Refugees & HCI workshop: The role of HCI in responding to the refugee crisis

Abstract

Over 21 million refugees are residing in camps, journeying through Europe or resettling in new countries [19]. The magnitude of the humanitarian crisis calls for technological innovation in addressing the challenges being faced by refugees and humanitarian aid stakeholders. At our CHI 2016 Special Interest Group (SIG) on Refugees and Human Computer Interaction (HCI) [17], HCI researchers expressed interest in exploring the difficulties faced by refugees and having a participatory approach when addressing these difficulties. Additionally, further consideration is needed regarding the methodological, organizational and practical challenges in working with refugee communities. Accordingly, this one-day workshop followed by a day of informal meetings with stakeholders aims to (1) explore research methods that can be adapted and applied to refugee contexts and to (2) formulate a research agenda for future work. Participants will be joined by members of organizations that engage with refugees in Denver and be presented with testimonials from refugees in order to develop a research agenda.