Intercultural City : About The Project

Aims

The project will consider the extent to which cultural diversity is a source of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship and how this can become a positive force releasing new energy and resources for the development of cities.
It seeks to understand how the combination of different cultural skills and attributes leads to new and divergent thinking and what are the conditions that most encourage this.
It will explore the extent to which increased intercultural dialogue, exchange and activity is the catalyst for this process.
It will particularly seek to understand the role of intercultural networks and intermediary change-agents, finding out who they are, how they work and what are the conditions which either encourage or hinder them.
It will explore the institutional barriers and opportunities to maximizing economic benefits and aim to provide guidance for future policy on diversity and wealth creation in cities.

Principles

The terms 'multiculturalism' and 'interculturalism' are often used interchangeably, but the way in which they are used in this proposal makes clear that they are two quite different approaches to managing and building on the potential of ethnic and cultural diversity in a city. The intercultural approach goes beyond equal opportunities and respect for existing cultural differences, to the pluralist transformation of public space, civic culture and institutions. So it does not recognise cultural boundaries as fixed but as in a state of flux and remaking. An intercultural approach aims to facilitate dialogue, exchange and reciprocal understanding between people of different cultural backgrounds. Advocates of this approach argue that cities need to develop policies which prioritise funding for projects where different cultures intersect, 'contaminate' each other and hybridise. This contrasts with the multiculturalism model, where funding is directed within the well-defined boundaries of recognised cultural communities. In other words, city governments should promote cross-fertilisation across all cultural boundaries, between 'majority' and 'minorities', 'dominant' and 'sub' cultures, localities, classes, faiths, disciplines and genres, as the source of cultural, social, political and economic innovation.

Outcomes

The project will provide answers to the questions such as:

How do new ideas and innovations emerge when people of diverse cultures interact?
How are these formed into new products, services, styles and ways of doing things and how do these then spread?
What kinds of individuals, groups, networks and background conditions help to make this happen more frequently?

It will provide policy makers in city development, business, and innovation management with evidence and a toolkit of techniques with which encourage greater intercultural innovation.

It will also highlight the practices and conditions which are like to act as a disincentive to intercultural innovation.

The deliverables of the project will include:

Bespoke case studies and a final report with locally-specific recommendations on each city within the project
Reports of thematic studies on key cross-cutting issues by experts in the respective fields
A detailed final report that aggregates the findings of all the city and thematic studies with practical recommendations for policy-makers
A knowledge network enabling practitioners in all the participating cities to exchange experiences
A closing international conference to launch the project findings and to trigger further research in the subject

Methodology

The project will employ a range of approaches in recognition of the multi-dimensional nature of the subject, including:

Analysis of secondary data on demographics, economics, labour market, migration, and innovation at national and regional levels
Semi-structured interviews with key individuals
Case studies of key intercultural actors employing a life history approach, based on in-depth interviews, highlighting key influences in a person's education and employment trajectory.
Mapping of networks
Focus groups with network members

Timetable

Launch of the project (November 2004)
An overview of relevant published literature, including academic sources and policy reports (December 2004)
Exploration and identification of networks and relationships (January 2005)
Selection of the case-studies on intercultural actors (February 2005)
Interviews, workshops, focus groups and participant observation (March – April 2005)
Writing up of interim conclusions report and first policy workshop (May 2005)
Comparative analysis of all city case studies (June-August 2005)
Second policy workshop. Writing up of city case studies final report and recommendations (September 2005)
Writing up of city case studies final report and recommendations (October-December 2005)
Completion of final report for the overall project (January 2006)
Launch of Intercultural City report and international conference (March 2006)





		Aims The project will consider the extent to which cultural diversity is a source of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship and how this can become a positive force releasing new energy and resources for the development of cities. It seeks to understand how the combination of different cultural skills and attributes leads to new and divergent thinking and what are the conditions that most encourage this. It will explore the extent to which increased intercultural dialogue, exchange and activity is the catalyst for this process. It will particularly seek to understand the role of intercultural networks and intermediary change-agents, finding out who they are, how they work and what are the conditions which either encourage or hinder them. It will explore the institutional barriers and opportunities to maximizing economic benefits and aim to provide guidance for future policy on diversity and wealth creation in cities. Principles The terms 'multiculturalism' and 'interculturalism' are often used interchangeably, but the way in which they are used in this proposal makes clear that they are two quite different approaches to managing and building on the potential of ethnic and cultural diversity in a city. The intercultural approach goes beyond equal opportunities and respect for existing cultural differences, to the pluralist transformation of public space, civic culture and institutions. So it does not recognise cultural boundaries as fixed but as in a state of flux and remaking. An intercultural approach aims to facilitate dialogue, exchange and reciprocal understanding between people of different cultural backgrounds. Advocates of this approach argue that cities need to develop policies which prioritise funding for projects where different cultures intersect, 'contaminate' each other and hybridise. This contrasts with the multiculturalism model, where funding is directed within the well-defined boundaries of recognised cultural communities. In other words, city governments should promote cross-fertilisation across all cultural boundaries, between 'majority' and 'minorities', 'dominant' and 'sub' cultures, localities, classes, faiths, disciplines and genres, as the source of cultural, social, political and economic innovation. Outcomes The project will provide answers to the questions such as: How do new ideas and innovations emerge when people of diverse cultures interact? How are these formed into new products, services, styles and ways of doing things and how do these then spread? What kinds of individuals, groups, networks and background conditions help to make this happen more frequently? It will provide policy makers in city development, business, and innovation management with evidence and a toolkit of techniques with which encourage greater intercultural innovation. It will also highlight the practices and conditions which are like to act as a disincentive to intercultural innovation. The deliverables of the project will include: Bespoke case studies and a final report with locally-specific recommendations on each city within the project Reports of thematic studies on key cross-cutting issues by experts in the respective fields A detailed final report that aggregates the findings of all the city and thematic studies with practical recommendations for policy-makers A knowledge network enabling practitioners in all the participating cities to exchange experiences A closing international conference to launch the project findings and to trigger further research in the subject Methodology The project will employ a range of approaches in recognition of the multi-dimensional nature of the subject, including: Analysis of secondary data on demographics, economics, labour market, migration, and innovation at national and regional levels Semi-structured interviews with key individuals Case studies of key intercultural actors employing a life history approach, based on in-depth interviews, highlighting key influences in a person's education and employment trajectory. Mapping of networks Focus groups with network members Timetable Launch of the project (November 2004) An overview of relevant published literature, including academic sources and policy reports (December 2004) Exploration and identification of networks and relationships (January 2005) Selection of the case-studies on intercultural actors (February 2005) Interviews, workshops, focus groups and participant observation (March – April 2005) Writing up of interim conclusions report and first policy workshop (May 2005) Comparative analysis of all city case studies (June-August 2005) Second policy workshop. Writing up of city case studies final report and recommendations (September 2005) Writing up of city case studies final report and recommendations (October-December 2005) Completion of final report for the overall project (January 2006) Launch of Intercultural City report and international conference (March 2006)