{"id":2579,"date":"2024-11-08T14:11:21","date_gmt":"2024-11-08T13:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucsia.org\/projecten\/the-solidarity-academy\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T10:15:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T09:15:17","slug":"the-solidarity-academy","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/www.ucsia.org\/en\/projects\/the-solidarity-academy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Solidarity Academy"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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What?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Solidarity Academy aims to provide a platform to reflect on old and new forms of solidarity, to think about sustainable solutions to contemporary issues and to strengthen local forms of solidarity. In terms of content, the Solidarity Academy focuses on the just transition and the migration and refugee issue. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Alternative futures<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The UCSIA Solidarity Academy strives for academic excellence and works with partners committed to creating alternative futures.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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We reflect on the conditions for radical change and actively contribute to their realisation.<\/p>\n

The academy focuses primarily on young people<\/strong> – especially students inside and outside the Antwerp Association – but is open to anyone who wants to work for a more just world.<\/p>\n

The Solidarity Academy starts from local projects of social action and innovation<\/strong> working against poverty, social exclusion, climate change and other social and environmental challenges for which neither the government nor the private market offers sufficient solutions.<\/p>\n

We want to support these initiatives, think about systemic, structural change and build a more just and sustainable society together<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Building on UCSIA's strong foundation<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Solidarity Academy builds on UCSIA’s strong foundation around the thematic lines: religion, culture and society; Europe and solidarity; ethics and economics; education and service-learning; and Jesuit heritage.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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We explicitly use participatory working methods<\/strong>, based on the premise that society itself is a source of knowledge and change<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In collaboration with a wide range of partners, we aim to contribute to deeper insights, practical solutions and social innovation. Methods such as service-learning, moments of study, discussion and reflection, participatory research and the support of local social action are central.<\/p>\n

Building on the successful experience with the city festival Baroque Influencers<\/strong>, the Solidarity Academy will also focus on experiential activities around various art forms<\/strong> to encourage new perspectives and connections.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Why?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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We face immense challenges: digitisation, an ageing population, the climate transition, migration… each of which has potentially negative consequences for the most vulnerable groups in our society.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Wicked Problems<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Demographic ageing<\/strong> puts pressure on public spending and forces some people already at their limits into longer careers.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Digitalisation<\/strong> poses a threat to those who cannot keep up, increasing their isolation and also threatening to weaken their position in the labour market.<\/p>\n

The climate transition<\/strong> hits the lower social classes disproportionately hard: they are more exposed to climate disasters, suffer more severe consequences of necessary and urgent climate policies, and enjoy less of the benefits.<\/p>\n

On top of that, geopolitical relations<\/strong> are shifting and migration pressures will further increase.<\/p>\n

These are \u2018wicked problems\u2019<\/strong> – complex and challenging issues for which there are no easy solutions.<\/p>\n

These problems have important ethical and political implications<\/strong>, making their approach even more difficult and multi-layered.<\/p>\n

As the \u2018big stories\u2019 have dried up and we find ourselves in a context of individualisation, fluid thought and changing political and social forms of organisation, we are experiencing increasing polarisation<\/strong> in our society.<\/p>\n

This raises the need for places where participatory teaching, academic research and service are central.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The UCSIA House: a place of collaboration and knowledge sharing<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Solidarity Academy aims to create such a place in the new UCSIA House, where collaboration and knowledge sharing are possible and encouraged.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Here we can work together to build bridges, promote academic excellence and develop solutions to the complex challenges we face.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Participatory and iterative processes<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Solidarity Academy attaches great importance to involving various stakeholders in the process of problem analysis and resolution.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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We support participatory and iterative processes that experiment with different approaches so that we can learn from experience and feedback.<\/p>\n

We also apply systems thinking, placing problems in the broader context of social, economic, ecological and meaning-making systems.<\/p>\n

In this way, we strive for sustainable and integrated solutions to the complex issues facing our society.<\/p>\n

For the Solidarity Academy, strengthening solidarity is both an ontological and an ethical issue, as well as necessary from well-understood self-interest.<\/p>\n

Solidarity is not only about justice, but also about recognising that our shared future depends on cooperation and mutual care.<\/p>\n

Solidarity, on the one hand, refers to a fundamental togetherness within societies, which precedes concrete choices and actions of solidarity, and is the basis of society itself (ontological and creation perspective).<\/p>\n

On the other hand, it calls for concrete acts of togetherness that express and shape this fundamental connectedness (ethical perspective).<\/p>\n

Solidarity is a core value within religions and has strong spiritual expressions. In the Ignatian perspective, this is expressed, for example, in communal discernment.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Solidarity versus charity<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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For the Solidarity Academy, solidarity should not be confused with charity, although we do explicitly consider local social action as an important source of problem solving, change and knowledge.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Solidarity Academy focuses on systemic change, focusing on the dynamics and tension between \u2018cold\u2019 and \u2018warm\u2019 solidarity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Warm solidarity stems from a shared sense of humanity and belonging, while cold solidarity is structural and formal, imposed by social systems.<\/p>\n

Core questions we explore in this regard are:<\/p>\n