STUDY TOURS

The first day of the conference will be dedicated to study tours. This will be a great opportunity for participants to learn about the history of Geneva, its humanitarian tradition, its international organizations, particularly institutions that address migration and integration issues.

Three different excursions will be organized, all starting at 2:00 pm on Monday, 27 September:

In the Footsteps of the Reformation

Geneva is considered to be the “Protestant Rome” due to the important role the City played in the history of the Reformation. During the 16th Century many victims of the persecution of the New Faith took refuge in Geneva. One of them, the theologian Jean Calvin, founded the University of Geneva and introduced an education system that is still used as a point of reference. The famous Wall of the Reformers continues to be, alongside the water fountain on the lake and the flower clock, the most photographed monument in Geneva. But do many people know where Calvin preached? Or what were the origins of the International Committee of the Red Cross? Or why the World Council of Churches is based in Geneva? Or what is the real meaning of the Saint Peter’s Cathedral, a symbolic shrine of world Protestantism and therefore a bastion of the resistance from its origins?
A visit to Geneva’s Old Town responds to these questions particularly if the guides are prominent personalities in contemporary Protestantism. William McComish and Vincent Schmid, pastors at the Saint Peter’s Cathedral, will be the guides. They invite you to walk with them through the history and sites of the Reformation normally ignored by tourists’ guides.
Meeting place: Uni-Mail (in front of the main entrance of the building) at 2:00 pm.

We are sorry: this study tour is already full.

A Visit in the International Organizations Area

This study tour will bring the participants to a visit of the international organizations dealing with migration related issues. The tour will start at the International Organization for Migration (IOM), during which its activities will be presented. A short walk will bring the participants to the International Labour Organization (ILO) and then to the new building of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Meeting place: International Organization for Migration (IOM) at 2:00 pm, 17, Route des Morillons, Geneva (from the Cornavin train station, take bus n° 8--direction OMS--and get off at the last stop, at OMS. IOM is a pale grey and red building, one-minute walk away from the bus stop).
Alternatively, a guide will meet the participants at the registration desk in Uni-Mail at 1:30 pm and accompany them to IOM.

We are sorry: this study tour is already full.

At the Heart of the Actions of the ICRC.Visit of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was founded in Geneva in the 19th Century, after a meeting of some eminent persons in the entourage of Henry Dunant, whose book about a bloody battle entitled “Souvenirs de Solférino” ignited many souls and contributed to the creation of the Geneva Conventions. Henry Dunant received the first Nobel Peace Prize, and since then the ICRC has been awarded the Nobel Prize three more times. The Headquarters of the ICRC is still in Geneva, and all field operations around the world are directed from there. The Headquarters are located in the neighbourhood of the United Nations, in what was previously the Carlton
Hotel. It overlooks the Ariana Park, the United Nations and the lake. Below that building, now surrounded by office blocks, the ICRC opened a museum in 1998. This museum, of an interesting architectural design, portrays the history, the actions and the problems confronted by the Institution. To date, one million visitors have witnessed the parallel history of the world contained in this unique museum. Participants in Metropolis 2004 will be welcomed at the Museum by curator Loa Haagen Pictet, for a visit which participants usually qualify as “impressive”.

More information on the museum: www.micr.ch.
Meeting place: The museum at 2:00 pm (to get there from the station, take the bus n°8, direction OMS, get off at the stop “Appia”).

Please note that advanced registration is required for all participants. To register, please click here.