Anna Collier (AFS International) presenting a poster on the AFS Intercultural Link Learning Program at the NAFSA (Association of International Educators) Annual Conference in Houston, Texas USA in June 2012.

We hope you will find this new section of our blog helpful for your work and that you will benefit from attending events where you can meet like-minded professionals, make new contacts and learn about the topics interesting to you. As an inspiration, we are sharing with you what conferences we are planning to attend.

All the listed events are organized or co-organized by international platforms, think-tanks, universities and international organizations, including AFS. Is your event missing? Let us know! We are updating this list weekly, so in case you have a suggestion for an interesting conference that we should add, please leave your idea in a comment. We will be happy to add it to our list.

The Winter Academy on Intercultural Competence will not only present theoretical frameworks regarding intercultural learning, but also practical competencies and knowledge, to enable participants to work as intercultural trainers themselves in the future.

All courses will include workshop sessions with both theoretical and practical content offered by academic professors and AFS trainers. This collaboration will bridge the gap between theory and practice!

The Winter Academy addresses people who are interested in teaching intercultural competence themselves. Such as:

• Students with an intercultural area of studies or/and their own international experiences, who would like to pass their theoretical knowledge through practical trainings.
• Trainers, who have already gathered experience and would like to start working in an intercultural context.
• Young professionals and/or multipliers, who are committed or devoted to intercultural learning, e.g. teachers or practitioners in the field of international youth work.

Enrolled students have the opportunity to obtain 5 European Credit Points (ECTS) for participating in the first seven course days. This is a standardization of higher education within the European Union that accumulates points which lead to the completion of a degree. One year of coursework usually counts for 60 points.

As well, after participating in the entire duration of the Winter Academy (10 course days), participants will be awarded the certificate “Intercultural Trainer” issued by Jacobs University and InterCultur gGmbH.

The Winter Academy offers a great opportunity for people who are involved in (intercultural) training activities. Through the Winter Academy, AFS will not only give students the opportunity for a diverse intercultural education experience, but will also demonstrate our competence at a university level and confirm our identity as an educational organization.

The registration deadline is 15 November 2012. If you have any questions regarding the program, please contact Barbara Langholf (Barbara.Langholf@intercultur.de).

AFS Intercultural Programs is pleased to announce the July/August/September 2012 issue of AFS Intercultural Link Newsletter volume 3, issue 3 – Global Edition, which can be shared with everyone interested in learning more about intercultural education.

The AFS Intercultural Link Newsletter is the quarterly newsletter on intercultural learning in the AFS Network. The newsletter features content shared by the Intercultural Learning Work Group as well as other AFS Partners and guest writers, including information on trends in intercultural education, interviews with experts in the field and overviews of upcoming and previous conferences.

The Summer Academies aim at developing applied solutions for intercultural challenges in business and society and is open to anyone aged 18-35 with a demonstrable interest in the field of intercultural communications and management. Primary target groups are undergraduate students and young professionals with a background or interest in intercultural experiences. Participants also need communicative English skills as all courses are taught in English.

Summer Academy in Karlsruhe

In 2010 and 2011, the Summer Academy on Intercultural Experience has already successfully taken place in Karlsruhe. This year’s Summer Academy takes place from July 29th to August 12th, 2012.

The Summer Academy will comprise lectures in three different areas: Intercultural Communication, Intercultural Management and Intercultural Competence. All courses are taught by university lecturers and professors. Qualified trainers with extensive experience in the international and intercultural field will support them during the practical sections of the workshops. This combination of academic resources and the knowhow of AFS represents an innovative, synergetic and applied concept.

Additionally to the academic course program, participants are offered extracurricular activities to fortify their experiences and to learn more about German and European culture. Besides complementary evening lectures by experts in research and economy, the extracurricular activities offer space to reflect on the learned theories and practices.

Summer Academy in Malaysia

The Asia-Europe X-Cultural Summer Academy on Intercultural Experience is a two weeks course on Intercultural Learning and will be the first intercultural learning academy in Malaysia. The Academy will take place in Bangi Selagor, Malaysia, from August 27 to September 7, 2012. 

The Asia-Europe X-Cultural Summer Academy will focus on intercultural topics with emphasis on Intercultural Communication and Culture and Society with the intention of fostering the intercultural understanding between European and Asian students.

The Academy will comprise lectures on acquisition of intercultural competence as well as on intercultural trainings. All the courses will have complementary workshop sessions with theoretical and practical content offered by lecturers and trainers which are experts with large experience in international environments. Lecturers and trainers will come from Europe and Asia to create a remarkable intercultural classroom learning experience.

AFS Germany has just launched a new consulting branch offering trainings, workshops and consultancy for educational institutions, organizations and enterprises in need of better handling with and enhanced understanding of other cultures.

