UNITED-CONFERENCE INVITATION
BRIDGING
CULTURES AND IDENTITIES
11-15 November
in Cyprus (CY) |
Invitation
Multicultural
societies, "clash of cultures", choosing an identity...
The conflict situation
around the world has an influence on how people are defining
their own identities, how they see themselves in relation to
their own culture and to the others. Community and youth leaders
who want to get involved in managing conflicts, in building bridges
between cultures, in creating a multicultural environment, need
to understand the problems to discover new methods and useful
tools.
The EU enlargement caused new divides in the European House,
creating psychological and physical barriers where they didn't
exist before. How to deal with the new situation, how to manage
the new forms of migration, the development from national identity
to European identity, all these questions will be approached
from different perspectives, trying to formulate solutions.
The UNITED conference in Cyprus
will provide the participants with the opportunity to understand
the new context they are living in, by sharing their approach
to the problems they are facing. This will give them the possibility
to open a dialogue and to exchange examples of good practice
in the struggle against discrimination. They will find common
ways to promote intercultural diversity and understanding. The
proximity of an international conflicts, the concrete problematic
situation of Cyprus will give a deeper insight and understanding
of the need for immediate action. The work that local Greek and
Turkish Cypriot NGOs are undertaking in order to create a bridge
between the two cultures in Cyprus will be on the one hand a
concrete example to learn from, and on the other hand it will
be improved by all the positive input coming from other European
regions.
The debates will provoke reflection
as well as give us an opportunity to think about solutions: to
plan common actions and campaigns. UNITED invites nominations
from representatives of non-governmental organisations active
in the field of anti-racism, minority rights and intercultural
dialogue.
The following issues have
been selected for debate in plenary sessions and discussions
during working groups:
- Multicultural / Intercultural societies
NGO role in an intercultural society, identities in a multicultural
society, conflict resolution....
- Racism & Discrimination
the minority point of view, testimonies, empowerment of minority
groups for fighting racism....
- Islamophobia & Antisemitism
a common struggle for combating them...
- Migrants & Refugees
internally displaced persons, migrant workers, xenophobia and
discrimination they face, integration, trans-nationalism...
- Media & Communication
role of the media in bridging cultures and identities, in opening
the dialogue...
- Activities promoting diversity
presentation of successful projects in promoting diversity in
different countries (East and West of Europe, Mediterranean area,
etc.)...
UNITED is the largest European
anti-racist network of more than 560 organisations. Through its
conferences anti-racist and human rights activists from all parts
of Europe meet and discuss effective ways of combating racism
and discrimination. At a recent UNITED conference held in May
2005 in Rieti, Italy more than 80 delegates representing organisations
from 36 European countries analysed the situation of refugees,
migrants and the new challenges of islamophobia and antisemitism
and planned common strategies for intercultural dialogue in Europe.
Technical Info
Working methods
... plenary sessions, working groups, lectures, political cafés,
presentations, debates, intercultural 'games', information market,
cultural activities, open forum
See the programme
(pdf 32KB) for further details.
Participants
The conference is planned for ± 70 participants (living
in Europe) who represent (inter)national anti-racist, anti-fascist,
refugee, human rights and minority rights organisations. Active
grass-roots groups from all over Europe are also invited. Participation
is rotated from one conference to another. Priority will be given
to nominations from young delegates (under 30) with a minority
background. Preference is given to those organisations that actively
take part in UNITED campaigns. Participants should act as multipliers,
spreading the information to as many people as possible. We will
try to reach an equal balance of female/male participants and
a good geographical distribution. Each organisation can nominate
only one delegate.
Language
The conference language is English. All participants are expected
to have at least basic knowledge of English. But don't worry,
English is almost nobody's mother tongue. If you have difficulties
in expressing yourself, surely we can help each other.
Financial conditions: Participation
fee - travel costs
The participation fee of the conference is:
100 Euro for participants from:
A, B, CH, CY, D, DK, E, F, FIN, GB, GR, I, IS, IRL, L, M, N,
NL, P, S (group 1)
60 Euro for participants from:
BG, BH, CZ, EE, H, HR, LV, LT, MK, PL, RO, SI, SK, TR, YU (group
2)
30 Euro for participants from:
AL, ARM, AZ, BY, GE, KZ, KY, MD, RUS, UA, UZB (group 3)
Full board and lodging and the complete program is included.
Organisations that paid their supporter fee to the UNITED Network
will receive a 50% reduction of the participation fee. (for explanations
about how to become a supporter see www.unitedagainstracism.org
under 'joining the network')
UNITED can contribute to your travel costs up to a maximum of
350 Euro. In special cases the amount can be raised to
450 Euro for people travelling long-distance from Eastern Europe
(group 3 above).
Please look for the cheapest
and most environmentally friendly possibility to travel. You
will be expected to attend the whole meeting and to prove your
travel expenses with an original invoice and the original
tickets.
The cost of your visa
can be reimbursed by UNITED.
UNITED conferences can only
take place when participants make an effort to contribute financially
to their travel costs. We ask you to find out if there are alternative
possibilities of funding. Sometimes it is possible to find small
local grants (e.g. a travel grant from a foundation, a university,
an embassy or another sponsor). We would very much appreciate
your help.
Date and place
The conference will start on Friday 11 November 2005 and will
end after lunch on Tuesday 15 November 2005. You will share a
room with other people. If you wish to arrive earlier or stay
longer (on your own costs), we can help you arrange your stay.
Further information
Please, note that sending the expression of interest form does
not guarantee your participation in the conference. Only those
candidates selected for participation (this will be known in
October) will receive further information e.g. visa invitation,
explanation 'how to get there', a final program, list of participants,
etc. Feel free to contact us (by email) after October 1 to get
information about your nomination.
Also files: program
(pdf 32KB), registration
form (rtf 12KB),
UP
UNITED
for Intercultural Action
European network against nationalism, racism, fascism
and in support of migrants and refugees
Postbus
413, NL-1000 AK Amsterdam, Netherlands
phone +31-20-6834778, fax +31-20-6834582
info@unitedagainstracism.org,
www.unitedagainstracism.org
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