Promoting diversity through intercultural education and communication strategies - Resolution 375 (2014)

The establishment of intercultural relations and the promotion of intercultural dialogue at local and regional levels frequently suffer from the reluctance and negative representations of the local population, resulting from prejudice and misconceptions most often based on rumours, stereotyping and misinformation. Diversity needs to be respected in contexts which are home to different cultural groups. Intercultural communication and education as tools for promoting harmonious coexistence correspond more to an approach based on what cultural groups have in common than to a view expressed in terms of conflict.

The particular aims of this report are to identify the current problems and obstacles standing in the way of the promotion of respect for diversity at local and regional levels, to put forward some examples of good practice and strategies for working with local populations, and to recommend ways of improving intercultural communication and education. The report recommends, inter alia the establishment of "local partnerships for diversity" with different stakeholders such as educational institutions, the media, civil society and the private sector, in order to produce an overall vision on this subject, develop local and regional policies promoting interculturalism, re-examine administrative functions through an "intercultural prism" and set up governance structures and mediation systems, as well as formulate communication and education strategies aimed at promoting diversity, raising public awareness of its advantages, developing competences in this field and fostering dialogue and interaction between cultural groups.