ACVALIN Living Library: Conversations About the Stories We Carry With Us Wherever We Go
Generation for Change CY and the University of Cyprus are excited to announce the release of the ACVALIN Living Library, a series of 15 podcast episodes featuring people from migrant backgrounds living in Cyprus, sharing their stories in their own words.
Developed as part of ACVALIN (Acculturation, Validation, Integration: Working for a Sustainable and Multicultural Society), the Living Library documents how language, culture, and identity are negotiated in daily life through semi-structured interviews. The podcast guests reflect on their arrival in Cyprus, the role of Greek and English in their daily lives, the significance of their first language and where it continues to be used, the cultural and religious practices they have maintained, and the connections they have found with Cypriot society. Several also offer direct, experience-based recommendations for improving integration practices and policies in Cyprus.
The Living Library reflects ACVALIN’s broader aim of increasing the participation of migrants and members of linguistic and cultural minorities in social and public life in Cyprus, by creating contact between communities where little previously existed. Rather than treating integration as something newcomers must achieve alone, the project approaches it as a bidirectional process that requires engagement from both newcomers and members of the receiving community.
The guests were selected to reflect a wide range of countries of origin, legal statuses, and lengths of residence, drawing on communities from sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and South and Southeast Asia. Their backgrounds range from international protection holders to students, and their time in Cyprus ranges from a few months to over a decade. Together, they offer something Cyprus has very little of: a real, first-person picture of the lived layers and complexities of integration. The resulting profiles will also feed into a hybrid educational course on the cultural and linguistic heritage of newcomers to Cyprus.
Watch the full Living Library playlist on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaNSW_I-l3aQ
We warmly thank every guest who trusted us with their story. Sharing these conversations aims to reduce prejudice and show sides of migration that too often remain unseen.
The Living Library was produced as part of ACVALIN, a project funded by the University of Cyprus. The interviews were conducted by Generation for Change CY. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the episodes belong solely to the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position, or views of the ACVALIN project team, the University of Cyprus, or Generation for Change CY.
