Intercultural Dialogue & refugees’ educational challenges

The role of Local stakeholders and the challenges arising from the refugee flows in terms of education and inclusion were at the heart of the 2nd Forum on Intercultural dialogue, organized by the University of Patras on 7-8 October in Patra (GR).

The Forum was attended by representatives from the educational sector, Academia, Local Authorities and networks. Developed using the Delphi methodology, the following elements were discussed:

  • The situation of refugees in Greece & Europe (including refugee flows) & the role and challenges of local stakeholders, dealing with the situation on a daily basis
  • The educational challenges (school attendance for refugee children, education of adults, inclusion in society, exchange and mutual understanding with local societies) of the refugee situation & the notion of “other”.

The LADDER project was presented to the participants by Nikos Gamouras (Project manager – ALDA), stressing the challenges as well as the opportunities that Local Authorities and CSOs have in global trends such as the refugee crisis. The importance of the awareness raising dimension was in particular stressed, being crucial to inform citizens and engage them in such contexts. In parallel, the discussions pointed out the need to take the local realities strongly into account, involving citizens and communities while addressing the needs and issues at the local level.

The event was held in the framework of the European Local Democracy Week, an initiative of the Council of Europe that ALDA and its members are promoting.

Useful links:
Photo Gallery
Facebook page of the event