The sixth edition of the Citizenship School reaches its midpoint: migrant leadership, collective action, and international presence

After weeks of intense work, the Citizenship School takes a summer break before returning with renewed strength

In the second half of the program, new sessions on leadership and communication will take place, along with visits to institutions such as the Corts Valencianes and the European Parliament in Brussels.

The Citizenship School reaches its midpoint, consolidating itself as a space for political education, leadership, and collective action. With a more decentralized format, the program has addressed key themes such as rights, communication, and political representation from a critical perspective, with migrants as the main protagonists.

This edition, the most international to date, received more than 120 applications and includes 45 selected participants. The program extends across València and Alicante, as well as Portugal, Italy, Lithuania, and El Salvador, expanding the impact and diversity of participants.

The sixth edition of the Citizenship School has reached its halfway point after intense weeks of collective work, where migrant participants have shared learnings, experiences, and strategies to make their voices heard in the public sphere.

The program began with a powerful and committed inaugural session held at the La Petxina cultural complex. Under the title “Democracies at Risk: Trumpism, Migration, and New Narratives,” journalist Laura Arroyo and researcher Moussa Bourekba offered an analysis of the rise of authoritarianism, institutional racism, and political exclusion.

The participation of Pilar Bernabé, Government Delegate in the Valencian Community, and Stephane Soriano, Director General for Diversity at the Generalitat Valenciana, contributed a critical institutional opening that reaffirms the Citizenship School as a reference space for democratic construction.

A first half of critical training and expanded territorial reach

The initial sessions, held in Llíria, introduced a new weekend format. This commitment to expanded methodologies enabled the creation of a more intimate space, conducive to gathering, collective reflection, and strengthening community ties around political participation. During the sessions led by Professor Aída Vizcaíno, topics such as the foundations of political participation, the electoral system, and forms of civic engagement were addressed. Moussa Bourekba, a researcher specialized in international relations, provided an overview of global challenges and their effects on migration.

Over the following weeks, fundamental rights were explored from a political and transformative perspective. For example, Chaimaa Boukharsa, a specialist in inclusive education, facilitated a collective reflection on unequal access to education; Rafael Sotoca, a physician with a master’s degree in public health, analyzed structural barriers in the right to health; Rita Bosaho, former Director General for Equal Treatment and Ethnic-Racial Diversity, highlighted institutional discrimination as a structural reality; and Rahma Basraoui, a lawyer specialized in immigration law, presented the legal framework of immigration and labor rights.

Communicative action tools were also explored, such as the strategic use of social media with political intention. Under the guidance of communication expert Víctor Pool, participants explored the fundamentals of technopolitics: how communicating from the migrant experience can become an act of advocacy, collective meaning-making, and contestation of symbolic power.

Along this journey, the Dialogue Circle held in Alicante reinforced the program’s territorial commitment, creating a space for direct dialogue between migrant students and specialists such as Albert Mora and Yousra Touri El Mansouri. The session addressed how identity is built in a diverse society and the urgency of transforming exclusion into real political participation.

The journey continues after summer: expression, leadership, and institutions

After a short summer break, the second half of the Citizenship School will focus on strengthening expression, political communication, and migrant leadership. Upcoming sessions will address topics such as public discourse, strategic communication, and strategies against hate and disinformation.

Additionally, the program includes new open-door sessions with political parties and a second Dialogue Circle in València. Institutional visits to the Corts Valencianes and the European Parliament will allow participants to gain insight into spaces of political representation and receive key mentorship from political representatives to support active participation. The program will conclude with a closing event to share learnings, celebrate the collective journey, and reinforce the commitment to civic engagement.

Thus, halfway through, the Citizenship School has already proven that migrant participation is not only possible, but necessary. In the face of exclusion and hate speech, an organized, critical citizenry is rising—one that has the real capacity to shape what is common and shared.

The Citizenship School is a global citizenship and development education project promoted by Jovesólides and Acoec ONGD, in collaboration with the Polytechnic University of València (UPV), and funded by the First Vice Presidency and the Department of Social Services, Equality and Housing, with contributions from income tax (IRPF) and the European Union.

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