1. THE INTERCULTURAL CITIES
CONFERENCE
COMEDIA in association with EUCLID is
organising a major conference to mark the
European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008.
During the three days, leading speakers from across Europe, UK Cities, as well the US,
Canada and Australia will provide real examples of how being intercultural works, bringing
social, cultural and economic advantages. They include globalization guru Saskia Sassen,
New York Times writer Gregg Zachary who argues cities and business must ‘mongrelize or
die’, the world authority on cultural diversity and city planning Leonie Sandercock, Lord
Bhikhu Parekh who says it is time to rethink multiculturalism and Keith Khan, Head of
Culture for the 2012 Olympic Games. There will also be great opportunities to explore the city
of Liverpool, the 2008 European Capital of Culture.
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 recognize cultural boundaries as fixed but as in a state of flux and remaking. An

2. 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 prioritize funding for projects where different cultures intersect,
'contaminate' each other and hybridize. This contrasts with the multiculturalism model, where
funding is directed within the well-defined boundaries of recognized cultural communities. In
other words, city governments should promote cross-fertilization 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, labor 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

3. TIMETABLE
1. Launch of the project (November 2004)
2. An overview of relevant published literature, including academic sources and policy
reports (December 2004)
3. Exploration and identification of networks and relationships (January 2005)
4. Selection of the case-studies on intercultural actors (February 2005)
5. Interviews, workshops, focus groups and participant observation (March – April 2005)
6. Writing up of interim conclusions report and first policy workshop (May 2005)
7. Comparative analysis of all city case studies (June-August 2005)
8. Second policy workshop. Writing up of city case studies final report and
recommendations (September 2005)
9. Writing up of city case studies final report and recommendations (October-December
2005)
10. Completion of final report for the overall project (January 2006)
11. Launch of Intercultural City report and international conference (March 2006)
THEMES
From Multicultural to Intercultural
The intercultural lens
Intercultural innovators
The need for new indicators
The project is exploring the connections between cultural diversity, innovation and thriving and
prosperous urban communities, in the context of the economic, social and cultural dynamics of
cities in the UK and around the world. In identifying theses connections, strategies to harness
the potential of diverse communities and their innovation have been developed so as to
provide tools for policymakers, planners and practitioners. The project went further by assisting
participating cities to develop specific economic, social, cultural and planning policies and
thereby become role models for others to follow.
From Multicultural to Intercultural
In the UK, Canada, Australia and several European countries, multiculturalism has been the
policy orthodoxy within which legislation and values concerning diversity have been framed.
Multiculturalism sought to protect and celebrate diversity with minority languages, religions and
cultural practices encouraged and rights and freedoms enshrined in legislation. Recently this
approach has been called into question and, particularly in the UK, it is argued that it has
encouraged the creation of culturally and spatially-distinct communities leading ‘parallel lives’
with the maintenance of difference becoming the very currency by which status is gained and
resources allocated. It has increasingly been seen as outmoded and so, in order to protect

