Bio
Lorenz Neuberger is a PhD candidate at the University of Konstanz. The working title of his dissertation project is "Refugees welcome? A comparison of German, Canadian and Australian experiences with contemporary migratory movements“ (supervised by Prof. Wolfgang Seibel), focusing on the development of the asylum/refugee regimes, related discourses, and public attitudes in each host society. Furthermore, the research looks at the impacts of policies and practices on the lives of protection seekers – both on their ways to safer localities, and on site - once having reached one of these states. Particularly, efforts made by different actors in the host countries to foster the newcomers’ socioeconomic integration (such as settlement services and civil society initiatives) are deciphered as crucial ingredients to their societal participation.
Lorenz is also the cofounder and chair of the non-profit association: The Café Mondial Konstanz that works together with new arrivals from all over the world. It provides an open space for encounter, intercultural dialogue, and many joint projects in areas as diverse as politics, environmental education, international food, music, and other arts. He has also taught and organised workshops with very diverse groups of participants; for example, in the framework of 'border-free solidarity' activities with young people from all over Europe, including newly arrived refugees; or of a working group on 'integration' in a seminar on refugees and asylum held by the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes).