EURODIV · Cultural diversity in Europe: a series of conferences

Final Activity Report Summary - EURODIV (Cultural diversity in Europe: a series of conferences)

The EURODIV Marie Curie Series of Conferences was a unique experiment aimed at providing top-level training in one of the most researched topic of our days: cultural diversity. The project started from the assumption that the interdisciplinary feature of cultural diversity is not adequately addressed and that the quest for training offer in this topic is often left unnoticed. Within this scenario, EURODIV organised a series of Conferences on the understanding of cultural diversity in Europe and on the ways of dealing with it and its dynamics in the globalisation era. Under the co-ordination of FEEM, EURODIV offered a unique training platform targeted primarily to young researchers. The Conferences were organised as follows: - 1st Conference "Understanding diversity", 26-27/01/06, Milan (local organiser: FEEM). It focused on empirical research and on the challenge of mapping, measuring and comparing diversity within and across countries, regions, cities, institutions and organisations. - 2nd Conference "Qualitative diversity research: Looking ahead", 19-20/09/06; Leuven (local organiser: K.U.Leuven). It studied the state and private organisations as places that need to find appropriate and effective ways to understand and deal with diversity. - 3rd Conference "Diversity in cities: visible and invisible walls", 11-12/09/07, London (local organiser: UCL). Focusing on cities, it studied the interaction between urban space, the dynamics of identity formation, the construction of cross-cultural relationships and the emergence of cultural dialogue. - 4th Conference "Diversity in cities: new models of governance", 16-17/09/08, Rome (local organiser: IPRS). It looked at the governance of diversity by public bodies and local governments, with emphasis on the potential for city governance to contribute to the sustainability of diversity. - 5th Conference "Dynamics of diversity in the globalisation era", 22-23/10/09, Milan (local organiser: FEEM). It addressed the dynamics of diversity in response to growing international exchanges of people, goods and ideas (and vice-versa) and its implication for policy. An additional sixth Workshop on "Sustainable diversity: towards the Research Manifesto" was organised on 8-9/12/09 in London (local organiser: FEEM). This Conference convened the most talented EURODIV researcher from the past 5 Conferences and senior scholars to reason together on the topic "sustainability and diversity". The event was organised based on the "cafè methodology" and proved a success in terms of interaction and training offer. Overall the EURODIV Conferences stimulated the debate on cultural diversity by: - Providing an opportunity for young scholars in the field to interact, exchange their knowledge with experienced academics and researchers; - Providing a unique training platform for the professional advancement of young careers; - Creating a wide network of researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds and countries. To date the network counts over 500 people who have either participated in an EURODIV event as speakers, presenters, keynotes, or have interacted with its activities via web and newsletter. At dissemination level, EURODIV offered young scholars the opportunity to publish their research in FEEM Working Papers Series. Over 70 papers have been included in the series and circulated to the most acknowledged distribution channels on the Internet: SSRN, EconLit, RePEc, Berkeley University Press.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union