‘How do refugees make tents and caravans into homes?’

23 July 2015

A new blog by Alexander Betts, Louise Bloom and Nina Weaver for The Guardian’s Global Development Professionals Network highlights the creativity and innovation that refugees from Syria are using to make places like Jordan’s huge Za’atari camp feel more like home. This may be by changing the lay-out of the camp and their homes in order to replicate their home communities, or by making their caravans feel more homely, with home-made furniture and a creative lick of paint.

The blog draws from the new report Refugee Innovation: Humanitarian Innovation that Starts with Communities, by Betts, Bloom and Weaver, which shows how refugees are demonstrating resourcefulness and innovation around the world. It documents research conducted in Jordan, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, and the United States into how refugees are engaged in creative problem-solving and entrepreneurship. This report has major implications for aid agencies and for how we think about humanitarian assistance.

Read the full blog, titled 'Innovation at Za’atari: how do refugees make tents and caravans into homes?' >>