the remarkable achievements of female refugee entrepreneurs across Europe.

Roouh, a social enterprise co-founded by Basma in 2023, sources hand-made products stitched by skilled Palestinian refugee women who are living in the twelve Palestinian camps across Lebanon. In doing so, it provides a platform for these women to showcase their art and tell their stories through selling their goods in the UK and globally.

A woman weaving a pattern on fabric

Basma, originally from Palestine herself, told us what inspired her to start ROOUH: ‘Roouh came about because I was committed and determined to use art and embroidery as a powerful bridge between empathy and action—giving Palestinian refugee women not just income, but dignity and a voice. By sharing their stories and showcasing their artistry, it empowers them to reclaim identity and hope in their protracted displacement, while inspiring others to see beauty and strength in their resistance.’

Basma leads the enterprise alongside her work with the British Red Cross supporting and managing community resilience projects  in the UK. She is also a Rebecca Dykes Chevening scholar, and Global Challenges Doctoral Centre scholarship awardee studying a PhD with Kent’s School of Social Sciences which is examining how members of Syrian and Afghan associations resist externally imposed identities, and re-narrate their experiences in ways that reclaim agency, complexity, and plurality.

Talking about her work, Basma said: ‘As someone who has experienced statelessness and displacement, I have transformed personal hardship into purposeful action. Through Roouh, I’ve worked to create safe, creative, and participatory spaces that challenge stereotypes and centre voices that are often silenced. Our work blends art, storytelling, community dialogue, and feminist practice to not only address trauma and social isolation, but also to amplify leadership,  cultural resistance, and joy. I have mentored young refugee women and supported their journeys in becoming confident advocates for themselves and their communities.’

The award committee commended Basma’s innovation and impact as a business leader, saying: ‘We are thrilled to be supporting her on the next stage of her entrepreneurial journey. We celebrate her entrepreneurial skills, creativity, innovation and leadership skills, which are driving positive impact on a local, regional and national scale.’

Workshops with Kent Refugee Action Network (KRAN): Storytelling and Community

As part of Kent’s continued commitment to our Sanctuary work, Dr Rachel Gregory Fox, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow writes about her recent series of workshops for students from Kent Refugee Action Network (KRAN) which focused on storytelling.

‘In answer to the theme of this year’s Refugee Week, ‘Community as a Superpower’, we invited students to the University of Kent campus to explore the many ways that we tell stories about community, through drama, art, and poetry, and the ways that crafting and telling stories can help us to build spaces of community.

KRAN is a registered charity organisation which has supported young unaccompanied refugees and asylum seekers in Kent since 2003. Amongst numerous mentoring and advocacy schemes, KRAN’s Learning for Life education programme supports young asylum seekers to develop their English language, and equips them with knowledge, skills, and strategies to help them navigate everyday life in the UK, and to transition to college and other vocational pathways.

The workshops represent one branch of my research project into modes of storytelling about and amongst refugee and migratory communities, funded by the Leverhulme Trust. Part of the intent for these workshops was to work directly with the communities who my research focuses on, and to exalt the process of learning as a valuable research and pedagogical outcome unto itself. Organised with input from Nigel Pantling, the director of KRAN’s Learning for Life programme, the workshops sought to support the learning and social journeys of their students. The KRAN teaching team, and University of Kent PhD candidates Arcin Celikesmer and Vicky Sharples, worked alongside myself, Nigel, and invited instructors and creatives, to create a space of engaged and community-driven learning for students.

The first workshop, headed by Emma Willatts (Gulbenkian), energised students coming together from KRAN’s Canterbury and Folkestone hubs for the first time, and built towards the creation (in small groups) of tableaux and short performances of moments of friendship, community, and celebration. There was dancing, custom handshakes, a convincingly staged boxing match, and a marriage ceremony performed, amongst many other examples.

The following week, artist Dan Thompson guided students in collaging maps of their world—maps shaped not just by place and language, but by the things that ground us, such as our hobbies, conscience, and beliefs, as well as our aspirations. Shoulder-to-shoulder, students got busy tearing and sticking paper and stencilling words, to create maps of their shared roots, values, and hopes.

