Workshop Sessions

Workshop 1: Promoting intercultural understanding, diversity and inclusion: learning from the corporate sector experience and mainstreaming in policy

Panelists: Holger Heims, Managing Partner Falcon Group Christopher McCormick, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Head of the EF-Cambridge University Research Collaboration Milena Pighi, Corporate and Governmental Affairs, Head of Corporate Citizenship BMW Group Pascale Thumerelle, Vice President Sustainable Development Vivendi Moderator: Jean-Christophe Bas, UNAOC

Workshop Summary The cooperation between policy makers and the corporate world is essential. Holger Heims illustrated how the corporate sector is confronted with helping shape the framework for cultural diversity and how diversity can be used as a positive factor in the growth of the companies.

Developments in the corporate world should increase the awareness of the need of cultural diversity also within the public sector.

Learning languages is essential in order to promote intercultural understanding and diversity.

Christopher McCormick argued that language is not the only relevant factor, but that the lack of cultural understanding and competence can hinder intercultural work in cross-border teams.

Therefore cultural an educational exchange programmes should be focused on in order to break down language barriers and geographic borders.

Pascale Thumerelle characterized the promotion of cultural diversity as a challenge in the corporate context, giving the example of Universal Music Group, where 60 % of the profits are generated with the sales of local artists’ work.

The panelists agreed on three layers of intercultural understanding: 1. if we want to work together effectively, we need to understand each other, share cultural understanding and facilitate language education. 2. if we want to work effectively and achieve results and profits in the corporate sector, we have to understand the desires of our consumers and the specific needs in different parts of the world. Finally, 3. if we want to work in a stable market, which is indispensable, the corporate sector needs to promote social cohesion.

Quotations Jean-Christophe Bas: “We have to be in the same boat and develop a common general knowledge on intercultural understanding.�

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Workshop 2: Dealing with civic unrests and early warning rapid response – Lessons learned from around the world

Panelists: Raya Kadirova, President of the Foundation for Tolerance International, Kyrgyzstan Faredun Hodizoda, Director of the Academy of Dialogue, Tajikistan Dieter Von Blarer, Former Peace-Building Advisor in Central Asia of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs' Human Security Division, Switzerland Klaus Neukirch, Deputy Director, Operation Service/Conflict Prevention Centre, OSCE Moderator: Tim Epkenhans

Workshop Summary

The Workshop “Dealing with civic unrests and early warning rapid response” broached the issue on the uprisings in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the last decade. The two countries were represented by stakeholders of the respective mediation and prevention processes. Raya Kadyrova and Faredun Hodizado shared their professional experiences with the panel and the audience. Both countries had to face crucial structural violence, whereas Kyrgyzstan also had to deal with physical violence between the police and civil society organization leaders. As Kadyrova reported, demonstrators were harmed and some even murdered by the police in 2002. That incident had its foundation in the gap between constitutional and national law that interpret the right to demonstrate differently. While in the Kyrgyz constitution the right of demonstration is written down without restrictions, national law requires the demonstrators to obtain permission by the local government for conducting demonstrations.

Tajikistan is marked by ongoing tensions after the civil war and problems of coping with the heritage of Soviet domination. Hodizoda highlighted the prevalent political interpretation of Islam as a threat for post-soviet society.

Together with the OSCE, local initiatives launched a high level dialogue between religious representatives and secular stakeholders. Dieter Von Blarer, Former Peace-Building Advisor in February 28, 2013 2

Central Asia of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs' Human Security Division of Switzerland, completed the picture by incorporating the donor’ s perspective. He reiterated the work done in Kyrgyzstan, which focused on building trust between the local communities and the administration in order to prevent violence. In Tajikistan no immediate threat of violence was observed, however, there remained a potential for future violence. Therefore the risk of escalating tensions was assessed between the Islamic communities and local authorities.

With questions from the audience, the panel discussed the role of Kazakhstan in the OSCE intervention in Kyrgyzstan. Kadyrova declared that a struggling country could not solely rely on international organizations and demanded a reshaping of the structure and procedure of international organizations. In contrast, Neukirch underlined the importance of the parties directly involved in the conflict and stressed that international organizations only took up a supporting role.

Klaus Neukirch, Deputy Director of the Operation Service and Conflict Prevention Centre of the OSCE, pointed out the substantial effort of the OSCE in strengthening early warning systems.

