Category: Applied ICD

Circular & Intercultural Cities

Applied ICDIntercultural Cities. (2021). Policy brief: Circular and Intercultural Cities: Including Migrants and Diversity in Circular, Green and Inclusive Economic Models. Strasbourg, France: Council of Europe.

Diversity is a reality which we should celebrate and benefit from. (p. 5)

“The Intercultural Cities (ICC) programme of the Council of Europe has commissioned Nordic Sustainability to develop this policy brief. The aim is that it can be used as a resource for cities on how best to integrate the agendas of interculturalism and green development through the lens of the circular economy concept…Taking the core principles of the intercultural approach into account, green sustainable development policies and actions should also ensure equal rights and opportunities for all.” (p. 3)

This brief explains “how the intercultural and the circular economy development agendas are interrelated” and shares examples of best practice for moving forward with both agendas simultaneously, while pursuing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (p. 3).

Film Competition: African Folktales Reimagined

Applied ICD

Short Film competition, African Folktales, Reimagined, UNESCO and Netflix. Deadline: November 14, 2021.

 

Netflix and UNESCO have partnered to launch an innovative short film competition on ‘African Folktales, Reimagined’ across Sub-Saharan Africa. Winners of the competition will be trained and mentored by industry professionals and provided with a US$75,000 production budget to create short films that will premiere on Netflix in 2022 as an “Anthology of African folktales”. Specifically, each of the 6 winners will receive a production grant of US$75,000 (through a local production company) to develop, shoot and post-produce their films under the guidance of Netflix and industry mentors to ensure everyone involved in the production is fairly compensated. In addition, each of the 6 winners will also receive US$25,000.

One key aim of this competition is to discover new voices and to give emerging filmmakers in Sub-Saharan Africa visibility on a global scale. Organizers want to find the bravest, wittiest, and most surprising retellings of some of Africa’s most-loved folktales and share them with entertainment fans around the world in over 190 countries. For the first round, applicants will be required to submit a synopsis of their concept (no more than 500 words) as well as links to a recent CV and a portfolio/evidence of any past audiovisual work they have produced.

Additional press coverage by The Guardian, and Variety.

Passage of Dialogue (Poland)

Applied ICDShortle, Honey. (2021, October 5). The new face of the Świdnickie pass: A space for dialogue was created there. Randrlife.

A place that invites the people of Wroclaw to joint discussions and meetings is an invaluable initiative –Bartomeg Potocki, Director of the Immigrant Rights Institute

Przejście Świdnickie [Passage of Dialogue] is an information point where people can learn about current social activities carried out by Wrocław institutions and NGOs. It is also a place  for workshops, and conversations with local activists. There are 350 square meters available, divided into 8 spaces. It is intended as a space where residents of Wroclaw can meet, understand one another, and collaborate to support the development of dialogue. The spaces include a green area with more than 40 plants, a gallery, an exhibition space, and a co-working area. Discussions, exhibitions, workshops and small concerts will be organized; residents can submit events for consideration. The Passage also offers information for migrants looking for support in everyday and official matters. The inaugural event will be Dialogopolis’21 – Month of Intercultural Dialogue and Education, held in October 2021.

Global Citizenship Education

Applied ICD

Bosio, E., & Schattle, H. (2021). Ethical global citizenship education: From neoliberalism to a values-based pedagogy. Prospects, 1-11.

…over the past 20 years, there has been increasing interest in GCE as a means of supporting learners in developing their values, knowledge, and understanding of multiple global, national, and local issues.

This article proposes an ethical global citizenship education (GCE) framework by offering the following five dimensions: values-creation, identity progression, collective involvement, glocal disposition, and an intergenerational mindset. Ethical GCE draws on a multiplicity of critical literatures to identify characteristics of each of these dimensions. It goes beyond neoliberal/market-driven principles toward ethical perspectives promoting social responsibility, justice, human rights, and glocal sustainability. With further theoreti- cal development and strategies toward implementation, the framework has the potential to be deployed in future research and evaluation of the complex teaching and learning pro- cesses involved in GCE, particularly in a values-based perspective.

Note: Even though this article does not address intercultural dialogue directly, it seems likely that global citizenship education would only help bring about more intercultural dialogues.

 

EIUC Electoral Observers Training 2021 (Italy)

Applied ICD

Training seminar for International Electoral Observers, Global Campus of Human Rights, Venice, Italy, 15-20 November 2021. Deadline: 29 October 2021.

The Global Campus of Human Rights has developed a course aiming at providing training to civilian staff in election observation missions at the first steps of their career (i.e. short term observers). Selected applicants will be allowed to become aware of the role, the tasks and the status of international observers, and will be given a theoretical and practical training on election observation and election observation missions functioning. The training will take place in Venice, at the Global Campus of Human Rights Headquarters, from 15-20 November 2021.

