United in Diversity ? - Theory and Practice of Integration Work

Looking at the reality of contemporary Europe it becomes clear that the European motto of "United in Diversity" is becoming a challenge not so much in between nations but within the nation states itself. The migration flows of the last decades let to a situation in which the percentage of migrants or people with migration background living in today's Europe is on a new high and therefore raising debates about the relation between majority and minority cultures and the topic of cultural identity. The described context also leads to new challenges for youth workers. The demands from various actors towards educational approaches to work with culturally diverse groups or to support the process of integration of young migrants or minority groups is very high. Regarding the educational sector it is also important to mention the importance of activities, which involve the majority population as a target group. Those should serve as a mean to address the widespread phenomenon of negative stereotypes and attitudes towards minorities and immigrants and are gaining special importance when taking into account the rising number of strong nationalistic movements in many countries. Although the situation in the EECA region varies from state to state many countries are facing similar situations, especially concerning cultural minorities who have been living there for a long period time. Additionally those countries are also lately facing an increasing number of immigrants from war zones and a mutual exchange of best practices will contribute to the capacity building of actors in this region. Apart from the thematic context, the project also addresses the topic of cross-sectoral cooperation between youth work and the academic sector. In the field of non-formal education the gap towards the academic field often results in a lack of in-depth reflection on basic assumptions, which could serve as an inspirational source for new approaches. The seminar "United in Diversity ? - Theory and Practice of Integration Work" therefore wants to bring researcher and practitioners in the field of integration work together to discuss and share best practice and to explore mutual benefits of a cross-sectoral cooperation.