EUROMED SCHOOLS PROJECT
INTERCULTURAL REPORTAGE PROJECT AS A FIRST STEP

Interkulturelles Zentrum-s aims and field of work

The work of Interkulturelles Zentrum gives priority to self-reflective, experience-oriented, and social learning processes before the receptive acquisition of knowledge and the practice of purely technical exercises. Personal encounters and joint action are contributions considered central to the development of an awareness and appreciation toward and of people with other worldviews and ways of life. Intercultural experience during one`s childhood, adolescence, or adulthood can generate just as much curiosity for the unknown and open association with foreign cultures as xenophobia, and mono-cultural isolation. The Positive experience of encountering things or people foreign is rare; it requires planned educational preparation, guidance, and reflection.

Interkulturelles Zentrum promotes the development of relations between people of different cultural origin and trains people to carry out practical intercultural work (e.g. multipliers in youth work, educators). Beyond this, the Centre defines itself as a mediator between political decision-makers and culturally active institutions (e.g. youth organizations, basis initiatives) with the aim to generate additional high-quality opportunities for trans-national meetings and cooperation.

In particular, the Interkulturelles Zentrum attempts to improve the social conditions for intercultural youth and school projects with the help of target-oriented information and public relations work. It provides training and continuing education events that serve to develop intercultural competence and support the generation of international networks of organizers and educators. Exemplary projects that encourage peoples to meet and continuing education are intended to boost innovation and enhance the quality of existing cooperation projects.

The Organization of Interkulturelles Zentrum

The Interkulturelles Zentrum is an independent non-profit association directed by an honorary Managing Committee of experts and a full-time management. The IC team is very independent and is very committed to the realization of the centre-s aims. A Board of Trustees comprising scientists, artists, and notables carries part of the workload.

The activities of the Interkulturelles Zentrum are evaluated on a regular basis. This is done both in cooperation with the Centre-s clients and by collecting target-group-specific feedback pertaining to the quality of the training and services offered by the Interkulturelles Zentrum. Managing Committee, Management Board, and staff review the quality of their work regarding content, method, and organization in regular intervals. Structural improvements to the organization are then designed in cooperation with external advisors.

Euro-Mediterranean School Forum: "Intercultural Dialogue" Information on the Project

The EuroMed School Forum is an Austrian initiative carried out in partnership with the Austrian Network of the Anna-Lindh-Foundation. Following the International Conference "Euro-Mediterranean Schools Programme on Cultural Diversity" (Alexandria/Egypt, 22 - 24 September 2005) the forum supports the establishment of long-term partnerships of secondary schools from Europe and the MEDA-countries. The project is supported by the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Culture and the Anna Lindh Foundation.

Framework and aims

The EuroMed School Forum: Intercultural Dialogue aims at the establishment of long-term partnerships of secondary schools from Europe and the MEDA countries. The overall aim is to enchance
•  The building of mutual respect and understanding,
•  The exchange of educational approaches and practices regarding political, human rights and cultural education
• And the learning and further development of competences and skills that allow to actively participate in the dialogue between cultures.
The initiative is based on the Barcelona process started in 1995 and is designed as a particular contribution to the European year of intercultural dialogue 2008.
 
Organisational structure

The Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Department of International Relations is the initiator of the international school forum. It seeks close co-operation with the UNESCO Associated Schools Project and the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures and the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Interkulturelles Zentrum serves as the overall co-ordinator of the project making use of various synergies with other members of the Austrian Network of the Anna Lindh Foundation, NGOs in the area of global education and other initiatives and programmes supporting the intercultural dialogue between Europe and the Southern Mediterranean area.
 
Target group

Secondary schools from Austria (age 15-16)
Secondary schools from EU Member States (age 15-16)
Secondary schools from MEDA-countries (age 15-16)

for more information: www.euromedschools.net

And what did we do as a first step in this project?
Intercultural Re portage Project… In this activity our students developed an interview for administrators, teachers and other students of Acarkent Doğa School and for people outside the school about intercultural realities in our school and the wider society of our home country. On the basis of the information collected and collated in the Project, we (participant teachers-Beyza Akkaya and I-Simge Subaşı) have had the material for presenting our realities to others (other participant teachers of other schools) during the contact and training seminar of the “EuroMed School Forum: Intercultural Dialogue” in Vienna in May 2007.

The issues addressed in the activity include:
• The intercultural composition of the school where the students learn and the teachers teach;
• The “challenge” of dealing with intercultural realities in school with teenage school students;
• A wider understanding of “intercultural” as going beyond “national” or “religious” culture.

During and at the end of the project our students found out more about intercultural reality in the school and the wider society through interviews with members of the school and wider community. They also found out how members of the school community felt about topics like cooperation with other countries in the EuroMed region (hospitality, democracy, human rights, gender equality, water, sustainable development, identity, cultural issues, etc).They gathered information about “being young in our country”. And then they prepared a creative presentation to be shared with representatives of other schools in Vienna in May 2007 that includes relevant information about the school and its intercultural reality: they simulated a TV news report, a power point presentation and made a poster exhibition.

We believe that participating in Intercultural Reportage Project, our students are more aware of their school and the wider community in our country in terms of hospitality, democracy, gender equality, human rights, identity, literature and music. The more they share intercultural issues with other participant students from other schools, the more they actively participate in the dialogue between cultures and the more they engage with a global community who lead them to the building of mutual respect and understanding and to universal open-mindedness…For these, special thanks to EuroMed Schools Forum- The Organization of Interkulturelles Zentrum, interviewees, our administrators, teachers, students and parents … We wish each of our students would have a European identity……
                                                                                     Simge SUBAŞI
                                                                                     English Teacher,
                                                                                ELT Programme Innovator