Intercultural Navigators are young people with a desire to make a significant positive contribution to society; people who want to learn, are open minded, curious, and willing to share their own experiences and at the same time actively seek new perspectives. The programme aims to achieve a balance of diversity in terms of religion, gender, disability, ethnicity, class, sectors (private/public/civil society) and geographical balance (rural/urban and regional/provincial), in order to reflect and have an impact across society at country level.
The structure of the programme is simple: the Navigators met for four two day training workshops in each participating country during 2008 and 2009. They developed their leadership potential and were inspired to lead change in their communities. The training was followed by international attachments involving public and non-governmental institutions and the business sector. To turn new knowledge and experience into action the British Council and its international partners also encourage the participants to develop and implement their own projects in the field of intercultural dialogue.
The Intercultural Navigators project is now running in 18 European countries with 20–70 participants in each country, who will all come together in a global on-line community and share experiences and knowledge in the field of intercultural dialogue.
In Slovakia we have trained 24 Navigators. After their training 9 Navigators had the opportunity to participate in international attachments in partner institutions in the UK, Sweden, Poland, Estonia, and Slovenia.
“I’ve learned a lot and gained a useful experience and contacts in Scotland as well as a promise of future support and help from my Scottish colleagues in the sphere of lecturing and training.
I’ve returned with a lot of inspiring thoughts and visions which I’m now trying to put through in our organization’s philosophy – the inspiration and passion for work in voluntary sector are probably the most precious things which I’ve brought back with me from Scotland”
Tana, attachment to Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, UK
British Council in Slovakia has also supported four projects with participation of 9 Navigators:
Days of Intercultural Diversity
The aims of the project
- to increase intercultural communication skills/develop intercultural competence of participants and learn more about diversity
- to provide intercultural training for participants who can disseminate their knowledge
- to provide space for networking at a national and an international level
Participating countries: Slovakia, Hungary Poland, Ukraine
Slovak–Hungarian Understanding
The aims of the project
- to develop and implement bilingual educational tools based on innovative educational methodologies and dealing with issues of common concern in Hungary and Slovakia
- to inspire critical reconsideration of main themes which trigger conflicts and tensions between the two countries with a special focus on practitioners in formal and informal educational settings
- to empower young people in overcoming language barriers and mental gaps by involving them in creative collaboration using interactive drama techniques
Participating countries: Slovakia, Hungary.
MultiUrbi
The aims of the project
- to promote multicultural image of the city, open the gates to the visitors as well as to introduce less prominent representations of the city to its inhabitants.
- to create a heterogeneous group of people and show a different view of these subjects in relation to perception of urban space.
Participating countries: Slovakia, Norway, Ukraine
Appreciative Inquiry
The aims of the project
- to make teachers aware of assumptions of Appreciative inquiry in order to apply positive and individual attitude towards solving problems in schools
- to point out the fact that diversity and multiculturalism do not concern different nationalities, religions, and races only but also different characteristics of people
- to lead people to value these differences and make an effective use of them in their communities.
Participating countries: Slovakia
Our partners for this project include:
Nadacia Milana Šimečku
Partners for Democratic Change
Centrum pre výskum etnicity a kultury
Inštitút pre verejné otázky
The Intercultural Navigators project draws to a close in 2010, but the same theme of encouraging active participation in society will be carried forward in our Active Citizens project.
Active Citizens project website: http://activecitizens.britishcouncil.org
Within the Intercultural Navigators project a new initiative – the European Study of Youth Mobilisation (ESYM) – explores the social and political activity among 15 to 30 year olds in Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden. The study commenced in March 2008 and the first reports are being published this spring, with the final report to be issued in the early autumn of 2010. British Council and the University of St. Andrews have collaborated with local researchers to convene expert panel symposia, conduct field data collection, engage in ethnographic explorations, and execute a multi-site, multi-lingual survey. Research partners include: The Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Culture (CVEK – Slovakia); the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS); the Finnish Youth Research Network; Masaryk University – Brno, Czech Republic; Project Exit Fryhuset, Stockholm; and the Social Research Institute (TARKI – Hungary). The aim of the survey is to explore how changing social, spatial and economic relations within an increasingly “integrated” Europe effect the social and political mobilisation of young people.
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