4. aspects of its legacy of tolerance, new ideas are badly needed.
Interculturalism, in which the emphasis is on interaction and the exchange of ideas between
different cultural groups, is the way out of this impasse. It goes beyond equal opportunities and
respect for existing cultural differences to the pluralist transformation of public space,
institutions and civic culture. It is also distinct from the current arguments made for integration
and community cohesion in arguing a much more proactive engagement between cultures,
including a preparedness to see conflict not only as an inevitable but a creative process. This
implies mutual learning and joint growth and a process of acquiring, not only a set of basic
facts and concepts about ‘the other’, but particular skills and competences which will enable
one to interact functionally with anyone different from oneself regardless of their origins. This
then implies the acquisition of an intercultural competence which, in a diverse society,
becomes an important ability.
The intercultural lens
Cities can become more intercultural by taking a fresh look at what they do. This requires
cultural literacy, the capacity to acquire, interpret and apply knowledge about cultures.
Our behavior and thought is informed by our culture, be this ethnic, organizational or
professional. It therefore rests with the urban professions to interrogate their own assumptions
and expectations as well as those of the community they are working with, all the time
understanding that communication takes place within a context of cultural filters through which
things are interpreted and understood. This entails engagement by any professional with a
community exploring its history, cultural institutions and current cultural values, through its
forms of artistic expression, skills, crafts, media of communication, oral history and memory.
The process of engagement can thus become as much an experience of community bonding
as a research tool.
We have subjected six aspects of local activity to re-evaluation through an intercultural lens:
• Public consultation and engagement
• Urban planning and development
• Business and entrepreneurship
• Schools and education
• The arts and creative industries
• Sport
The orthodox, multiculturalist, approach to public consultation assumes communities are
defined by their ethnicity and consulted in isolation (i.e. ‘the African Caribbean community’, ‘the
Asian community’, etc.) as if ethnicity is the only factor influencing the way in which people will
lead their lives in the city. Identity, however, is far more complex. If more community
engagement were conducted in ‘intercultural spaces’ and based on the premise of diverse
groups attempting to address common issues of mutual interest then a great level of cross-
cultural understanding and empathy would be achieved.
Or take city-making. Are the basic building blocks of the city the same when looked at through
intercultural eyes? Think of street frontages, building heights, set backs, pavement widths,
turning circles, the amount of windows and their size, materials, light, colour, water. Should
architects and planners structure space to reflect different cultures as they might see and use
spaces in varied ways? Or should open-ended spaces be created that others can adapt to? In
a survey of residents in Lewisham and Bristol to identify popular intercultural spaces, the
places mentioned with most frequency were not the highly designed or engineered public and
corporate spaces but rather the mundane spaces of day-to-day exchange that people
highlight, such as libraries, schools, colleges, youth centers, sports clubs, specific cinemas, the
hair salon, the hospital, markets and community centers.
We have also considered entrepreneurs from different cultures to understand the specifically
intercultural context of their success and found that the state of individual ‘in-betweenness’

5. leads them to innovate. Each builds on the social, economic and cultural strengths of their
original community, but then departs from it and creates something that at times is alien, or in
conflict with their own community. However, it is precisely this tension and this need to break
with tradition that gives them strength and the impetus to expand into new ventures.
We have found that schools are fundamental to building an interculturally competent society.
Creative pursuits such as drama, media and conflict resolution proved to be strong themes
around which to build cultural literacy. Like education, sport and the arts can provide foci for
intercultural engagement. Shared spaces in the arts can be created which are new to all
cultures while team sports provide great potential for increased interaction between
communities.
Go to THEMATIC STUDIES page
Intercultural innovators
A catalytic individual or group will often form the core of an intercultural initiative. Our study of
thirty-three such people in six English cities identified common characteristics. They fell into
three broad types: artists and animateurs, those involved in community development including
local politicians, and entrepreneurs. They found it easier than most to cross cultural
boundaries, drawing upon elements from different cultures. The consequence was that they
were adept at seeing their own culture as either relative or composite, and at valuing the
different ways of seeing and doing things in the other cultures. This openness gives them a
heightened propensity to select and absorb elements of other cultures and producing new
ways of thinking, seeing, imagining and creating.
Many of these intercultural innovators, especially those of mixed race, often reported
difficulties relating to racism and rejection growing up, but this seemed to have translated into
heightened motivation and resilience. Unorthodox educations were also common, while social
and cultural capital was often built outside formal settings. They often described themselves as
outsiders, mavericks, rebels and on the margins.
Cities can nurture intercultural innovation by recognising diversity and drawing on the skills
and aptitudes therein. They also need to eliminate racism and institutional lethargy and provide
favourable funding and resource conditions. Innovators can be awkward, so cities cannot shy
away from difficult-to-resolve issues.
DOWNLOAD SUMMARY REPORT
The need for new indicators
Currently available data can describe the ethnic make-up of a community but little of their
degree of interaction or co-operation. Our study presents an isolation index of 78 English
borough which is a quantitative measure of the likelihood of a person living next door to
someone from a different background. However, further indicators are clearly needed to
answer questions of how easily and frequently different ethnicities mix, how open a city is in
terms of the institutional framework, business, civil society and public space, and extent of
intercultural co-operation and collaboration.
These questions can be at least partially answered by measures of, for example,
intermarriage, multilingualism and crossover networks, whilst documentary indicators, such as
the existence of a Cultural Diversity or Intercultural strategy, are telling.
To explore openness and interculturalism at an urban level, and test the assumptions of the
indicators they devised, we undertook a case study in Bristol, interviewing active or prominent
people from a wide social spectrum. Among the findings were that among younger people,
especially second and third generation immigrants, day-to-day involvements from work to play
mitigate against segregation. Also, the creative industries and arts sectors are significant
arenas where mixing occurs. The main conclusion, however, is that even though a city may not