After the successful brand new online edition of February 2021, a second edition of the course will offer selected participants a new challenging experience in distance learning education.

Sidewalk Poetry & Multicultural Communities (USA)

Applied ICD

Tyner, Artika. (2021, August 12). Sidewalk Poetry Weaves Together Multicultural Communities, Monitor, Minneapolis, MN, USA.

Sidewalk poetry weaves together cultures and unites generations. Of the 1,000 that have already made their way to sidewalks, the poems foster intercultural dialogue. The poems provide individuals with an enriching learning opportunity to pause, reflect and grow.

“Writers play a key role in fostering community engagement and building cultural bridges. Throughout history, writers have served as the architects of the future. Their artistry has been used to build a more just  and  inclusive  society.  According to the acclaimed writer, Chinua Achebe: ‘the writer cannot expect to be excused from the task of re-education and regeneration that must be done. In fact, he should march right in front.’ The city of Saint Paul’s sidewalk poetry initiative provides writers with essentially blank slates that are recording the collective voices of our city and celebrating its rich diversity. The Sidewalk Poetry Contest was launched by the city of Saint Paul in partnership with Public Art Saint Paul. It is part of the city’s $1 million sidewalk replacement project. It is an opportunity for emerging prose writers and experienced poets to be published in a singular forum and on a larger scale. Each winning entry will be stamped into sidewalks throughout residential areas of the city.”

 

Claiming the Power of Dialogue toolkit (France)

Applied ICD

Claiming the Power of Dialogue: Toolkit for Antirumours Dialogue, Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France. Published April, 2021.

Imagine you are having a conversation with your neighbours when they drop a negative comment about migration. We all face similar situations from time to time – how have you handled them?

Did you let it pass or did you speak up? Did you explain why the comment was discriminatory or hurtful? In the policy brief “Claiming the power of dialogue: Toolkit for antirumours dialogue,” strategies for face to face dialogue are presented with the aim of providing the readers with a simple toolkit to engage in active antirumours dialogue. The policy brief complements the Antirumours handbook and other antirumours materials, and is part of a series of papers and training materials developed for the Academy on Alternative Narratives and Intercultural Communication.

Global Storybooks (Canada)

Applied ICDGlobal Storybooks: freely available digital tales in 50+ languages.

Global Storybooks is a free multilingual literacy resource for children and youth worldwide. Read, download, toggle, and listen to a wide variety of illustrated stories from the African Storybook and other open sites. Development continues at the University of British Columbia, Canada.

One of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals is to achieve quality education globally by the year 2030. High illiteracy rates among children are partly due to a lack of appropriate reading materials in languages familiar to children. Research has shown that children learn to read best in their family’s home language, which also establishes a strong foundation for learning any additional languages. The Global Storybooks portal hosts custom sites with multilingual open-licensed books for over 40 countries and regions on five continents. The vision is to help democratize global flows of information and resources, to facilitate language learning — including Indigenous languages — and to promote literacy.

For further information:

Norton, B., & Stranger-Johannessen, E. (2020, January 19). Global Storybooks: From Arabic to Zulu, freely available digital tales in 50+ languages. The Conversation.

Portal: A Bridge to Unity (Lithuania/Poland)

Applied ICDPORTAL: A Bridge to Unity. On May 26, 2021, Vilnius (in Lithuania) and Lublin (Poland) became the first two cities to connect through PORTAL. This visual bridge brings people of different cultures together, encouraging them to rethink the feeling and meaning of unity.

PORTAL brings a new approach to unity, especially important in times like these when we are being separated by extremely viral polarizing ideas and narratives. As the author and the initiator of the project, Vilnius-based Benediktas Gylys Foundation says, it’s time to transcend the sense of separation and to become the pioneers of a united planet.

Every day there is less room left for dialogue, empathy, and compassion, for feeling and being united in our home – a tiny spaceship Earth rapidly decaying due to too many of them, and too little of us.

The project is not a simple one-timer; organizers plan to connect the world by dozens of PORTALS in the near future. The aim is to involve communities and encourage a public movement that would create social experiments, unexpected reactions, and most important – the unity of different cultures and its’ people in the long run. Reykjavik (Iceland) and London (UK) are next in line.

I Belong (Australia)

Applied ICDI belong, a film made by the Melton City Council, Melton, Australia, to document how residents, who have come from 130 countries, are comfortable as neighbors, due to the welcoming environment.

I just love it when I see everyone gathered together and they come together and they have like different identities but they come together for one thing and that is the community event.