The third, and final, workshop was led by Dr Kat Lewis. After unveiling the maps the students had made the previous week, students set out to craft poems founded on the things that make us who we are. Throughout, Kat emphasised the importance of each student and their values to the world around them, even when that world can feel alienating and hostile. The poems the students wrote, and which some performed, were delivered with honesty, imagination, openness, humour, and confidence. Their poems represented a celebratory culmination of three days hard work, which focused not just on student learning, but also on creating a safe and sociable community space where they were able to explore the value of their own, and each other’s, stories.

Throughout, I was impressed by the creativity of KRAN’s students, and moved by their stories. It has been a privilege and a joy to work with KRAN in the organisation and facilitation of these workshops and to be able to support a part of these young people’s learning journey.’

Researching the refugee crisis

Research can be a powerful tool in helping society address issues related to migration and movement. At Kent, it’s producing evidence to inform policy decision making and empowering refugees and migrants to shape their own narrative, ultimately working towards improving the lives of these vulnerable communities.

Broadening mental health support

Refugees and migrants are often at greater risk of developing mental health problems, including depression, PTSD and anxiety disorders. Dr Jessica C. Fisher, a Research Fellow in the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, recently collaborated with researchers from across the UK and Germany to examine how refugees and migrants can benefit from outdoor health interventions. Through a series of focus groups and surveys, she and her co-researchers found that the opportunities for shared experiences, being outdoors, and gaining new knowledge about the local landscape helped to enhance the health and wellbeing of participants. It suggests that this could prove an innovative, cost-effective and scalable option for improving support during resettlement processes.

Changing the narrative

How do we ethically tell the stories of refugees and migrants? Dr Rachel Gregory Fox, a Leverhulme Research Fellow in the School of Humanities, has been addressing this question since 2021. She set out to understand how refugees and migrants have been represented in public discourse and to consider strategies for listening to and comprehending their stories. As part of her work, she has examined creative and community responses that have arisen in response to several events, including the European refugee ‘crisis’ (2015), the Windrush scandal (2018), and the Brook House Inquiry (commissioned in 2019). Her relationship with organisations such as KRAN is enabling her to take into account the direct experiences of refugees and migrants, which she hopes will contribute towards a more ethical and just language for talking to and about their communities in the UK.

Improving refugee employability

Data reveals significant employment disparities of 20% between refugees and the broader UK population. While research has shed light on individual and organisational challenges for refugees, the role of local government in closing this gap has largely underexplored until recently. Dr Joel Montgomery, a Lecturer in Kent Business School, has been interviewing figures in local councils in the Southeast to investigate how they address the issue of refugee employment and employability with the aim of revealing the way in which government activity ‘on the ground’ supports or impedes the employment opportunities available to refugees.

Sanctuary Awards Team and University staff outside Kent Law Clinic

University of Kent awarded University of Sanctuary Status

Kent is proud to announce that we have been awarded ‘University of Sanctuary’ status in recognition and celebration of our values and the work we do to exemplify a commitment to welcome people seeking sanctuary.  

The Sanctuary Award means Kent joins a list of other prestigious Universities of Sanctuary – including our partners through the Eastern Arc research consortium whose upcoming conference will focus on themes related to migration and movement. 

Speaking about what this award means to Kent, Professor Georgina Randsley de Moura, Acting Vice Chancellor at Kent said: ‘We are honoured by this award and proud to be part of a movement that stands for compassion, dignity, and inclusion. As a university, we are committed to creating a place of safety and belonging for all. Our work inspires us to look beyond the classroom and into our wider role as a civic institution, with universities not just centres of learning but also active contributors to our wider communities.’ 

The decision was made after a visit from the Sanctuary Awards team in May, where the panel learnt about the various initiatives, scholars and local partnerships that we have been supporting.  

Talking about Kent’s work, and why we have been recognised, Sian Summers-Rees Chair of City of Sanctuary UK and Kent Alumna said: ‘We very much enjoyed learning more about all your incredible efforts to promote sanctuary and welcome at the University. It was most apparent hearing from the scholars that the university has gone above and beyond to provide the support needed. The University-wide commitment to promoting welcome across the University and beyond was also very evident and made me particularly proud of being a University of Kent alumna.’  

