New Horizons: From Colombo to Zurich

Dr. Fernando was hosted by Prof. Monika Gotzo at the Department of Social Work, University of Applied Sciences, Zurich, Switzerland. Here is a firsthand account of Dr. Fernando’s visit and the rich experiences he had during this time.

After a warm welcome to the university, I attended a three-day workshop organized by the Department titled “Connect for Resilience” which explored the nexus between Natural Disasters and Social Work. This was attended by academics representing different disciplines and practitioners from countries in the Global North and South. It was a very valuable learning opportunity for me to absorb various perspectives regarding the nexus between disasters and social work.  Field visits organized under the conference enabled a more practical knowledge gathering process on how Zurich city council officials deal with asylum seekers, further elevating the learning experience.

Referring to the books and journals written on forced relocation, made available to me through access to the university library, helped me develop a literature review on the long-term impacts of relocation in Asia. Various discussions with department members further assisted my process to explore newer dimensions on the topic. I also visited the Department of Geography, Lausanne University to meet with Prof. Rene Veron who is the Principal Researcher of the Municipal Solid Waste Management project, of which I am the chief coordinator in the Sri Lankan country case study. During my visit I conducted a lunch hour presentation on “Solid Waste Management Practices in Sri Lanka”.

I also visited the Department of Political Geography, University of Zurich (Irchel Campus) and met Prof. Benedikt Korf and discussed future research collaborations. He also invited me to deliver a lunch time lecture for the postgraduate students and staff on “Forced Relocation after 2004 Tsunami in Sri Lanka”.

Prof. Dr. Joern Birkmann, Director of Regional Development Planning, invited me to visit his Institute at the University of Stuttgart where we had a productive discussion on future research collaborations. As both of us have jointly conducted research on rebuilding cities in the South and the East of Sri Lanka after the 2004 boxing day tsunami, we further discussed follow up research to be carried out about the current situation of relocated families due to re-imposition of buffer zone regulation, twenty years after the disaster.

Spending these three weeks at the Department of Social Work, University of Applied Sciences, Zurich was a memorable opportunity that gave me the privilege of acquiring new knowledge on one hand and the dissemination of my research experiences and knowledge on the other. These opportunities will assist academics from the Global South to learn from the North and vice versa. I would like to thank the funders, organizers, and the host department for their untiring efforts in making this event a success.