12 October 2007

Who is involved in the Project?

The coordinating organization of this project is the Future Worlds Center (legal reg.: Cyprus Neuroscience and Technology Institute), based in Nicosia. The project’s partner organizations are: the Cyprus Adult Education Association, the Human Rights and Education Network, the University of Cyprus (Department for Political Sciences), and the Young Cypriot Scientists Network.
The project receives funding from the UNDP Action for Cooperation and Trust program.

This project addresses three immediate target groups:
v students of different ages
v parents
v teachers
Furthermore, through a number of additional actions, such as Panel Discussions, a Conference and Information Events it targets the Cypriot society, at large.

Activities of the Project

To meet the objectives of the project, the applicants intend to employ two different types of activities:

v Panel discussions and
v Interactive structured democratic dialogue workshops.

The panel discussions aim to create a forum, which will encourage discussion, open debates, and exchange of different views. We envision that these open discussion forums will help create awareness about the problems, familiarize attendees with current European practices and regulations, and lead to better understanding of other people’s perspectives.
In their first phase, the structured dialogue workshops will focus in defining obstacles to a multi-cultural school environment. The second phase will focus on developing a joint vision map for a multi-cultural Cyprus with a special focus on the school environment. In the workshops, teachers, parents and students will work together. In a third phase they will develop an action plan to implement their own specific projects, with the aim to facilitate materializing that vision of a multicultural Cyprus.
The project will conclude with a final conference, in which results of the workshops, as well as the specific activities implemented by the workshop participants will be presented. The conference will be open to the general public with a special focus on NGOs, teachers and educators. Experts will contribute to the conference with their academic and scientific work, and will place the project results in a wider scientific context of societal change.

Expected results of the Project

x A shared vision for a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic Cyprus created jointly by students, teachers, and parents.
x A set of specific activities to foster sensitivity for a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic Cyprus, carried out by participants involved in the project.
x Newspaper-publications about the structured workshops, and their outcome as an expression of a new vision shared across Cypriot students, parents, and teachers.
x A scientific publication of the results of the structured-design workshops.
x A series of five booklets about multiculturalism to be disseminated during panel discussions and other events.
x A final symposium combined with a press conference with take-home deliverables about the new vision shared across Cypriot students, parents, and teachers.
x A final project report to be disseminated to NGOs and schools across Cyprus.