EuroMed Intercultural Trends 2010: Anna Lindh Report

This "Report on Intercultural Trends", one of an ongoing series from the Anna Lindh Foundation, aims to provide a tool of action for the Euro-Mediterranean (EuroMed) region. The 2010 report is based on public opinion polling on intercultural trends and values of 13,000 respondents from across the two shores of the Mediterranean. It includes analysis and proposals from experts in over 40 countries of the region, addressing key issues in public debate, including: ‘Islam, the West and Modernity’, ‘Differences and Similarities in Value Systems’, ‘Prospects of Regional Peace’. The thematic focus of this first edition of the report is the role of media in shaping public perceptions. Its conclusion gives direction through proposals for action to policy-makers, opinion-leaders, and civil society.

The document gives results of the poll from 13 EuroMed countries - Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Lebanon, Morocco, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. The results are followed by an analysis and good practices section on values and perceptions and a media thematic focus section of country cases including the following contents and authors:

1. Overview and Perspective
   
2. Media and Intercultural Perceptions in the Region - Naomi Sakr
   
3. Mutual Empathy Against Ignorance and Misunderstandings - Rym Ali
   
4. Countries in Focus 98 Media and Diversity in Post-Conflict Countries - Eldar Sarajlic
   
5. Mirror Images in Daily Life Coverage - Rasha Abdulla
   
6. The Voices of Minorities and Migrants - Isabelle Rigoni
   
7. The Fiction of a Homogeneous National Culture - Sabine Schiffer
   
8. Coverage of Minorities in the Media - Maria Kontochristou and Anna Triandafyllidou
   
9. The Challenge of Media Quality and Ethics - Antoine Messarra
   
10. New Initiatives to Reflect Cultural Plurality - Mona El Hamdani
    
11. Addressing Migration in the Media Landscape - Laura Navarro
    
12. Providing an Insight into the Lives of Others - Alexa Robertson
    
13. Cultural Diversity in the Mainstream Media - Erhan Üstündag and Tolga Korkut
    
14. The Challenge of an Increasingly Interdependent World - Mike Jempson
    

Key findings of the report include:

• "The similarities and differences in values of the people on the two shores of the Mediterranean and the possibilities of creating a space of shared values
  
• The extent to which there is a gap in mutual perceptions and understanding between the people of the North and the South of the Mediterranean
  
• The extent to which people in the Region are in favour of Mediterranean cooperation as envisaged through the ‘Union for the Mediterranean’ "
  

Proposals for action related to communication and media include:

• Developing the Potential of Media for Improving Knowledge and Respect - Promote "...the production of new media formats and entertainment media, whether film, real-life narratives or talent contest,...[as] a tool to reach a broad audience and demonstrate the diversity and richness of Euro-Mediterranean societies by providing examples of intercultural co-existence. At the same time, it is important to invest in more effective media management with the appointment of intercultural ombudspersons, investing in scholarships for young journalists from and through the recruitment of editorial staff from among different segments of society."
  
• Fostering Dialogue between People with Different Religious Beliefs - Promote spaces of debate at the local and international level, and invest in research programmes on the historic development of religions and the current trends of belief to create a scientific basis for region-wide debates.
  
• Investing in Education for Intercultural Learning - Support the design of innovative intercultural approaches within the school curriculum and through non-formal educational programmes, with the purpose of developing and stimulating critical thinking, empathy, and curiosity.
  
• Conveying Key Images and Values aAssociated with Region - Ensure "institutional and civil society support of the transmission of positive images that people associate with the Mediterranean to promote a feeling of emotional co-ownership towards the common Euro-Mediterranean project."
  
• Enhancing the Role of Youth and Women as Main Actors of the Union for the Mediterranean - "The promotion of transnational youth encounters and support for youth-led local initiatives with an intercultural dimension should be assured, while maximising the use of virtual programmes and online media in the launch of Region-wide dialogue campaigns. The important role and contribution of women...in shaping and conveying values among their immediate community should be emphasised and supported through programmes focussed on enhancing their capacity to promote dialogue across Euro-Mediterranean societies."
  
• Developing Tools for an Improved Quality of Interaction - Ensure the "quality...of intercultural exchanges and investing more in innovative tools to improve the intercultural skills of people. The Report sets out a number of existing programmes and tool-kits which can be maximised for the purposes of dialogue work. The importance of these intercultural skills should be conveyed to the large majority of inhabitants of the Region, and the organisation of a yearly main intercultural dialogue event across the Euro-Mediterranean region could help raise awareness."
  
• Empowering Individuals with Migrant Background as Agents for Dialogue - Develop an approach at the local level which places significant value on the positive role of the persons with a migrant background by investing in initiatives and measures focused on the empowerment of people with a migrant origin to act as effective agents of dialogue.
  
• Raising Awareness of the Artistic Community - Facilitate the role "of the artistic community in reinforcing and enlarging the sense of belonging to a common Region..."
• Encouraging Research on the Euro-Mediterranean Cultural Dimension - Encourage university cooperation and research around the main intercultural trends in the Euro-Mediterranean region identified by the report.
  
• Investing in Education for Intercultural Learning - Support the design of innovative intercultural approaches within the school curriculum and through non-formal educational programmes, with the purpose of developing and stimulating critical thinking, empathy, and curiosity, and taking into full consideration the results of the family value approach provided by the report