Staff of Wrocław’s offices and institutions, public services and educational establishments are taking part in training to strengthen their intercultural competences under the grant competition “Strengthening intercultural competences – Wrocław 2024”, resolved by the city in March this year. The workshops, delivered in cooperation with Fundacja EkoRozwoju, will run until November 2024.
The project “We. You. They. The host society and the challenges of integration”, initiated and funded by Wrocław Municipality, takes the form of free workshops. They focus on intercultural contact and the factors that influence how people with migration or refugee experience are perceived and judged, as well as on the process of their integration into the host society. People working in municipal institutions and units, public services and schools, among others, form a particular part of Wrocław’s host community because of their daily contact with newcomers to the city from different cultural backgrounds. The workshops, designed with this group in mind, are an opportunity to deepen, refresh and perhaps re-examine the knowledge and assumptions they have acquired so far about intercultural contact and the integration process.
What an intercultural competence workshop looks like
The aim of the workshops is to strengthen intercultural competences, which are key to integration, understood as an active, two-way process between people arriving in a new country or city and the host community. During the workshops, participants examine how the mechanisms of stereotyping and discrimination affect everyone, including members of the host society. They learn how to consciously identify potential problems arising from intercultural differences that may come up in everyday contact, and thus prevent conflicts, individual and systemic discrimination, and violence.
Interest in intercultural workshops
Training for the host society (particularly for public services and school communities) is in high demand and has been well received by representatives of offices and services, including the police (with many Wrocław police stations taking part).
Intercultural education in Wrocław (2016-2024)
This year’s edition of the project will run until the end of November 2024. The first training session took place in May as part of Wrocław’s Diversity Month celebrations. The project is coordinated by the Wrocław Centre for Social Development.
Wrocław’s intercultural education programme has been running since 2016. Between 2016 and 2024, more than 2,500 people were trained. The thematic scope of the training, which the trainers adapt to current social challenges and target groups, includes developing communication and conflict-resolution skills, fostering openness towards other people and worldviews, and ways of responding to discrimination and violence.
Who can take part in the intercultural competence workshops
The workshops are aimed at staff of public institutions and bodies, public services, school and local communities.
The workshops are free of charge. The organisers also plan open sessions and remote (online) workshops. On request, certificates are issued confirming participation in the training.
To take part in the workshops, please send the application form or contact the coordinator directly:
Aneta Osuch
e-mail: osuch[-]eko.org.pl
tel. 696-948-194
Duration of the training:
Up to 5 full hours (part of the workshop is set aside for consultations). The number of hours is adjusted to the groups’ needs and availability.
Venue:
EkoCentrum Wrocław, ul. Św. Wincentego 25A, or at the participating institution/organisation
Dates:
2 April – 30 November 2024 (training dates will be arranged once a group has registered; sessions can be held in the morning or in the afternoon)
More information
Project website: https://fer.org.pl/projekty/my-wy-oni-3
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