Context:

A group of 50 citizens from the Euro-Mediterranean region gathered in Alexandria on Oct 29-31 to hold the 1st Education Convention for Intercultural and Democratic Citizenship in the Euromed Region (Europe, North Africa and the Middle East).  The promoters and organizers of the event were two pivotal   institutions within the region:

• the Anna Lindh Foundation (ALF), (http://www.euromedalex.org)  whose mandate is to bring people together from across the Mediterranean to improve mutual respect between cultures and to support civil society working for a common future of the region.

It was represented by Gemma Aubarell, Head of Programme Coordination Unit, and Eleonora Insalaco, Multi-Annual Programmes Manager; Coordinator of the Euromed Observatory

• Swedish Institute Alexandria (SIA), which is an autonomous part of Sweden's Foreign Service, committed to initiatives for dialogue in several areas and at different levels of society. It is currently devoted to activities related to democracy and human rights.http://www.swedenabroad.com/

It was represented by Stig Elvemar, Acting Director, and Cecilia Sternemo, Deputy Director

The geo-strategic position of both institutes in Egypt allows them to be privileged witnesses and stakeholders of the radical changes that are shaping a new democratic citizenship identity and intercultural relations among Euro-Mediterranean countries, amid all the upheaval in the region.

The 50 citizens representing civil society were chosen from 360 organizations which applied to attend the Convention. They were people committed within the formal, non-formal and informal education sector across the Euro-Mediterranean countries.  Most of them were meeting for the first time.   ICA Spain was one of the organizations selected.

Content:
The main objective of the Convention was to lay the base for the development of an Intercultural and Democratic Citizenship Education (IDCE) programme, targeting all three educational systems (formal, non-formal and informal) and building on existing programmes, initiatives and tools.

The approach and methodologies of the convention focused on how to develop an intercultural education programme which could cover the following items:  

• An IDCE capacity building programme for education professionals.
• Strategies and policies supporting the reform process in the field of citizenship education.
• Intercultural, pedagogically based methods and actions in the social sphere to empower young people, foster the development of a culture of participation, dialogue, openness, critical thinking, empathy, curiosity and respect for other cultures across the Euro-Mediterranean region.

The following are some of the questions and challenges we faced during group discussions on how to promote IDCE within the region:

• Can there be a shared concept of citizenship, taking into account all the different power and emancipation struggles in the Euromed region?
• What can we learn from each other as we interchange and exchange IDCE good practices?
• What links can we build between formal, non-formal and informal learning on IDCE?
• Religion or secularism in the programme?
• How to bridge the gap between street values and democratic values.
• How to overcome the fear of change and traditionalism.
• How social participation can be promoted in an equal and equitable way.
• How to overcome cultural and social resistance to change.  
• Are we going towards new ways of social participation? How to make use of new media.

Some of the key working definitions regarding IDCE values, purposes, process that were introduced came from:

UN Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights on Education for democratic citizenship:

“Education for democratic citizenship focuses on educational practices and activities designed to help young people and adults to play an active part in democratic life and exercise their rights and responsibilities in society.”

Anna Lindh Foundation – Strategy 2012 -2014 on Intercultural Dialogue:

“an exercise of social exchange where actors are not abstract cultures, but human beings with complex identities and carrying personal or collective projects addressing their needs and their  expectations. An exchange which takes place ‘in close relation with the ability of individuals to decide and participate’, that is to say, acting as citizens.”

National (Irish) Council for Curriculum and Assessment on Intercultural Education (2005):

“….respects, celebrates and recognises the normality of diversity in all areas of human life.  It sensitises the learner to the idea that humans have naturally developed a range of different ways of life, customs and worldviews, and that this breadth of human life enriches all of us.  It is education, which promotes equality and human rights, challenges unfair discrimination, and promotes the values upon which equality is built.”

Process:
The process aimed to get a common understanding and consensus of key ICDE elements which have particular relevance to the impact of the current changes happening in the Arab countries.

The meeting was structured in plenaries, with three working groups which met certain criteria of gender, educational sector and geography.  The process aimed to facilitate the exchange of experiences, mutual feedback, identifying common needs, challenges and defining concrete proposals for the future.   This was done following a methodological discussion framework:
a) Regional contexts; b) Needs Assessment; c) Methodology and Approaches; and d) Strategic Design.

a) Regional contexts sharing:  Two inspiring cases  were presented before breaking into group discussions: An Egyptian case: challenges and opportunities for the emergence of a new culture of democracy and participation by Nabih Shehata

• A Tunisian case: youth participation in the current secular/religious divide and pre-elections ideological arena by Souad Halila

b) Needs assessments: In working groups, we continued sharing different educational and methodological approaches which allowed us to identify common challenges and needs regarding IDCE implementation:

Needs such as:

• An inclusive, participatory and innovative contextualized pedagogical approach in ICDE projects to guarantee impact and relevance.
• A qualitative impact assessment based on continuous monitoring for replicability and multiplier effect instead of a quantitative impact measurement.
• Quality assurance of projects with a focus on qualitative transferability and sustainability through networking.  
• Combine a Euromed approach with country and local-specific measures 
• Teachers trained to adapt to a new role of facilitating learning processes.

