EARLALL Launches the WISE Webinar Series on Holistic Support for Refugee Women
12/05/2026
On 12 May 2026, EARLALL , as the communication, dissemination and scale-up leader of the WISE project, hosted and coordinated the launch of the WISE Webinar Series, bringing together 32 participants from across Europe.
The webinar series is organised within the framework of the WISE – Supporting Ukrainian Refugee Women’s Socio-Economic Integration and Wellbeing project, funded under the ESF+ programme. The overall aim of the series is to present the Holistic Support Centre (HSC) model, share case studies from implementation sites in Turin, Milan, Rome and Sofia, showcase experiences from the WISE project, and promote the replication of this integrated approach in different European contexts.
The series targets a broad audience including municipalities and regional authorities, NGOs working with migrants, social enterprises, employment and integration services, as well as women’s safe spaces and community centres.
First webinar: from concept to practice
The first webinar session on “Implementing the Holistic Support Centre (HSC) and ethnopsychology approaches in the integration of refugee women: from concept to practice”, introduced participants to the WISE project and explored how integrated and multi-dimensional services can support the socio-economic inclusion and wellbeing of refugee women.
Introducing the WISE project
Sara Bonfanti, Head of Programmes at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) Italy and WISE project coordinator, opened the webinar with an introduction to the WISE project.
She presented the project framework under the Call for Proposal “Innovative Approaches to Mitigate the Societal Consequences of Russia’s War of Aggression Against Ukraine within EU countries”, funded by the European Social Fund Agency (ESF-A). The project runs from 10 April 2025 to 10 October 2026 and is implemented in Milan, Rome and Turin in Italy, and Sofia in Bulgaria, while dissemination activities are carried out across Europe.
She highlighted that the main objective of the WISE project is to improve the socio-economic inclusion of employable refugee women from Ukraine in Italy and Bulgaria. She also introduced the Holistic Support Centre model developed by IRC as a comprehensive initiative combining social inclusion, psychosocial support and employability pathways.
Establishing Holistic Support Centres
Maria Tchomarova, Mental Health Expert, Senior Psychologist and Psychoanalyst at Animus Association Foundation in Bulgaria, presented the key steps required to establish a Holistic Support Centre. Her intervention focused on the importance of multidisciplinary cooperation between cultural mediators, facilitators, case workers and psychologists in ensuring effective and trauma-informed support for refugee women.
Building safe and inclusive spaces in Rome
Daria Rostirolla from Laboratorio di Gruppoanalisi (LdG) in Rome, and collaborator with Centre Françoise Minkowska, delivered a presentation on creating safe spaces and inclusive environments within HSCs.
She shared the experience of implementing the Rome Centre and highlighted the essential role of cooperation with the Municipality of Rome. A formal agreement signed in September 2023 between Laboratorio di Gruppoanalisi and the II Municipality of Rome enabled the organisation to receive premises free of charge for both the Safe Space and the Clinical Centre.
The collaboration with the municipality created three concrete advantages:
- Public legitimacy for women uncertain about their entitlement to access services
- Strong anchoring within the city’s public social services infrastructure
- Bidirectional referrals between municipal services and the Centre
Ethnopsychiatry and culturally sensitive mental health support
Gineva Musella, Psychologist and Psychotherapist at Centro PENC – Anthropology and Geoclinical Psychology in Milan, explained how ethnopsychiatry combines psychology and anthropology in order to understand how culture shapes identity, emotions, relationships, meanings attributed to illness, and expectations around healing and care.
She underlined that this approach helps practitioners avoid reducing suffering solely to psychological or psychiatric categories, while also avoiding interpreting suffering only through the lens of culture.
The session concluded with final reflections and an engaging discussion among participants.
Continuing the WISE Webinar Series
The WISE Webinar Series explores practical and holistic approaches to supporting the socio-economic integration and wellbeing of refugee women across Europe. Through presentations from practitioners, psychologists, municipalities, and project partners, the sessions share experiences from the implementation of the Holistic Support Centre (HSC) model in Italy and Bulgaria. Participants gain insights into topics such as psychosocial support, ethnopsychology, skills profiling, labour market integration, community-based initiatives, and the replication of gender-sensitive support models in different local contexts. More information and registration here.