Research team

Expertise

Mieke Schrooten is Assistant Professor affiliated with the Centre for Research on Environmental and Social Change (CRESC) and the Master of Social Work. In her research and teaching, she focuses mainly on issues of (trans)migration and mobility, transnational social work and informal social work practices. She is the PI of the research projects ‘Urban social work with transmigrants’ (2013-2015), ‘Border-crossing social work’ (2017-2019), ‘Urban diversities: challenges for social work’ (2019-2022), ‘Hidden homelessness in the Brussels Capital Region’ (2019-2023), ‘Social work practices in religiously inspired initiatives in Brussels’ (2021-2024) and ‘Begging in the Brussels-Capital Region’ (2022-2025). She co-supervises the research projects ‘SOLIGION: Co-creating complementary forms of social support across faith-based organisations and secular welfare state institutions’ (2020-2024) and ‘ATLAS: Scenarios to rewrite precarious citizenship in Brussels through opening up access to housing and social infrastructure’ (2023-2026). She is the chair of COST Action Transnational Family Dynamics in Europe (2022-2026).

Co-creating complementary forms of welfare support across faith-based organisations and secular welfare state institutions (SOLIGION). 01/10/2020 - 30/09/2024

Abstract

Our project sets out to produce better forms of collaboration and more complementary forms of solidarity between faith-based (including humanistic) organisations (FBOs) and secular welfare state institutions (WSIs). It does so by 1° examining the dynamic interaction between FBOs and WSIs in an interdisciplinary way and through a multi-method approach and 2° the co-creation by both FBOs and WSIs of new practices of solidarity and social support. The interdisciplinary and multi-method approach serves to 1° reveal the potentialities and frictions of FBOs in relation to the political standards of secular WSIs and 2° transcend essentialist and dichotomous views so as to understand existing forms of negotiation and mutual adaptation. In concrete terms, the project will map the FBOs active in the field of local social support in five cities (Research Project 1), examine the interaction between FBOs and WSIs from an historical and political-philosophical angle (RP2 and RP3), and create shared insights as well as new procedures and practices through action research (RP4). Building on this, the process of co-creation will involve two related working groups. WG1 will produce a concept and pilot for a dynamic and interactive social map and ICTinterface, proceeding from existing (fragmented, non-dynamic and non-interactive) social maps and the results of RP1 while jointly tackling issues of selection and definition. WG2 will build on the insights generated in the scientific part so as to conceive educational and training modules for 1° volunteers and social workers, 2° local employees (of WSIs) and policy makers, 3° instructors and mentors involved in the integration of newcomers, and 4° future professional social workers. Implementation is ensured through close collaboration with organizations targeting exactly these groups. The method of co-creation fosters implementation because the results will be based on shared concerns, insights and objectives.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Research Project