All participants highlighted the process of bringing together all parties in the conflict to build a ground for common discourse and the need to strengthen local capacities and stakeholders as a key measure for prevention of violence.

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Workshop 3: Consolidating democracy in a sustainable way through education for democracy and human rights

Panelists: Dipu Moni, Minister of foreign affairs of Bangladesh Suren Badral, Ambassador at Large for the Community of Democracy Presidency of Mongolia.

Federico Mayor, Director of the Culture of Peace Foundation Wolfgang Benedek, Co-Director European Training and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy Maria de Conceição Pereira, PAM Vice-President, President PAM 3rd Standing Committee on Dialogue among Civilizations and Human Rights and member of the Assembly of Republic of Portugal Belén Alfaro Hernández, Ambassador at large for the Alliance of Civilizations Ayman Ayoub, Regional Director for West Asia & North-Africa International IDEA Recep Sentürk, Director of the AOC Institute of Fatih Sultan Mehmet University, Turkey Moderator: Tarja Halonen, Former President of Finland –TBC

Workshop Summary

Dipu Moni emphasizes that while no other political system is more resilient than democracy it still cannot be taken for granted. That’s why strong institutional politics are necessary. She underlined the importance of working together as well as the education of democracy.

Suren Badral portrayed the situation in Mongolia. While during its 70 years of dictatorship Mongolia’s education on democracy concentrated on propaganda today platforms and education on democracy should ensure a sustainable democracy. Democracy considers all human beings the same, no matter what religion or colour of skin, stated Federico Mayor, and education is the way of contributing to that. Ayman Ayoub splits up the necessary education in two dimensions: the education on the value of democracy and the knowledge of the democratic system in terms of constitutional systems, parties and institutes. Ayoub also claims, that democracy is more sustainable if it is “home-grown”. Wolfgang Benedek expressed that everyone has the human right to a human rights education and governments have to provide an enabling environment for that.

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According to Maria de Conceição Pereira, gender issues are very important in the democratic discourse. She lists three priority issues: supporting women in policy, combating domestic violence and education for girls.

Recep Sentürk identified two kinds of

society: traditional/closed societies and modern/open

societies. Today’s communication technologies make intense interaction possible. Therefore we need to educate a new concept of literacy containing new ethics, laws and policies to manage the global diversity.

Quotations

Conceicao Pereira: “The most developed countries have a higher elite and education level. this is due investment in training of people to create knowledge for them and society. it is conflict prevention. young woman as equal to young man in the education system.”

Frederico Mayor: “We must learn to know, learn to do, learn to be- a full human being.”

Wolfgang Benedek: “Freedom of expression is the oxygen of democracy and needs to be learned.”

“We are all human rights educators, learners and defenders.”

Ayman Ayoub: “Democracy can neither be imported nor exported, but certainly needs to be supported.”

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Workshop 4: First Global Data Journalism Study of Coverage of Migration Issues Terminology sets the tone

Speakers: Sue Le Mesurier, IFRC, Switzerland Fritz Cropp, Missouri School of Journalism, USA Fred Vallance, King University, Canada Christoph Schmidt, Deutsche Welle Akademie, Germany Ton Veen, Christelijke Hogeschool, Ede, Netherlands Martine Rouweler, EJC, Netherlands Lucien Castex, INA, France Moderator: Dr. Susan Moeller , Director ICMPA, University of Maryland

Workshop Summary At the 5th Global Forum of the UNAOC in Vienna the results of the pilot study Global Data Journalism Study of Coverage of Migration Issues were presented. The study explores differences and commonalities within and among the media coverage of migration of the five participating countries France, Netherlands, Germany, USA and Canada. Research teams at journalism schools and media research institutions in the five countries took four-week snapshots of migration journalism around recent elections, including the presidential elections in the US and France, the Dutch parliamentary election, and regional polls in Germany and Canada. They identified and analysed some 650 pertinent articles and categorized them by their framing of migration: which types of migrants were in focus, which related topics were discussed, and what overall tone did the articles adopt towards migrants and migration. The sources primarily represented agenda-setting national as well as regional and local newspapers and news magazines.