The day included talks from our current and former Sanctuary scholars, who spoke about their time at Kent and how the university has supported and inspired them. One of these, Makomborero Haruzivishe, said: ‘The Sanctuary Scholarship at the University of Kent gave me hope in a hopeless world, re-connected me with ambitions I thought were lost. I am in charge today, empowered to chart my own path, strengthened by the indispensable support the Sanctuary Scholarship award has given me. I will forever be grateful.’ 

This award is further recognition of the work happening across the university to provide a warm, welcoming and supportive community to anyone, irrespective of their background. As well as refugees and asylum seekers, this includes empowering underrepresented students and those who may not have had higher education expectations through our wider outreach work.  

Recent work in this area has included a new ‘Championing Boys’ initiative to address barriers faced by boys in education, along with a special Spring School for care experienced young people looking to access University.  

More about our Sanctuary work can be found here. 

Cultural Support for Ukraine

As we reach the milestone of three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Professor Paul Allain is working with the university’s Special Collections team to make a cultural contribution to support the country.  

Professor Allain from the School of Arts and Architecture visited Ukraine in summer 1993, when he was finishing his PhD about Polish theatre. His visit to rural areas of Polissia, Poltava and Bessarabia – which are all now facing regular bombardment – was with Polish company Gardzienice and specifically Ukrainian singer and collaborator Mariana Sadovska. The pair went across the country to meet villagers and record traditional songs and music as preparation for a subsequent visit by the theatre group.   

Thirty-two years later, Professor Allain learnt that Sadovska had created an archive which included his photos as well as some of their recordings. Crucially, he realised that for Bessarabia, which borders Romania, the music was missing.  

With the expert help of Special Collections, he has now digitised his own collection of songs, music and stories recorded in the field, contained on seven cassette tapes, and shared them with Sadovska and her colleague Jurij Josyfovych, who is working on the archive’s technical side.  

Professor Paul Allain says: ‘As Ukraine faces the spectre of Russia trying to erase its people and culture, such memorialisation and recording of their rich musicality and heritage has a renewed purpose. I’m extremely proud of how I and the wider university have been able to make this small cultural contribution to support Ukraine’s fight.’  

Sadovska and Josyfovych thanked Professor Allain and colleagues in Special Collections as well as the UK more widely for their ‘unwavering support’ in these ‘turbulent days’.  

The Walker Construction Trust supports University of Kent Sanctuary Fund with a gift of £3,000

Article by Anna Pollard

Steve Walker, Chairman of Walker Construction, and Caroline Walker visited the Canterbury Campus today to present a cheque to Samantha Scott, Philanthropy Manager and one of our talented Sanctuary Scholars, whose identity needs to remain anonymous.

The University of Kent is working to be a safe and welcoming place for refugees and asylum seekers. The gift from The Walker Construction Trust will help ensure we can provide our Sanctuary Scholars with the equipment and furnishing items they need when they arrive at university, often alone and without basic belongings.

Our Sanctuary Scholarships provide a fee waiver and limited maintenance grant to up to five students each year, aimed at helping those seeking asylum in the UK to progress with their higher education. The Sanctuary Fund aims to help provide a level of maintenance closer to that received by most other students through Student Finance, to ensure Sanctuary Scholars can live well while they study.

The University of Kent’s Sanctuary Scholarships form part of a wider programme of work towards becoming a University of Sanctuary. Through academic research, public engagement and collaborations with partners, we use our platform to advocate for safety and empowerment for people seeking sanctuary.

One of our Sanctuary Scholars said, “I had lost hope. My Sanctuary Scholarship has given me hope. Now I can see a future where I can use my education and experience to help make the world a better place for everyone. The University of Kent has given me a home where I can feel safe. This support from The Walker Construction Trust will help students like me, who have been forced to leave behind their studies, homes, families and friends. We are so thankful for this generosity.”

