Since 1995, the CIDOB Foundation has had among its priority topics that of reflecting on and analysing intercultural dynamics, in order to favour significant communication and action relationships among individuals, nations, events, images and discourses.

As priority issues, the Programme tries to bring together new perspectives on intercultural dynamics as the results of processes of identification: hybridisation, transculturation and its identity-constructing dimension, creative accommodation within the processes of adaptation, cultural diversity and recognition, “borderisation” dynamics and new projections of “cosmopolitanism” in the international context.

1. Representations and Intercultural Dynamics

How are representations formed? How are they confirmed, re-elaborated or discounted? What role is played by difference as a carrier of symbolic and historical meaning? Are there trans-cultural representations? Does there exist an international coincidence in the way of dealing with diversity and difference?

2. Boundaries: transience and Intercultural Dynamics

With the objective of situating intercultural dynamics within a reference framework capable of introducing new concepts for reflection, we propose the topic of borders.
The border, as a metaphor, is that space of identification where what is similar and what is different is decided.

3. Participative cosmopolitanism

This research analyses the emerging proposals of social theory: a renewed view of cosmopolitanism, the relationship / dependence between “global” and “local” dynamics and the role of multiple identities in the new transnational context.

4. Intercultural dimension of co-operation

Taking the process of change in co-operation as its starting point, incorporating culture as one of the basic axes of development, new strategies and new actors, both public and private, have been defined. Has there been any reflection on how to learn from the other actors in the different territories or areas of intervention? With intercultural dimension, we aim to make an analysis and a two-way reflection in collaboration with these new actors and share their experiences in order to put pool our views and practices.

5. Intercultuyality from the research point of view: Interdisciplinary Forum of Doctoral Students

This is a proposal for research support for doctoral students from different disciplines, universities and countries.

6. Sociocultural challenges of the 21st century

In collaboration with the Caixa Catalunya Foundation, the Programme organises a lecture series in which experts from different places provide their interpretations of intercultural dynamics.

7. Exchanges of experiences among professionals

This programme deals with bringing the different cultural systems that form part of our society closer together and to give professionals instruments that would allow them to better understand these new realities by exchanging experiences among themselves.