IN BETWEEN – A participatory design exploration of identity, belonging, and hybridity among first-generation Syrian immigrants in Sweden.
IN BETWEEN is a participatory design and storytelling-based project that explores the hybrid identities of first-generation Syrian immigrants in Sweden. It investigates what it means to live “in between” cultures, not fully belonging to one or the other, but carrying elements of both. The project centers on young Syrians who arrived in Sweden as children or teenagers after the war, growing up navigating two worlds, two languages, and two sets of expectations. Challenging dominant narratives of assimilation, the project celebrates the nuanced experiences of living between cultures. Through interviews, storytelling, workshops, and public interventions, it examines how belonging, identity, and cultural negotiation are experienced and expressed.
As both a designer and a member of this community, I wanted to create a space that makes our stories visible, not only to express what it means to live in the in-between, but to invite others to understand it.
The project started with qualitative interviews with first-generation Syrian immigrants, many of whom arrived between 2014–2016, many during their teenage years. These interviews surfaced deep emotions around identity, exclusion, nostalgia, strength and resilience. forming the foundation for a series of participatory design interventions. Rooted in these lived experiences, the project investigates how identity is shaped not only by personal memory, but by the social environments that challenge or affirm a person’s sense of belonging.
The Dialogue Cards became a tool for storytelling and connection, a carefully designed deck of open-ended prompts about language, memory, and belonging. Used in intimate group settings, the cards allowed participants to share and reflect in ways that felt safe, spontaneous, and emotionally resonant.
A large-scale participatory board placed in a university space, where Syrian students could write reflections in Arabic about what Syrian, Swedish, and “in-between” identity meant to them.
A second public board invited participants to collectively write a manifesto for hybrid identity, affirming the right to belong to multiple cultures, to carry complex emotions, and to exist between spaces without needing to “choose.”
The final outcome of the project is a bilingual magazine — a curated publication that brings together the voices, visuals, and emotions gathered along the way. With its articles, illustrations, quotes, and personal essays, the magazine becomes both a research archive and an act of cultural storytelling. It is a space for recognition, for representation, and for those who have often felt unseen to finally feel reflected.
Why This Matters
Sweden’s national identity still often carries assumptions of cultural homogeneity. Immigrants, especially those from the Middle East, are frequently expected to assimilate — to blend in, become invisible, and let go of their roots. This project challenges that framework. It proposes cultural amalgamation instead of assimilation — a space where identities can mix, transform, and coexist without hierarchy.
It also highlights the emotional labour of young people who were “first in everything” — first to learn the system, first to translate for their parents, first to build a future in an unfamiliar society. The project honors that effort and gives it a platform.
“At home I’m Syrian, out there I’m Swedish, but inside I’m something else — I’m both, and more.” from an interview with a first-generation Syrian immigrant
Design as Dialogue
IN BETWEEN is not just a reflection, it’s a call to reimagine integration, identity, and visibility in Swedish society. The project proves that design can be used as a method of social care, of listening, of honoring untold stories.
It speaks to those living in the in-between — and invites those outside it to listen.