Steve Walker added, “We have been completely blown away by meeting some of the Sanctuary Scholars studying at the University of Kent. Their stories of strength and perseverance, despite horrors and challenges that we can’t even imagine, are astounding. I am honoured, on behalf of The Walker Construction Trust, to contribute to the Sanctuary Scholars being able to complete their studies. Their plans for the future are remarkable and I have no doubt their mark on our community and our world will be very positive.”

On behalf of the University of Kent and our Sanctuary Scholars, we thank The Walker Construction Trust for their generosity.

Kent Celebrates 100,000th Cost of Living Meal

The University of Kent’s commitment to supporting students through rising living costs has reached an exciting new milestone. On Tuesday 24 September, Rutherford Dining Hall served its 100,000th cost of living hot meal, marking another success for the initiative that has been a lifeline for many students since its launch in November 2022.

The lucky recipient of this milestone meal was Danylo Stepaniuk, a foundation economics student from Ukraine. Danylo, who regularly eats at Rutherford Dining Hall, shared that he prefers dining there because of the £3.50 meals. His favourite dish is the four cheese tortellini, which he always has with vegetables or salad.

The £3.50 (ex VAT) cost of living hot meal will continue to be available for the remainder of 2024, offering students and staff nutritious and affordable meal options.

This term, customers have been introduced to new dishes, including Sweet Potato Chilli, Cauliflower Cheese Lasagne, and Tandoori Sweet Potato with Lemon Pilau Rice. These additions will join popular favourites such as Katsu Curry, Tortellini, and the ever-classic Sausage and Mash.

The cost of living hot meal scheme has made a significant impact by offering nutritious, budget-friendly meals to the Kent community. With new dishes being trialled, this initiative continues to evolve to meet students’ needs during challenging times.

Supporting staff and students tackle the cost of living on campus

Becoming a Right To Food University means working to ensure that we protect our students from food insecurity and that access to nutritional, affordable and sustainable food is paramount across our food services. 

Ahead of our one year anniversary (26th February) and as part of National Student Money Week, we celebrate what we have achieved against this mission and look forward to some exciting projects that will do even more.  

Cost of living meals 

A number of initiatives are underway already – most notably the £3 meal deal on campus. Starting as a hot meal, served in our Rutherford Dining Hall with a choice of salad or vegetables, but moving on to include a grab-and-go deal in outlets across campus has proven to be extremely popular. We have now sold over 60,000 meals since November 2022.   

With such a diverse range of affordable food options, students at the University of Kent can easily access nutritious and delicious meals without breaking the bank. The £3 Cost of Living Meal scheme has been widely praised by students, who appreciate the university’s efforts to support them during challenging times. Recent graduate Kieran Webb said: “Now that I’ve graduated, one of the biggest things I’ve missed was a £3 cooked meal. I felt too proud to ask for help when it came to eating and my budget, so this helped make sure I was well fed at times when I was really struggling. Glad to see it’s still going and is clearly getting used plenty by current students.” 

In addition to this exciting meal deal expansion, the catering team have reduced hot food price on average by 20%. Through reducing food waste, collaborating closely with our primary food supplier, simplifying operations, and managing food expenses effectively, prices across campus have been significantly reduced. 

Giving Week generosity 

Alongside the £3 meal deal and reduced prices across our catering outlets, we kicked off our anniversary week with a special free breakfast for students on Monday 26th February. This event was funded by the generosity of staff, students and alumni at last year’s Giving Week, which raised £18,000 to provide meals for students facing hardship. Check out the event on our Instagram page.

Zaid Mahmood, Students’ Union President at Kent says: ‘Kent Giving Week 2023 raised money that would directly help in tackling food insecurity on campus. Being a Right to Food University, this is a critical mission for us as an institution because no student should go hungry and be disadvantaged in their university career. These giving week meals will ensure that the most disadvantaged and impacted students are supported during their time at The University of Kent and are set up to thrive in their academics. We want to thank every single person that donated to support this cause, the impact of this initiative will change the lives of so many students!’

As well as supporting over 350 students with a free hot breakfast, the money will help provide meals and other financial support for students who need it the most thanks to a collaborative approach between the university’s student support and wellbeing services and Kent Union.

