UCF students nominated for Ben Feringa Award

Three students from the University of Groningen/Campus Fryslân have been nominated for the Ben Feringa Award 2022 with a board game aiming to create more awareness about the intersectional position of LGBTQI+ refugees living in the Netherlands. Crossroads, as the game is called, was designed in collaboration with Amnesty International.

Crossroads

Players of the board game will learn about the concept of intersectionality and other factual knowledge, as well as personal experiences of LGBTQ+ refugees living in the Netherlands.

"By creating a board game, we hoped to raise awareness of this difficult and sensitive topic because it is presented in a more fun and accessible way," says Daria, one of the UCF students.

Importance

"We heard that LGBTQI+ refugees face intersectional discrimination and are therefore often not understood," says Mirjam, another student involved in the project. "It is therefore important to learn more about this and understand their specific position, as their experiences are not shared by all refugees or all people from the LGBTQI+ community. With our game, more awareness and understanding is created which will hopefully reduce and eventually stop prejudice and discrimination throughout the system."

Impact

After presenting their prjoect, the game has already been used in psychology classes at the University of Groningen and Amnesty international is also developing the game further. UCF student Esthy: "Amnesty is going to translate the game into Dutch, so it can be played during their guest lectures at, for example, Dutch primary or secondary schools. We were thrilled that the result was not just a paper. It is actually used inside and outside the university and therefore really makes a difference, or impact."