Challenges such as:

• How to be responsive to immediate social, political needs of youth.
• How to avoid disillusionment and disappointment after having achieved major social and political shifts.
• How to regain ownership of what has been achieved and encourage social change.
• How to promote equal social participation and develop a sense of responsibility and accountability for social, cultural and political stakeholders.
• How to create mutual confidence in societies in transition
• The lack of role models for leaders and style of leadership to refer to.
• How can the IDCE programme be resilient to changing political conditions? Can the future programme be protected from political interference?
• How to support the formation of multiple and flexible identities while enhancing common identities as citizens in public spheres.

Exchange of good practices on ICDE:

• How formal education can integrate the lessons and experience of the non-formal and informal sectors.
• How to value and rescue the human experience as a source of learning. 
• How to replicate  good practices for developing intercultural competences focused on  human experience process learning, such as the psycho-pedagogical process applied for Religious Diversity and Anti-discrimination training course, based on following learning experiential stages: > Building the Foundation > Identity àCultural Awareness > Examining Issues > Confronting issues > Personal & Social Actions > Follow-up-Community of Practice run by the Belieforama partnership: www.belieforama.eu

We would like to highlight one of the most important needs that arose from our dialogue: the need to support a new, inclusive Euromed citizenship identity and foster social cohesion through the nurturing of universal and humanistic values and ethics and a core of comprehensive intercultural competences as well as the understanding of the concept of common good within and across societies.

c) Methodologies and approaches: which  should be informed by:

• Explorations into common history across the Euromed region
• Awareness that any participatory method is multilayered (ladder of participation), adaptable and transferable
• Teacher training connected to the depth of community life.
• Involvement of civil society for the promotion of a culture of participation and dialogue which should start from the grass-root
• Use of multiple intelligences theory methods and practice: for example, art, music, creative writing and drama.
• Promote experiential learning and involve all the stakeholders in the development of resources
• Technology of participation (ToP): whose methods and processes enable multicultural and multidisciplinary teams to release and foster a high level of collective thinking, awareness and commitment to action. The ToP methods were designed and developed by members of the Institute of Cultural Affairs. http://topfacilitation.net/

d) Strategic design:  Examples of ICDE capacity building strategies for professional educators:

• Enhancing Human Capacity Building: to increase democratic attitudes, skills, participation and intercultural citizenship within the Euromed societies by 2015.
  
  
Some of the competences and skills to be developed: Class management, dialogue, conflict resolution, diversity management and facilitation, active learning,  human /life development, advocacy-inquiry skills, transformative leadership skills.


• The Broad School Approach:  Teachers become agents of social change in collaboration with other social change agents in civil society. Schools are not isolated entities but part of civil society. What happens in civil society becomes elements of teachers´ lectures.
  

Some of the competences and skills to be developed: Teachers’ knowledge and awareness of self and others, teachers’ leadership style and facilitation role,  teachers’ capacity to relate to their surrounding society.

• Develop self-sustaining dynamic schools & innovative practice learning communities: Based on self-sustaining community of practice/change transferability  Some of the competences and skills to be developed: Capacity for awareness and collaborative & cooperative practice

These strategies were outlined for short (1 year) and long term (3 years) and took into consideration activities for different stakeholders of civil society.

Outcome:
It took organizations such as the Anna Lindh Foundation and the Swedish Institute in Alexandria with a firm and strategic long term vision and a participatory approach to make possible a direct working consultation with multi-stakeholders from civil society.
One of the IDCE long term strategies was  to promote full awareness and understanding of civic rights and responsibilities in order to mobilize society for active social citizenship through:

• Advocacy campaigns, raising awareness from all sectors (youth, media, education, society at large, religious leaders, community leaders, etc) to support governmental reform process.
• Setting up a multi-stakeholders structure for implementation of the strategy.
• Development of a Core Curriculum for Citizenship and Intercultural Education as a transversal subject.

Priorities for action:

• Mapping country approaches.
• Core curriculum development for a common intercultural citizenship course (that can be contextualized for formal and non-formal education, reaching out to all lifelong learning settings).
• Collaborative (multi-stakeholder) development of educational resources.
• Process-defined exchanges & project work for social change; and Euromed coordinated cooperation.
• Reform of teacher training practices and priorities.
• Creation of a pool of interdisciplinary experts and trainers.
• Advocacy to be based on dialogue between national, international, governmental and non-governmental stakeholders

The Convention wove the basis for initiating a solid and rich Euro-Mediterranean multi stakeholders networking for continuing exchanging on ICDE matters, having ALF and  SIA as umbrella organizations.


We would like to thank the reporters and members of the working groups of the Convention whose ideas informed this report. Thanks to Jenny Siung for the slides shared.