In an increasingly globalized world, which faces shared challenges and draws scenarios where many different actors are participating, it is essential to review the instruments, initiatives and proposals articulated to advance in the construction of safe, democratic, innovative and prosperous societies.
The challenge "The future is intercultural" wants to work as a guide to open a space for reflection, debate and discussion on the phenomenon of migration and ethnic minorities but also, and especially, coexistence of diversity in democratic societies. In order to create a formed and informed debate, this project wants to offer a space to define, determine and rethink reflections that identify challenges and innovate in shared solutions. The inclusion of foreigners in European societies is not a recent reality, but it has seldom generated such intense and deliberate public debates. We want to deepen the concept of...
In an increasingly globalized world, which faces shared challenges and draws scenarios where many different actors are participating, it is essential to review the instruments, initiatives and proposals articulated to advance in the construction of safe, democratic, innovative and prosperous societies.
The challenge "The future is intercultural" wants to work as a guide to open a space for reflection, debate and discussion on the phenomenon of migration and ethnic minorities but also, and especially, coexistence of diversity in democratic societies. In order to create a formed and informed debate, this project wants to offer a space to define, determine and rethink reflections that identify challenges and innovate in shared solutions. The inclusion of foreigners in European societies is not a recent reality, but it has seldom generated such intense and deliberate public debates. We want to deepen the concept of interculturality, as a different perspective that wants to overcome the limitations and criticisms -not always fair or accurate- to traditional models of integration. We also want to talk about diversity beyond migrations, inviting a debate that reflects on the role of public policies and the fight against discrimination and inequalities in a context like ours, where diversity is diverse.
This project aims to offer an overview of the main current challenges of democratic coexistence in increasingly diverse societies. To the extent that the so-called integration policies try to facilitate the incorporation of new citizens into societies, it is necessary to consider what the real challenges of this challenge are, if there are limits and how to overcome them. Because designing immigration and diversity policies does not cease to be a way of contributing into the definition of the model of society that is aspired.
For reasons of proximity and coexistence, the intercultural perspective takes on a particularly high importance in the field of cities. Although they may have limited governance on the issue of migration, local institutions have a margin of action - and accumulated experience - that should not be underestimated when talking about social cohesion and intercultural coexistence.
In 2010, the European Commission noted that «... cities and their neighbourhoods are privileged areas to promote intercultural dialogue and promote cultural diversity and social cohesion». On the other hand, the Council of Europe, with its Recommendation on intercultural integration adopted on January 21, 2015 by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, encourages the Member States to share the local model of intercultural integration and tools designated for its implementation and evaluation, with local and regional authorities.
Diversity can mean a risk of increasing inequalities, to the extent that differences can generate spaces of greater vulnerability. But diversity can also represent an advantage in the growth of increasingly complex urban environments. In this sense, the role of local authorities is, in spite of not being unique, essential.
From the local perspective, the challenge is to design and implement strategies to manage diversity, which enhance its value and reduce risks. For this, it is essential to understand that interculturality requires a cross-sectional view to function and make sense; that needs a network that facilitates the interaction and shared action between actors of different nature; that promotes the participation of citizens in general, but also of public and private actors that play a key role in local life; that requires a narrative that explains "what" and "why"; and that is endowed with the capacity of action necessary to carry it out.
The objective of the work program "The future is intercultural" is to advance in the knowledge of the migratory phenomenon, as well as in the understanding and assumption of the intercultural principles of equality, recognition of diversity and positive interaction. To do this, we want to open a space for reflection by promoting the conceptual debate and analyzing different spaces of intervention and intercultural action, as well as raising some of the most important challenges that arise in terms of coexistence and diversity in contemporary societies.
The topics of the sessions planned for this challenge are:
- Immigration policies: challenges, objectives and tools
- The economic balance of migrations
- Public management with an intercultural perspective
- Equality, equity and non-discrimination
- Diversity, interaction and belonging
- The enemies of diversity: radicalization, hatred and violence
- The intercultural experiences of Red de ciudades Interculturales (RECI) and Intervención Comunitaria Intercultural (ICI)
Nando Sigona, Marta Foresti, Irena Guidikova, Leila Hadj-Abdou, Nira Yuval-Davis and Daniel Innerarity have taken part in the "For an Intercultural Future" series. The series closed with a panel discussion on "The intercultural experiences of the RECI and ICI: Results and impacts".
