The municipality of Parla has started to collaborate with nearby Universities and four cooperation agreements have been signed. This has led to the recruitment of teams of academics and students to develop research projects in the following fields:
1. Sociological study on intercultural relations in Parla:
It was proposed to create an observatory with a first diagnosis and from there to design public policy strategies to address the problems and challenges identified. Five fields of coexistence were chosen:
- Security
- Public spaces
- Neighbours coexistence/relations
- Places of worship
- Education
2. Intercultural communication, interpretation and translation services
In the translation project there are students of Arabic, Polish, Russian, Chinese, English, etc. Students perform translation tasks and mediation and are integrated into the municipal team.
3. A study about how the population makes use of health services.
4. Opportunities for Parla’s internationalization.
In total, these working groups have engaged 41 university students in 4 teams and the evaluation made by students themselves, teachers and municipal officials was very positive. According to the new Bologna Accords, universities need to offer many more practical experiences to students and collaboration with local authorities offers great opportunities. This can be a win/win situation, although one should be vigilant to avoid such practices substituting for public services.
