Nineteenth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

Worldwide globalization has facilitated the proliferation of contacts between cultures for years. In this changing landscape, betting on cultural diversity and interculturality requires stimulating dialogue by listening to all opinions, defending and transmitting clear and understandable ideas and principles. Intercultural dialogue presupposes cultural diversity and offers an effective instrument to connect people with different backgrounds, interests and perspectives. It is a way to involve immigrants and refugees from the territory, increasing their participation in cultural and social life. However, we detect that the realization of intercultural dialogue in everyday practices is a challenge in itself and requires changes in established routines and procedures. In this important challenge, we detect that cultural policies, arts and cultural practices can contribute to make positive impacts. The poster presents the good practice of the Danish Center of Art and Intercultural (DCAI) which corroborates the importance of having institutions and organizations that achieve intercultural competences, open themselves to intercultural dialogue and work together with the immigrants themselves and other actors in the cultural sector. Cultures and identities - the basic elements of intercultural dialogue - are never fixed and immutable essences but fluid processes open to transformations in everyday relationships between people of different backgrounds. Individuals are molded and restructured by their relationships with others, just as relationships are shaped and remodeled by the individuals themselves. Projects and practices inspired by intercultural dialogue have the potential to produce new and inclusive values.