What it is

Home Lands is an internet television program made
with entry-level technical resources that connects
young refugees to their home lands and separated
communities.

Home Lands is underpinned by the premise that
refugee youth resettlement is more successful if identification,
communication and engagement is maintained
with home communities.

Low-cost digital media production tools and networks
overcome the previous barrier of privilege usually
associated with access to traditional media production
facilities.

Evolving media technologies enable production storage,
streaming, broadcast, mobile communication and
therefore new forms of storytelling to give true global
access to an audience.

The pilot being undertaken in Melbourne, Australia will
work with young refugees from Karen and Sudanese
refugee communities and the corresponding refugee
camps and home communities.

How it works

Based around the accessible pod-casting, digital storytelling
and participatory video movements the skills
and mentoring required will be sourced from film and
television practitioners and teachers who are also
users of newer lower-cost and accessible media platforms.

Teams of young refugees will work together to produce
regular stories accessible by dispersed communities
through low-tech network and replay technologies.

They will cooperate to get the best stories to air and
interact to create new forms of storytelling. The audiences
will become contributors through on-line communities and
uploading of images and video stories.

The Team forms an editorial, production, design and
talent pool to create regular programs to a schedule. The
schedule of short stories and media explorations is a
format that applies pressure to make decisions and create.

This is different to a single project or more casual
approach and will yield surprises and creative ways of
achieving a production goal on a regular basis.

These programs will form valuable historical and cultural
documents for home-land and settled-land collecting institutions.
Program content is collected, archived and searchable
on-line through the growing global media services
infrastructure.

The programs can be streamed or incorporated into other
community television programs.

Internet opportunities, the use of weblogs, global chat
rooms and social networks will enhance the reach of
young refugees into their own communities in homelands
and the diaspora.

The Policy Impact

From 2001 to 2005 approximately 9.2 million refugees and
asylum seekers were processed by nations around the
world (UNHCR, 2006).

There is evidence that regular communication between
young refugees and home communities has a positive
impact and that Home Lands will seek to demonstrate the
full extent that communication can have on parties at the
diverse ends of the refugee path.

Cultural Development Network is a not for profit network of
local government community workers, artists and academics.
It aims to increase the participation of communities in
wider policy issues through participation in arts and creative
activities.

Home Lands is a small slice of a potential larger and more
wide-spread activity. Melbourne has a unique level of
experience and research in the field and local Government
is often the major service provider in local
communities. The credentials of City of Melbourne,
LaTrobe University, Centre for Multicultural Youth Issues
and Open Channel make this an exceptional opportunity
to examine a key aspect resettlement policy in Australia:
identity and self-esteem.

Academic partnership and research is important to
impact on policy makers and writers. Presentation of
Home Lands at academic conferences and forums will
provide essential credentials for arguing for change in
current policy.

Development to Date

• Cultural Development Network has initiated Home
Lands as part of its examination of how local
government, creative arts and communities combine to
re-appraise public policy that impacts directly on
individuals and communities.

• City of Melbourne as co-producer has joined with Centre
for Multicultural Youth Issues, Refugee Health Research
Centre (La Trobe University), Open Channel have
formed an informal partnership of organisations supporting
the project.

What we need

• International co-production and project partners in
specified home-lands.

• Partners who directly work in refugee camps and introduce
young refugees to the Australian program.

• Contact and communication with family, friends and
communities in home-lands or refugee camps to form
the first groups of corresponding ‘producers’.

• Major sponsorship and philanthropic partners.

What’s the upside?

• An opportunity to change policy and public perception
of refugee settlement in western countries.

• Create audio-visual stories which over time form a
history of refugee settlement in Australia and a
shared collection with the homeland nations.

• Develop a reproducible program that can be
implemented internationally.

• Contribute to our knowledge and understanding of
re-settlement issues for seriously affected refugee
youth and young adults.

• Reinforce the importance of cultural identity and how
local government community services, cultural
programs and arts strategies can assist new refugees
to have a positive resettlement in new lands.

• Change the view of resettlement that puts the onus on
refugees to reject their identity, history and homeland
Community.

Contacts:

Kirsty Baird
Project Manager,
+ 61 3 9685 9658
kirbai@melbourne.vic.gov.au

Faten Mohamed
Youth Worker
+61 3 9340 3700
fmohamed@cmyi.net.au