The selected articles were evaluated on which scale they comply the UN Declaration on Human Rights. The results show a common trend to neutral coverage of migration topics are mostly within the categories citizenship and political life,

issues.

law/policy,

religion. Sue Le Mesurier remarked that the topic of migration issues is

The covered culture

mostly

covered

combination with emotional attitudes . She argued the importance of continuing

education

and in of

journalists to tackle stereotypes and to enable a more productive cooperation between media and migration stakeholders.

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The results of the study underline the effect of mass media coverage and framing on the public perception of migrants. To go beyond the „migration issue“ the focus should rest on positive notated human stories as well as a more distinguished terminology being used in public dialogues.

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Workshop

5:

Entertainment

media:

Engaging

Audiences

in

Intercultural Dialogue Panelists: Pascale Thumerelle, Vice President of Sustainable Development Vivendi Jonathan Shen, President of Shinework John Marks, President of Search for Common Ground Susan Coulder, President of Global Film Initiative Moderator: Malu Viana Batista, Executive Director, Television America Latina Workshop Summary

Films can be used to create an interconnected community and remove the barriers of nations and cultures that separate people from each other. According to Jonathan Shen programmes like Shinework which supports the set-up and the promotion of foreign film festivals in China and of Chinese film festivals all over the world open a window to the world and help people understand different cultures. Pascale Thumerelle stressed that everyone should question the entertainment media’s responsibilities, especially since there are not many well organized stakeholders who control its quality. Asked how to address young people and involve them rather in the small and culturally diverse entertainment production companies than in the big and popular ones, she stated that the youth does not have to decide for one of the two sides, but could take an important role in both kinds of companies. Susan Coulder is sure that narrative films can create global understanding, respect and cultural empathy. However John Marks stated that media is able to reach a wide audience, but has its limits for having a certain impact.

The panelists agreed that media have a certain extent of power to inspire people, to debate social issues and to perform as a powerful instrument in engaging audiences in intercultural dialogue.

Quotations: John Marks: „We can’t change the fundamental structures of the society by a radio programme, but what we can do is to change their behaviour and attitude.“ Susan Coulder: „We are story-telling beings. Stories can shape the way we see and are seen by the world.”

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Workshop 6: Social Media: how a new ethics of communication will help to combat intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatization

Panelists: Ömür Orhun, OIC Susan Moeller, ICMPA, University of Maryland Alfonso Molina, Fondazione Mondo Digitale Islam Muhammad, Anna Lindh Foundation Moderator: Daniela Krautsack, Cows in Jackets

Workshop Summary

The workshop focused on the emerging role of social media and the balance between regulation policies, ethics of communication and freedom of expression. Susan Moeller underlined the importance of responsible leadership and strategic communication when it comes to agenda building via social media. Islam Muhammad thinks of social media as tool to promote cross cultural debate.

There are various definitions of term „Social Media“, therefore the panelists had different approaches towards its implementation in communication processes. Alfonso Molina stated that challenge within regulation policies in the social media area is not about eliminating content, instead about education on new ethics of communication in order to be able to fight discrimination and to nurture tolerance, empathy and multi- cultural exchange. Ömür Orhun talked of the ethics of communication as a soft tool when it comes to regulate social media content. Although the international laws of regulation already exist the lack of guidelines and interpretations of this political framework is missing. One suggestion was to install the UN Human Rights Council Resolution 16/18 from March 2011 as a regulating tool.

Furthermore underrepresented communities could strengthen their identities through the use of social media. Technological censorship like algorithm based search engines were seen as obstacles to the free use of social media. Not all panelists agreed on the theory that social media are a challenge for traditional mass media. However it was clearly remarked that diverse strategies of responsible leadership and good practices have to be combined in order to implement a positive future of expression.

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Workshop 7 – Enhancing the Role of Youth within the UNAOC National Plans and Regional Strategies to promote intercultural understanding Sharing of best practices – from building on booming Youth Travel experiences to student exchanges and youth festivals

