Repair Cafes: Sustainability, Community, Intercultural Dialogue

Applied ICD

Repair Cafés, started in Amsterdam in 2009, now exist around the world, in over 2500 locations.

 

The explicit focus of a repair café is the circular economy (ensuring that objects are repaired rather than turned into trash). At the same time, such efforts build community among those who participate, introducing neighbors who might never have met otherwise. And the result is intercultural dialogue, as evidenced by the offer of a PHD Studentship to study “‘Repair Cafes’ as a way to build translocal networks and communities” at the University for the Creative Arts in the UK.

UNESCO Silk Roads Youth Research Grant 2023

“UNESCO”
Silk Roads Youth Research Grant, UNESCO, Paris, France. Deadline: 31 May 2023.

UNESCO calls on young women and men under the age of 35 to apply for the 2023 Silk Roads Youth Research Grant. The grant aims to mobilize young researchers for further study of the Silk Roads shared heritage. Twelve grants of US$10,000 will be awarded per research project.

The research needs to address specific issues relating to:

  • the shared heritage and plural identities developed along the Silk Roads,
    its internal diversity,
  • its potential in contemporary societies for creativity, intercultural dialogue, social cohesion, regional and international cooperation, and
  • ultimately sustainable peace and development.

ICA Regional Chapters: Indonesia, Nigeria, China, Kenya

ConferencesContractor, Noshir. (11 April 2023). President’s Column: The First Four: Writing a New Chapter in ICA’s International Efforts. International Communication Association Newsletter.

The International Communication Association has just established regional chapters in Indonesia, Nigeria, China, and Kenya. The ICA Indonesia Chapter was inaugurated at Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia on March 7, 2023. The ICA Nigeria Chapter was inaugurated on March 24, 2023, at the University of Port Harcourt. The ICA China Chapter was inaugurated on March 28 in Beijing at an event attended by the Deans and Directors of Communication programs at seven major universities in China, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, University of Science and Technology of China, Renmin University, Zhejiang University, Fudan University, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. And the ICA Kenya Chapter was inaugurated on April 5, 2023, at Daystar University, Nairobi. For details, see the article by ICA President Noshir Contractor.

Circus as Intercultural Encounter

Intercultural Pedagogy

Caravan Circus Network. (9 February 2023). Circus as intercultural encounter: The completion of a 3-year project by Caravan Social Circus Network. Circus Talk.

One of the main insights we want to share is our own approximation to intercultural encounters. That is we understand ‘working towards the intercultural encounter’ as a journey, as a process rather than a fixed state or a place we thrive to reach.

The Caravan Network project ‘Circus as Intercultural Encounter,’ 2019-2022, sought to promote intercultural dialogue and strengthen knowledge and acceptance of diversity in society by advancing the capacity of social circus trainers. The team behind the project, which included members from a wide range of countries, built upon Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and Augosto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed to design a new training program. The particularly nicely designed guidebook they prepared is intended to be adapted by other organizations for their own needs, and so would be a useful tool in teaching about intercultural competence more generally.

KC107 Interculturality Translated into Turkish

Key Concepts in ICDContinuing translations of Key Concepts in Intercultural Dialogue, today I am posting KC107: Interculturality, which Mélodine Sommier and Malgorzata Lahti wrote for publication earlier this year, and which İçten Duygu Özbek has now translated into Turkish.

As always, all Key Concepts are available as free PDFs; just click on the thumbnail to download. Lists organized chronologically by publication date and number, alphabetically by concept in English, and by languages into which they have been translated, are available, as is a page of acknowledgments with the names of all authors, translators, and reviewers.

KC107 Interculturality_TurkishSommier, M., & Lahti, M. (2023). Interculturality [Turkish] (İ. D. Özbek, Trans.). Key Concepts in Intercultural Dialogue, 107. Available from: https://centerforinterculturaldialogue.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/kc107-interculturality_turkish.pdf

The Center for Intercultural Dialogue publishes a series of short briefs describing Key Concepts in Intercultural Dialogue. Different people, working in different countries and disciplines, use different vocabulary to describe their interests, yet these terms overlap. Our goal is to provide some of the assumptions and history attached to each concept for those unfamiliar with it. As there are other concepts you would like to see included, send an email to the series editor, Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz. If there are concepts you would like to prepare, provide a brief explanation of why you think the concept is central to the study of intercultural dialogue, and why you are the obvious person to write up that concept.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

U Edinburgh: Language Education (UK)

“JobLecturer in Language Education, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences / Moray House School of Education and Sport / Institute for Language Education, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. Deadline: 1 May 2023.

