Through the Eyes of Refugees: Documenting Prosperity Concepts in Refugee Camps

A Global Health project funded by Grand Challenges Special Initiative in 2018.

The project aimed to critique the assumptions regarding refugee camps spatiality, roles, and functions in comparison to camp-resident practices, exploring Syrian and Palestinian refugees’ environmental practices in The Shatila Refugee Camp in Lebanon. Residents were asked to photograph intimate details of everyday living and how they practice prosperity concepts within camp spatialities. The pictures will be thematically analysed, as the results will give a voice to refugees’ practices in camps while providing the empirical path to use their ideologies as an impetus for policy change around camp designs and operations. The preliminary analysis of images and interviews resulted in three overlapping themes that denote thriving activities within camp environments. They are 1) mobile entrepreneurship, 2) spaces of freedom, 3) spaces of expression.

By giving voices to refugees and creating a foundation for potential policy changes, the outcome of this project aimed to pave the way for improving the quality of lives for refugees in camps as well as inform the building of better encampment environments. The results will be condensed into a design toolkit and be shared with policymakers to discuss changes around camp designs and operations. 

As a result of the project, the team also identified several public engagements projects that focus on cultural heritage and urban inequalities in the camp - successfully applying for follow-up grants to accomplish these projects. The project has also had impact in enabling relationships to be established with other organisations in Lebanon and researchers at UCL.