6. outwardly display any signs of ethnic tension or antipathy, a passive state of ‘benign
indifference’ is currently the UK default position and this is neither sufficient nor desirable if
society is to make the most of diversity.
Further work on developing practical indicators of openness and intercultural engagement will
be one of the major strands of the projects over the next year.
Cooperation, Mobility and Cultural Policies
The dynamics of trans-national mobility have led to fundamental changes in the way
governments address cultural cooperation in general and exchanges between artists
and other cultural professionals in particular. Policy strategies, legislative frameworks
and programmes or schemes to support mobility are being revised and new priorities
are being set which link culture to other fields such as tourism, urban regeneration or
economic development through the cultural industries.
International cultural cooperation
The updated Compendium country profiles provide more detailed information on how
national governments and other actors are pursuing international cultural cooperation
programs and strategies. They report on: main structures and trends; public actors and
cultural diplomacy; European / international actors and programmes; direct
professional co-operation; cross-border intercultural dialogue and co-operation and
other relevant developments. A comparative overview of national government
approaches to international cultural cooperation is available under "Tables".
Mobility of artists and other cultural professionals
Related information on support for the mobility of artists and cultural professionals is
available from the external site Mobility Matters. It provides country specific
information and case studies on mobility programmes and schemes in 35 European
countries.
Under the first set of objectives, the Union and all other relevant stakeholders
should work together to foster intercultural dialogue to ensure that the EU’s
cultural diversity is understood, respected and promoted. To do that, they
should for example seek to enhance the cross-border mobility of artists and
workers in the cultural sector and the cross-border dissemination of works
of art.
The second set of objectives focuses on the promotion of culture as a
catalyst for creativity in the framework of the Lisbon Strategy for growth
and jobs and its follow-up "EU 2020". Cultural industries are an asset for
Europe's economy and competitiveness. Creativity generates both social and
technological innovation and stimulates growth and jobs in the EU.
Promotion of culture as a vital element in the Union's international relations
is the third set of objectives. As a party to the UNESCO Convention on the

7. Protection and the Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, the EU
is committed to developing a new and more active cultural role for Europe in
international relations and to integrating the cultural dimension as a vital
element in Europe’s dealings with partner countries and regions.
Multi-level dialogue and partnership
In order to implement these three sets of objectives, new working methods
and partnerships have been launched.
The Commission now engages in a structured dialogue with the culture
sector in order to identify and better understand the full range of stakeholders
involved in European cultural co-operation. In this framework, the various
stakeholders in the field of culture – professional organisations, cultural
institutions, non-governmental organisations, European networks,
foundations, etc. – discuss issues among themselves and engage in dialogue
with EU institutions and Member States to support the development of new
policies.
For Member States, implementing the Agenda for Culture entails taking their
cooperation one step further by using the open method of coordination. Four
thematic working groups of experts nominated by Member States are
formulating policy recommendations based on exchange of best practice and
making proposals for cooperation initiatives.
Mainstreaming culture in all relevant policies
The Lisbon Treaty (Article 167, paragraph 4; formerly EU Treaty Article 151)
requires the Union to take culture into account in all its actions so as to foster
intercultural respect and promote diversity. The Commission works to ensure
that the promotion of culture and cultural diversity is given due consideration
when all regulatory and financial decisions or proposals are made.