Panelists: Blerjana Bino, Social Entrepreneur, Researcher, Coordinator for Youth and Social Inclusion at the UET Centre for Development and Research, Albania Ilja Sichrovsky, Founder and Secretary General, Muslim-Jewish Conference, Austria Amr Abdel-Ghaffar, Regional Director for the Middle East, UNWTO, Focal Point for the UNAOC, Egypt Laura Daly, Special Advisor to Director General, Wyse Travel Confederation, Ireland Chiedza Taruvinga, Member of the International Human Rights Exchange Program, Mozambique Frank Frederics, Executive Director, World Faith, USA Moderator: Daniel Cervan, UNAOC Workshop Summary The workshop on the role of youth was divided in two sections. The first two speakers presented their institutions’ data on youth tourism, highlighting the importance of developing youth travel globally. Amr Abdel-Ghaffar emphasized that youth travel is often an underestimated engine of growth and development while being the fastest growing tourism sector. It plays a key role in fostering tolerance and respect as well as building bridges for peace. Laura Daly reiterated this point by presenting a survey of her institution that showed the resilience of youth markets and the personal benefits of travelling.

Travelling as an essential starting point for youth-led initiatives was a key point made by Ilja Sichrovsky. She emphasized that by travelling prejudices and stereotypes could be broken down and instead new perspectives on cooperation developed.

Blerjana Bino raised the issue of youth marginalization being a fundamental problem to be addressed. It was essential to empower youth of marginalized communities in the society to create their own medium of expression.

Another significant topic was brought up by Frank Frederics who explained that it would be also important to focus on the assets of youth and their communities and ensure the humanization of programs as a holistic approach in order to fight problems such as the narratives of violence and the underlying economic opportunity of violence.

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However, the issue of funding continued to be a problem of many youth-led projects. The panelists shared their personal experiences of seed-funding initiatives, collaborative action of volunteers and finding alternatives to money. It was agreed that the education sector played a key role in inspiring and motivating youth, and that social media was essential to connect like-minded people.

Quotations Blerjana Bino “Youth is not just a stage in life but a constructive process.”

Frank Frederics “We do not need programs that target youth, we need programs led by youth.“

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Workshop 8: Shaping a new narrative for immigrant student’s inclusion in basic education and vocational studies – sharing best practices Key Note Speaker: Marjo Kyllönen, Chief of Education, Department of Eduacation, Finland Respondents: Johannes Kopf, Member of the Board of Directors, Austrian Public Employment Service (AMS) Duncan Howard, Executive Head of Metropolis Project, Canada Seong Sang Hwan, Seoul National University Center for Multicultural Education, Republic of Korea Gahha Mohammed Kamel, Director of National Library of Tunesia David Kasule Wasswa, Mayor of Entebbe Municipal Council, Uganda Simone Le Gendre, National Institute of Higher Education, Trinidad and Tobago Florian Hofmann, Dekeyser & Friends Foundation Moderator: Ritva Viljanen, Mayor of Education of City of Helsinki

Workshop Summary

The workshop started with a short presentation of key note speaker Marjo Kyllönen by talking about best practice examples within the Finish educational system. However she also pointed out the difficulties to transfer best practices in a different context; if doing so, a reflection of the best practice is needed before. The core aims of the educational system are the social inclusion and the promotion of full and independent citizenship, especially among students with migration backgrounds. Therefore educational services are provided by intercultural schools which are places where differences are celebrated. Nevertheless there are still certain challenges such as high dropout rates of students with migration backgrounds after compulsory school education.

In this context, Florian Hofmann stated three remarks on this topic: First, he said that education is important and that it has to highlight that everyone is different. Second, diversity should be seen as February 28, 2013 12

an asset, instead of categorizing in right and wrong. And third, he mentioned that people who offer education should have a migrant background as well, so minority groups feel included.

Duncan Howard explained that today’s education guarantees economical survival as well as a “vehicle for social justice”, and still we take education for granted. Additionally he pictured that in Canada the society takes great pain to promote education as an equal right for everyone, but sadly the outcomes won’t reflect the input.

Concerning the youth unemployment rate in Austria Johannes Kopf explained that it’s the second lowest in Europe which shows that the country was able to keep the rates stable over the last decades. The highest youth unemployment rate is found amongst people without higher education, but also in this case preventive steps are being taken in Austria. Through the “youth guarantee” every young person, that doesn’t undergo any sort of higher qualification, a training program is being assured.

Seong Sang Hwan illustrated that the Korean society is rapidly changing. The former homogenous nation is confronted with a lot of immigrants and is therefore establishing ways of dealing with this fact. Moreover he claims that educational programs are the solution to bridge the gap between different migration groups. All speakers agreed that education plays a highly important role when it comes to including immigrants and drawing a new picture of migration.

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