Dimitri van den Wittenboer, SLARG PhD researcher, hosts a symposium exploring citizen-organised support structures for undocumented people and refugees in Brussels. The event focuses on individuals and collectives who extend care beyond their families and intimate circles to “strangers”—people they may never have met, arriving from different countries, cultures, and religions, often living under heightened precarity. At stake are fundamental questions of hospitality, solidarity, and care.

Dimitri’s doctoral project, Empowered Care, investigates housing initiatives co-created with people facing acute legal and financial insecurity. His practice examines how care can be embedded in daily life through shared living spaces, and how ethics, vulnerability, and solidarity are negotiated in such settings.

Community practice, as Dimitri frames it, is a space where activism, social work, and art intersect. Ethical questions are central, particularly in a context of growing global inequality, forced migration, and state violence.

The symposium invites participants who are involved in various ways in supporting migrants and refugees to share their experiences, alongside moderated prompts and reflections. Together, we will explore questions such as:

• What forms of citizen-led mutual aid exist in Brussels?
• What motivates people to offer support?
• What challenges and ethical dilemmas arise in this work?
• How might we live—together—in an unfair world?
• Can we move beyond charity toward mutuality, allyship, and shared struggle?

The session is designed as a communal discussion, connecting experiences, practices, and reflections. It is open to anyone interested in mutual aid, care ethics, and collective solidarity.