InterCultur is a subsidiary of AFS Interkulturelle Begegnungen e.V. and therewith part of the oldest and worldwide biggest organization for intercultural exchanges. Over 60 years of experience in pedagogical supervision of intercultural encounters and situations stand for InterCultur’s know-how. Like AFS Germany, InterCultur is a not-for-profit institution as well and also serves the AFS Mission.

InterCultur focuses on intercultural learning for understanding and acting, and combining a sound scientific basis with practice. Given the ongoing globalization, intercultural competence is becoming more and more a key skill (see previous post about this), and InterCultur offers services oriented towards intercultural competence, focusing on intercultural mediation.

Among the services offered by InterCultur are seminars and workshops for schools and universities, corporations, associations and enterprises, advice and know-how customized for specific intercultural projects and the two Summer Academies, one in Germany and another one in Malaysia. InterCultur’s work is based on experiential learning, using activities such as simulations, case studies, small group tasks, group discussions and role plays, always with an intercultural content. The exchange and personal interaction between participants and trainers also play an important role in trainings and workshops.

Read more about InterCultur

The AFS Symposium brought together AFSers and friends from different age groups and backgrounds to discuss the importance of intercultural competencies as a means to both prevent and resolve conflicts. The guest of honor was her majesty Victoria, the Crown Princess of Sweden.

This event, one of the biggest in AFS Sweden´s history, sold out, with almost 200 people gathered at the conference center in downtown Stockholm keen to hear panel discussions on politics, international relations, intercultural communications exchanges, and, last but not least, how AFS has and can influence these areas. The first of three panels featured Martti Ahtisaari, former president of Finland and 2008 Nobel Peace Prize winner; Jan Eliasson, former minister of foreign affairs of Sweden and former Permanent Representative to the UN in New York; Anders Milton, former chair of the Red Cross in Sweden; Lars Heikensten, former head of the Swedish National Bank; and Madeleine Ströje-Wilkens, former Ambassador of Sweden and current member of the AFS Board of Trustees. With local TV host Karin Hübinette moderating, the discussions centered on the question of “The importance of intercultural education to avoid violence and conflicts: What is needed and who is responsible to make it happen?”

Some of the more intriguing remarks included:

• “There is no backlash on multiculturalism but we have not done enough for integration.” Martti Ahtisaari
• “Cultural sensitivity is essential to conflict mediation.” Jan Eliasson
• “More people are interested in contributing to making a difference today.” Anders Milton
• “Youth enthusiasm was a positive effect of the Arab Spring in 2011.” Madeleine Ströje-Wilkens
• “AFS changes international and personal perspectives for participants.” Lars Heikensten
•  “AFS can bring the individual action into a larger perspective.” Jan Eliasson

Panel two focused on the topic of “Are AFS students future ambassadors for peace?” and “How is intercultural understanding applied in reality by students, before, during, and after the program?” Participants in this discussion were AFS exchange students currently living in Sweden: Natasha Pickup (New Zealand), Donatello Piancazzo (Italy), and former AFS participants Astrid Johnson (Mexico 09/10), Annika Becker (USA 65/66), Aviva Katzeff Silberstein (USA 10/11), Filip Ängby (Italy 09/10), and Richard Walls (Australia). Anders Fernlund, former chairperson of AFS Sweden moderated.

Some of the key comments included:

• “Teachers need to make time for intercultural learning in school for all.” Richard Walls
• “Schools should give their students the opportunity for informal learning.” Aviva Katzeff Silberstein
• “After being in Italy I realized that I know nothing about cultural differences.” Filip Ängby
• “I wanted to discover the world, that’s why I became exchange student.” Donatello Piancazzo

Finally, Don Mohanlal, President and CEO, Nand & Jeet Khemaka Foundation India and member of the AFS Board of Trustees; Rosario Gutierrez Becquet Director of AFS Colombia; Sherifa Fayez, Director of AFS Egypt; Vincenzo Morlini, President of AFS Intercultural Programs; and William Meserve, Retired Partner, Ropes & Grey US and Vice Chairperson of the AFS Board of Trustees discussed more specifically the role AFS can plan in peace building.

Significant comments included:
“Stop the isolation between East and West.” Sherifa Fayez
“Understanding that life is enriched by difference is one of our tasks.” Vincenzo Morlini
“Tolerating others cannot be enough, we aim for acceptance.” Rosario Gutierrez Becequet
“Peace is more than the absence of war, there needs to be wellbeing, intercultural learning, and more” Don Mohanlan

The audience was invited to ask questions, which made discussions even livelier. All three debates stressed the importance of intercultural encounters and education. Inspired by the day, many continued the discussions during an evening fundraising event hosted by AFS Sweden. See more quotes via AFS Sweden’s Twitter account: http://twitter.com/interkulturellt.

AFS Sweden thanks all panel discussion members, visitors, the Board of Trustees, sponsors and the National Board for a successful and inspiring event of many encounters!

MARCEL GRÜNINGER, ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR, AFS SWEDEN