X-European

Nego>a>ng Iden>>es in the Third Space (X-ENITS)

Coordina,ng Organisa,on | Volkshochschule (vhs) Aaalen (Germany)

Partner Organisa,ons | Border Crossings (Ireland)

| Siilinjärven Kansalaisopisto (Finland)

| The Migra,on and Development Research Centre (Turkey)

E-book edited by Aydın Çam and İlke Şanlıer Yüksel (The Migra,on and Development Research Centre)

© All copyright remains with the authors.

This project has been co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.

The European Commission support for the produc,on of this publica,on does not cons,tute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the informa,on contained therein.

INTRODUCTION by Nicole Deufel - vhs Aalen

In 2020, vhs Aalen ini,ated an Erasmus + Strategic Partnership in Adult Educa,on. We joined forces with Border Crossings, an Irish theatre company; with Siilinjärvi Community College in Finland; and with the Migra,on and Development Centre at the University of Çukurova in Turkey. In the face of rising populism across Europe in the preceding years and concepts of iden,,es that were based on othering migrants and those with migrant roots, our project aimed to strengthen prac,ces within cultural and educa,on sectors that promote social inclusion and intercultural dialogue.

In par,cular, our group was interested in the concept of Third Space (see below for an overview). We wanted to explore the poten,al and usefulness of the Third Space format for the purposes of social inclusion and intercultural dialogue, while acknowledging the impact of each partner’s par,cular social and poli,cal context.

The Third Space Theory proposes that individuals from different cultures or social groups can create a "Third Space" where they can nego,ate their iden,,es and cultural prac,ces. This theory can be par,cularly important for immigrants who have to navigate and reconcile their cultural iden,,es in a new country. Our project on Third Space Theory involved training courses to explore experiences of nego,a,ng cultural iden,,es. The project also included collabora,on with migrant and local communi,es to develop strategies and interven,ons that support the crea,on of third places and the nego,a,on of cultural iden,,es.

To this end, we held three training sessions in Germany, Finland and Ireland, with the team from the Migra,on and Development Centre providing theore,cal input and evalua,on. Each of the non-academic partners also developed an ac,vity which sought to apply the principles of Third Space within their specific organisa,onal purpose.

The original purpose of this project was to inves,gate the poten,al and benefits of the Third Space format for social inclusion and intercultural dialogue. In this context, our aim has been to bring new perspec,ves to prac,cal and theore,cal debates on migra,on/refugee issues and/or disenfranchised people, and to provide prac,cal recommenda,ons for governance and policy. The following ques,ons were addressed:

• How does the Third Space concept affect the European iden,ty nego,a,on process?

• How do people u,lise the Third Space to facilitate social inclusion in the host community?

• How do cultural, social, and economic factors shape the Third Space experiences of people such as migrants?

• To what extent does the crea,on and sustainability of the Third Space facilitate social inclusion between migrants and local communi,es?