Intercultural dialogue and social cohesion Higher education facing the challenge of cultural diversity

1. Intercultural dialogue and social cohesionHigher education facing the challenge of cultural diversity Report from the discussion group chaired by Prof. Virgilio Meira Soares Rapporteur : Marie-Anne Persoons

2. Content • Context • Explored areas for intercultural dialogue • Necessary conditions for a successful intercultural dialogue • Recommended actions for the higher education sector and public authorities

3. Context • Discussion to be seen as an input to the White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue that CoE intends to publish at the end of this year • Intercultural dialogue will be an important action line for CoE for the coming years and is supported by the three pillars of CoE (human rights, rule of law and democracy) • Horizontal issue : will be discussed in different CoE fora

4. Explored areas for intercultural dialogue Observations on intercultural dialogue in : • increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse societies, mainly as result of (recent) immigration waves to Europe • societies in a post-conflict situation • international academic mobility

5. Necessary conditions for a succesful intercultural dialogue • Involves all members of academic society and stakeholders in HE (students, staff, employers) • Is more than communication of opinions, but above all an instrument for integration, enabling different cultural communities to live peacefully together (conflict prevention)

6. Conditions (continued) (3) Should be conducted with intellectual honesty using rational and scientific arguments and abstaining from putting popular “labels” on the other (e.g. Islam=fundamentalism), even if that other defends inconvenient ideas that at first sight seem to distort our own value system

7. Conditions (continued) (4) Aims at social cohesion and preparation for the “real” (professional) life (5) Has to be seen in a lifelong learning context; cultivation of openness to cultural diversity and respect for other cultures ideally starts at an early age, over primary and secondary school to higher education and beyond

8. Recommended actions for the higher education sector • define values, missions including commitment to intercultural dialogue and respect for diversity • develop academic programmes and scientific research on other cultures (providing a better understanding of what makes the other culture, religious tradition, societal organisation… different from the Western paradigma)

9. Recommended actions to HE sector (continued) • Put the emphasis on language as the key to intercultural understanding : offer opportunities for language learning to staff and students • Adopt the “liberal education” model including broader knowledge and ethical awareness • Strengthen ethical reflection and social criticism in research • Adapt teacher training to the multicultural reality by integration of language and intercultural skills in the initial curricula and in-service training

10. Recommended actions to public authorities • Give incentives to higher education institutions in performing the tasks mentioned above • Include language and intercultural skills in the criteria for recruitment and training of civil servants

11. Recommended actions for HE sector and public authorities • Use examples of good practice in Europe and worldwide as a reference for local strategies • Enhance participation (access and retention) of underrepresented cultural communities in higher education • Build bridges between higher education and those underrepresented communities in the context of the universities’ involvement in society at large (e.g. medical prevention, pedagogical support to primary and secondary schools…)