Cultural diversity and voluntary service: international solidarity or diversity consumption?
organised in Kostelecké Horky, Czech Republic, 4-10 April 2006.

From 4th to 10th April, CCIVS organised a seminar on approaches to Cultural Diversity in international voluntary workcamps. It took place in the Czech Republic, in a training centre of INEX sda, one of our member organisations.

The seminar aimed at fostering the intercultural competence and knowledge about relevant methodologies for the organisers and coordinators of international voluntary workcamps. The aim of the seminar was to help the stakeholders of voluntary service projects to fully use the potential of learning of the international workcamp as a laboratory and microcosm for an experience of living together. The idea was to influence the world vision of the volunteers participating in a voluntary service project through an appropriate frame for learning during the project.

During the seminar the concept of cultural diversity was introduced as a choice for the everyday life beyond the festive and folkloric celebrations of difference on the one hand or its limitation to the issue of racism and discrimination on the other. Much stress was put on the vision of culture as a dynamic concept subject to multiple influences over the course of time. The inter-relatedness of the various aspects of culture from the individual level to the one of the nation-state was also explored.

Report of the seminar

Annexes (click on the link to download):

Text on the seminar

PowerPoint presentation on CCIVS approach on cultural diversity

PowerPoint presentation on the module and editing teams

Statistical analyses evaluation sheets

The seminar declaration

Presentation Amin Maalouf, as shown on 7th April
(small version 5 MB or big version 36 MB, plays in Quicktime)
(link to the original interview: http://world.law.harvard.edu/show6.html)