Call for papers - Seminar "Culture, social cohesion and integration challenges"

Deadline 5th November 2007
(Seminar : December 13-14 2007, Zoetermeer, the Netherlands)

Background on the ARCADE Project

In recent decades, development actors worldwide have been made progressively aware of the inter-linkages between culture and development. More specifically, it has become clear that development projects and programmes which fail to integrate a cultural dimension have less chance of success. Taking the time to analyse and make use of the cultural environment and factors related to a particular development action has proved to have a significant impact on its sustainability in the long-term.

The ARCADE Project was launched in January 2007 with the aim to raise awareness about culture and development in Europe and is coordinated by ACTED, the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development, in partnership with ENTP, the European New Towns Platform and CIR, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Research in the Social Sciences. By promoting the cultural and artistic identity of developing countries in Europe, ARCADE will also highlight that the respect of cultural diversity is a prerequisite for successful and sustainable development projects.

Seminar Overview

The 2nd ARCADE Seminar will bring together actors of culture and social development from various backgrounds (including representatives of local authorities, NGOs, foundations, universities, international organisations as well as artists and cultural practitioners.) The objective is to exchange the latest ideas and practices on culture as it relates to social cohesion and integration challenges in both rural/urban and developed/developing environments.

The seminar will be divided into two main sessions, one plenary session aiming to link the theoretical aspects of the subject to more concrete applications in Europe and developing countries, by notably insisting on the participation of international cooperation actors. The second session will be dedicated to a deeper debate of the plenary discussions, with the participants divided into small working groups.

Key Themes

The proposals for presentations, discussions or working groups for this seminar should address one or more of the following topics:

• Arts and culture as social development tools
• National cohesion – shared values traditions and symbols
• Role of the media in fostering social cohesion
• Internet as the new medium for social communication

Particular emphasis is given to the analysis of good practice cases:

Successful examples of cultural projects related to integration and social cohesion in Europe, including:

• The integration of minorities through cultural projects
• Managing cultural diversity in society
• Cities as a locus for civic and cultural engagement
  

Successful examples of cultural projects fostering integration and social cohesion in developing countries, including:

• Culture as a tool for cohesion between rural and urban identities
• Mainstreaming cultural diversity in development projects
• Acceptance of integration processes through cultural actions
• Developing a role for locally-led tertiary sector organisations

Proposal Guidelines

Abstracts of approximately 250 words must include the paper/presentation title, the name(s) of the author(s), affiliation, mailing address, phone number, and email address. The abstract should be concise and indicate the salient points of the paper.

Abstracts may be in English or French. Abstracts should be in the language the author will use to present the paper. (Simultaneous interpretation will be available in some sessions).

Individual presentations will normally be 15 minutes in length; the roundtable discussion will last approximately 40 minutes; and the working groups will run for up to 1 hour and 30 minutes.