Living together in Europe includes the multifaceted challenge of finding constructive procedures for dealing with cultural and religious differences in daily life. Key competences are required to enable people flexibly to adapt to a rapidly changing and interconnected world. As we seek to identify and define those competences for personal fulfillment, active citizenship, social cohesion and employability in a knowledge-based society, educational institutions throughout Europe are asked to help in their promotion. Expectations in respect of their contribution are high.

The European Year of Intercultural Dialogue encourages exchange and debate about examples of good practice and about the structures required so as to facilitate collaboration between actors in civil society and the European political institutions. The overall task is to develop constructive methods and channels to deal with cultural and religious diversity that are a concomitant of living together in Europe. Among the key competences, social and civic skills are particularly important. Good practice that contributes to intercultural dialogue and to democratic European Citizenship is to be encouraged.

The demand for the “Europeanization“ of education can only be realised, when diversity and difference are not perceived as a threat and when constructive educational methods enrich the context. Against this background, the conference will offer opportunities for the presentation of current European developments with workshops that draw on examples from different regions of Europe. The program includes presentations and speeches that provide political as well as academic perspectives, together with dialogue sessions between representatives of political institutions and networks of Christian churches in Europe.

For more about the Evangelische Akademie zu Berlin - download

For the greeting text (auf Deutsch) from Eckhart Marggraf Secretary of the International Association for Christian Education - download