Gleaning 

Our student led gleaning project, ran in partnership with Produced in Kent, has also given students the chance to access free fresh produce. Our student volunteers go to local farms to pick surplus food and veg that would otherwise go to waste. As well as redistributing it to those in the wider local community who need it, the volunteers also get to take home some of the produce for themself.  

Find out more about the project and sign up to become a volunteer now.  

Five ways Kent research is improving our food system

As a Right to Food university, Kent is committed to supporting food systems that advance human health and environmental sustainability in society. This starts with Kent research. Our research community is collaborating with local growers, producers, policymakers and wider industry to achieve real change with global impact, and has partnered with Growing Kent and Medway to support horticultural and plant-based food and drink businesses through our Biotechnology HubTogether, we’re making our food systems more: 

Sustainable 

It’s widely accepted that we need to reduce waste to limit our impact on the environment – but doing so often isn’t financially or practically viable. To tackle this, Kent researchers are working with local producers to find commercially viable ways to shift towards a more circular economy. For instance, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry and Forensic Science, Dr Rob Barker and Reader in Molecular and Evolutionary Parasitology, Dr Anastasios Tsaousis, are bringing the ancient technology, biochar, to the 21st Century, in collaboration with Re-Generation Earth, with the ambitions to turn farm waste into a carbon-locking soil fertiliser. 

Another issue Dr Barker is helping to address is the economically and environmentally unsustainable import of two million tonnes of soymeal for animal feed into the UK each year. How? By optimising the use of black solider fly larvae as an alternative animal feed. By feeding excess and spoilt fruit and veg to the larvae, producers can cut their waste and upcycle it into a more valuable source of protein that can be used as low carbon feed for animals and create a ‘waste’ product which acts as a bio stimulant for crops. 

Meanwhile, in another lab in Kent’s School of Biosciences, Industry Research Fellow in Agri-Biotechnology, Dr Lori Fisher has been working with Sharpak Aylesham to reduce packaging waste. She conducted tests which informed the development of a recyclable punnet that maintains and extends the quality of raspberries, without the need for the plastic pad that traditionally keeps fruit fresh. This has the potential to reduce plastic waste by 3.6 meters squared a year! 

Equitable 

In the UK, the costs of ill-health, disease and obesity associated with UK dietary habits are enormous, yet a large portion of society don’t follow the UK dietary guidelines for healthy eating. To tackle this, Head of the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, Professor Iain Wilkinson, is working with researchers at the University of Reading to develop a blueprint for a set of policy interventions to support more people to transition to healthy and sustainable diets in the UK. Professor Wilkinson will contribute to the project by designing, delivering and analysing the outcomes of an experiment which examines what people put in their supermarket food baskets from a dietary health and sustainability perspective. 

Nutrition is also a major concern amongst older adults in home care, where diet is often not a matter of choice but what is made available. Malnutrition and dehydration are leading causes of preventable illness and deterioration of quality of life for older adults, and major drivers of health inequalities. Dr Stacey Rand, Senior Research Fellow in the Personal Social Services Research Unit, has been examining this relationship to inform how social care services meet the needs of older adults living at home. 

Nutritious 

Responding to growing consumer demand for healthy food, local producers are working with Kent researchers to better understand the nutritional content of their products and identify new market opportunities. Dr Lori Fisher, for instance, has worked with J L Baxter & Son to explore the bioactive and nutrient compounds in the Asian pear (Nashi pear) to understand its health benefits and market potential.  

Another project funded by Growing Kent and Medway saw Rent a Cherry Tree partner with Senior Lecturer in the Biology of Ageing, Dr Marina Escurra, and Reader in Biogerontology, Dr Jennifer Tullet, from the School of Biosciences to determine the health benefits of their cherry products -including those formerly considered ‘waste’- and identify new ways to market them. The research team are now working with wine-makers, Defined Wine, to explore whether the waste from the wine-making industry can also be used to create new foods that improve health. 