The Moray House School of Education and Sport is pleased to invite applications for the position of Lecturer in Language Education. The successful applicant will be expected to contribute to their highly successful Masters level teaching programmes (MSc TESOL, MSc Language Education, MSc Language and Intercultural Communication), to the supervision of doctoral students, and to secure research grants through our Languages, Interculturality and Literacies Thematic Research Hub aligned with REF high quality research outputs. The post requires a culturally sensitive vision that reflects a commitment to social justice and the provision of high-quality student experience.

 

UNU: Communications Associate (Japan)

“JobCommunications Associate, United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS), Tokyo, Japan. Deadline: 2 May 2023.

The Communications Associate will promote UNU-IAS and its activities to raise visibility and impact, with a particular focus on target audiences in Japan. She/he will play a key role in implementing the communications strategy of UNU-IAS, with the overall goal of shaping, packaging, and delivering the institute’s products and expertise to maximize impact, effect positive change, and drive further demand for UNU-IAS work.

Under the general supervision of the UNU-IAS Director, and the direct supervision of the Manager of UNU-IAS Communications, the Communications Associate will perform the following tasks:
1. Manage Japanese-language content across the institute’s digital channels and printed products, ensuring coherence, quality, and consistent branding.
2. Support the implementation and further development of the institute’s communications strategy, targeting audiences in Japan.
3. Generate positive media coverage of UNU-IAS and its activities.
4. Facilitate internal communications and collaboration.

 

Migration Studies: Editor-in-Chief (Remote)

“JobEditor-in-Chief for the journal Migration Studies, published by Oxford University Press; position is remote. Deadline: 11 May 2023.

Oxford University Press (OUP) invites applications for the position of Editor-in-Chief for Migration Studies, presenting an opportunity to lead the operation and future development of the journal. The post offers the opportunity to keep abreast of trends in current research and thinking in the field through leading the manuscript peer review process, and to contribute to the future success of an established and respected journal. The appointment will be from 1 October 2023 will be for an initial two-year term, with scope to extend subject to mutual interest.

 

Using Sports to Start Intercultural Dialogues

Applied ICD

Within the framework of the Sport for One Humanity initiative, established by Turkish Airlines and supported by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), the representatives of selected civil society organizations working on grassroots sport-based projects participated in a five-day capacity building workshop in Madrid, Spain.

By supporting innovative sports-based interventions that foster a culture of peace, mutual understanding, and cooperation, ‘Sport for One Humanity’ affirms the need for intercultural dialogue and diversity in developing solutions to global challenges.

Representing organizations based in Cameroon, India, Kenya, the Republic of North Macedonia, Mexico, the Philippines, Uganda, and Vietnam, the participants were selected from among 600 applications from 83 countries following an intensive competitive process. The series of trainings focused on a diverse range of topics to bolster the organizations’ capacities and enhance their impact, including project design and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, communications and advocacy, as well as resource mobilization, partnerships, and fundraising.

UNAOC Youth Solidarity Fund 2023

Grants
Youth Solidarity Fund, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, New York, NY, USA. Deadline: 14 May 2023.

Through a competitive evaluation process, Youth Solidarity Fund (YSF) will award seed funding of up to USD 25,000 for the implementation of outstanding and impactful projects that use intercultural and interfaith dialogue and are aligned with the mandate and mission of UNAOC.  The YSF only supports projects that are entirely developed and managed by youth, for the benefit of the whole society, especially youth. The YSF supports youth-led organizations that foster peaceful and inclusive societies. UNAOC additionally offers capacity-building support to help youth-led organizations strengthen the implementation of their projects.

The age definition used by UNAOC to characterize youth is an individual between the ages of 18 and 35. While the projects target mainly young people, they have an impact on entire communities, often involving religious or political leaders, policy-makers, educational institutions and media organizations.