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The aim of this article is to explore the everyday life experiences of elderly (+70 years) living with young locals and refugees in a collaborative housing project before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden. The paper discusses the importance of the spatial dimension in the conceptualization of social integration.

The main method is a qualitative case study based on observations of settings, document/video analysis, online diary entries made by ten residents and eight semi- structured interviews conducted with the residents.

SällBo was conceived as a new type of collaborative housing in which elderly, young locals and refugees share common spaces with the aim of enabling social integration. In this context, COVID-19 interrupted the ongoing processes of living together after four months of moving to the house. The three main themes that emerge from the empirical material are (1) changes in the use of common spaces and social interactions, (2) residents' resilient coping responses during the pandemic and (3) insights for future design of collaborative housing based on their experience. The pandemic caused a moment of institutional vacuum, which triggered the agency of the residents whilst developing social bonds and social bridges among them.

Social connection created in everyday life at SällBo's common spaces has triggered processes of social integration.

The ongoing processes of social integration have included the spatial dimension. We understand social integration as a process that involves people from different generations and ethnical backgrounds, which takes place in common spaces and everyday life as different modes of socialization.

This study analyzes the effect of the techniques of active teaching and learning as a way of delivery on the outcomes of quality learning. Focusing on the courses of architectural science taught in a nontraditional method using various active learning strategies, the study takes the case study of the course Building Illumination and Acoustics (BIA) delivered in the academic year 2019–2020 at the University of Sharjah (UoS)'s Architectural Engineering Department (AED).

Utilizing both quantitative and qualitative research approaches, the study applied a case study and survey as methods. A questionnaire was designed and performed to assess the level of students' satisfaction with the implemented active teaching method.

The vibrant learning setting made the students actively engaged and more motivated and enthusiastic. The active learning practices used, including employing senses as in sight and hearing, reasoning rationally and intuitively, reflecting and acting, working steadily and in fits and starts, creating mathematical models, visualizing and memorizing and drawing analogies, were efficient in boosting their ability to comprehend theoretical concepts more effectively. The delivery style effectively enhances quality learning when various active techniques are used pedagogically beyond being merely a utilitarian instrument to prepare novice students of architectural engineering to fulfill practical challenges.

This article focuses specifically on a theoretical, scientific non-studio course in a particular program of architectural engineering in a particular semester before the dramatic changes in styles of teaching delivery that happened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Future research could further highlight its results by comparing them to statistical evidence of the development of the course, especially for the duration of online teaching during the pandemic and the hybrid teaching period after it.

This article contributes to the development of teaching and learning of architectural engineering in the local Emirati context by putting original theories of teaching into practice. This paper further contributes to the field of architectural pedagogy in terms of the effect of active learning in the architecture field in the non-studio courses in higher education in the United Arab Emirates.