Enjoyable 

Dairy production is one of the biggest methane emitters in the world. As a result, many people have switched to plant-based alternatives, leading to a huge growth in demand for plant-based milk, but less so for animal-free alternatives to cheese. One reason for this is that alternative protein companies are not able to offer affordable and scalable solutions to casein -the main cheese protein- production, limiting their ability to mimic dairy taste and textures. Professor of Systems Biology, Tobias Von Der Haar, and Professor in Fungal Epigenetics, Alessia Buscaino, are working to solve this by taking unconventional microbial species which are naturally more suitable for food production and genetically modifying them with the aim of producing casein in high quantities. This could give rise to better tasting, more affordable plant-based cheese. 

Resilient 

Climate change, disease and invasive species are all putting UK crops under stress. Combine this with more stringent environmental regulations and the introduction of sustainable farming incentives, and it becomes clear why food-related businesses are increasingly looking to collaborate with researchers to develop new technologies. One such researcher is Professor of Agri-Environmental Economics in the School of EconomicsIain Fraser, who is joining a world-class consortium of partners, led by agronomist Rob Saunders from H.L. Hutchinsons, to develop a commercially viable system which can precisely target orchard inputs to specific trees, or parts of a tree. Specifically, Iain will evaluate the difference between existing technology and new technology, which includes robots, drones and innovative chemical spraying systems.  

Researchers in Kent Business School are taking a wider view of the food supply chain to identify opportunities to improve resilience. In 2022, Professor Maria Paola Scaparra worked with Professor Kathy KotiadisProfessor Jesse O’Hanley and partner universities to increase the use of operational research in food supply security planning in South East Asia. Meanwhile, Lecturer in Marketing, Dr Rachel Duffy, has been examining the behavioural dimensions of supply chain relationships in the food industry, in particular, their implications for performance.

Kent secures national funding to accelerate civic impact in the region

The University of Kent has been announced as one of just 12 UK HEI’s to secure funding from The National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) and Sheffield Hallam University’s (SHU) National Civic Impact Accelerator (NCIA) Action Learning Programme (ALP).

The ALP is designed to help transform the work of those involved, while also generating learning for others working across the country in place-based networks. Through the new initiative, Kent will benefit from a share of the £3.7 million of funding and will work with the other universities to address challenges in developing civic engagement and co-creating innovative solutions.

For Kent, the funding means a boost for its Right to Food initiative – a partnership with the Food Foundation that will promote food justice, tackle food poverty and transform the food system so that it operates to advance human health and an environmentally sustainable society.

Philip Pothen, Director of Engagement at the University of Kent says: ‘We’re delighted to be selected to be part of this important and prestigious programme. Our Right to Food initiative will be the centrepiece of our involvement and particularly its commitment to take our learning out to the wider sector to inform critical discussions about how we deliver a food system that is fair, affordable, healthy and sustainable for everyone. Through our involvement in this programme, we also want to learn from other universities about their approach to civic mission and to accelerate our development as a civic university so that we can better serve and support our local and regional communities.’

The partnerships will join a dynamic action learning programme over the next 18 months, working on a range of challenges, including: how to measure the impact of civic partnerships; how to develop equitable partnerships which realise mutual benefit; how to find meaningful ways to involve communities and citizens in decision making, and how to work with communities to address the climate agenda.

Together, the projects will help answer the question: how do universities need to change to be ‘truly civic’ in their work? As experienced change makers in the HE sector, the NCCPE bring a track record of supporting this kind of transformation, helping universities to embed engagement in organisational strategy, and providing tools and resources to accelerate institutional change.

Sophie Duncan, co-director of the NCCPE reflected: We are delighted to lead the Action Learning Programme as part of the NCIA project. There is significant expertise within civic university partnerships, but also a range of specific challenges impeding progress. An action learning approach will enable innovation and generate insight into how to tackle these challenges and put new ways of working into practice. The programme sits at the heart of the NCIA programme, ensuring we can draw on the evidence base, and share learning and insights with others.’

The 12 partnerships include:

  • Anglia Ruskin University
  • City University London
  • Edge Hill University
  • Lancaster University
  • Universities for Nottingham; University of Nottingham & Nottingham Trent University
  • Staffordshire University
  • University of the Arts London
  • University of Bath
  • University of Kent
  • Universities Partnership: Working together for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland; University of Leicester, De Montfort University & Loughborough University
  • University of York
  • Teesside University