News
Caring City—A City for Everyone? Care, Support, and Equitable Participation: Between Everyday Practice and Social Responsibility
Public Inaugural Lecture by Prof. Dr. Sandra Staudacher
Lecture in German – Monday, 26 October 2026, 5:30–6:30 p.m., FHNW Campus Muttenz
Followed by a reception
The event is open to the public; please register by 20 October 2026, at the latest: register here.
From the newsletter “Soziale Stadtentwicklung”: https://sozialestadtentwicklung.ch/2026/09/01/antrittsvorlesung-sandra-staudacher/
What defines a city that is there for everyone? Who can participate, whose needs are addressed—and who is responsible for care?
In her public inaugural lecture, Sandra Staudacher, professor of urban development and social space at ISOS, School of Social Work, FHNW, sheds light on the “Caring City” from a socio-anthropological and socio-spatial perspective. The focus is on the experiences and everyday practices of older adults in need of care and support, as well as of asylum seekers. The lecture ranges from local everyday spaces to transnational relationships and care arrangements. At the same time, it addresses the responsibility of communities, institutions, society, and the state to enable equitable participation.
PAAR-net meeting in Cork, Ireland
On 9-10 June 2026, a PAAR-net Knowledge Exchange Event took place at University College Cork, Ireland. PAAR-net is a European research network dedicated to advancing participatory approaches with older adults.
As active members of the COST Action PAAR-net, Sandra, Nora, and Katja presented insights from the EPICENTRE-PARTICIPATIO project, illustrating how participation of older adults in long-term care unfolds through a transdisciplinary and ethnographic approach across individual, relational, organizational, and political levels. They discussed how these levels interact to create or constrain opportunities for participation in everyday life as well as in structural decision-making processes.
Aging: The Where and When
Nora and Katja presented their initial research findings at the AAGE Biennial Conference at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA!
Panel A. Places and Spaces:
“Participation in Swiss Assisted Living: Challenging the Imagination of an Intermediate
Structure Through Ethnographic Research with Older Adults”, Katja Jungo, Institute of Nursing Science, University of Basel
“Equitable Participation of Older Adults Living with Long-Term Home-Based Care in Switzerland”, Nora Peduzzi, Institute of Nursing Science, Department of Public Health, University of Basel
"The fragile culture of participation in residential long-term care"
At the beginning of February, Séverine Soiron presented insights into her dissertation project at the annual conference of the Swiss Anthropological Association (SAA) in Fribourg. The presentation took place as part of the panel “Caring for Limits in a World of Abundance: The Case of Health” organized by Medical Anthropology Switzerland (MAS) (Nolwenn Bühler and Anna Mann).
“Navigating Multi-Perspectival Participation” – presentation by Sandra Staudacher
Sandra Staudacher’s presentation with the title “Navigating Multi-Perspectival Participation. Ethnographic Insights from the Swiss Long-Term Care Sector” was part of the panel “Multi-Perspectival Ethnography in Medical Anthropology”, organised by Kiara Wickremasinghe and David Mosse at the Medical Anthropology Europe Conference.
Medical Anthropology Europe Conference, 16-19 September 2025, Vienna, Austria.
25 Years of Growth – Anniversary Celebration on 5 September 2025
The EPICENTRE-PARTICIPATIO project was present with five posters!
Jubiläum 2025 Programm | Pflegewissenschaft – Nursing Science (INS) | Universität Basel
Jubiläum – der Film | Pflegewissenschaft – Nursing Science (INS) | Universität Basel
Presentation by Nora Peduzzi and the EPICENTRE-PARTICIPATIO Team on participation in home-based care
Presentation entitled: Participation of older people living with home-based long-term care – an ethnographic enquiry at the 4th International Conference of the German Society of Nursing Science in Berlin, Germany, 8 May 2025.
The EPICENTRE-PARTICIPATIO project welcomes Katja Jungo to the team!
Katja Jungo studied Social Anthropology and Hispanic Studies and recently completed her Masters’ degree in Changing Societies at the University of Basel. In February 2025, Katja Jungo started her doctoral thesis in the EPICENTRE-PARTICIPATIO project and will focus in her research project on participation in assisted living.
