The conference ‘Learning to live in a multicultural world: Diaspora and peacemaking in Europe’ closed on Sunday 31 July at the Initiatives of Change conference centre in Caux above Montreux. 250 Participants from all parts of Europe among them many representatives from different diaspora communities, gathered for 5 days at the conference centre and discussed new ways of living together in a multicultural society.

Oliver Freeman and Dibyesh Anand at the Learning to live in a multicultural world conference in Caux (Photo: Liubou Pranevich)

Among the highlights of the conference was a panel discussion on ‘The new we: Visions of an inclusive intercultural environment’: Dibyesh Anand, Associate Professor and Research Director in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Westminster in London, stressed, that our society was constantly changing. ‘Democracy is a means to deal with diversity. It should not be the tyranny of the majority. Democracy has to protect minorities, and we have to acknowledge that we are all part of one or several minorities. As soon as we realize this, we will realize that we have to be humble and protect minorities from discrimination.’ Anand continued by saying that democracy was not a status but an ideal and that Switzerland and Europe as a whole had to be careful to keep democracy up to date so that new minorities will be protected in the same way as ‘old minorities’.

Audience at the panel on 'The new we' (Photo: Liubou Pranevich)

Oliver Freeman, consultant and trainer in intercultural management, former Co-Chair of the Swiss Conference of Integration Commissioners and currently serving as an expert for the Intercultural Cities Programme of the Council of Europe, explained his vision of an intercultural society: ‘We should not see the society as a mechanical engine which stops to function as soon as a foreign object falls into it. We should rather see it as an ecosystem, which adapts to new situations and enriches itself with foreign elements.’ The Council of Europe, he said, was aiming at establishing the concept of interculturalism as the new paradigm to deal with diversity. With this concept, diversity is not seen as a threat, but as an opportunity, to enrich a society, and to create something new.

Young Muslims learning to be peacemakers

Among the conference participants were 45 young Muslims from Switzerland, France, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Germany, Bosnia, the Netherlands and UK , who had arrived on the 20 July, six days prior to the conference. They participated in the training programme ‘Learning to be a Peacemaker’, run by the British Imam Ajmal Masroor, aimed to inspire young European Muslims to become ambassadors of peace and trustbuilders in their European communities. It was the second time that this programme took place in Caux since 2009.

The programme of the ‘Learning to live in a multicultural world’ conference included not only panel discussions, but also discussions in small groups and training courses on Anti-discrimination, Media ethics, Honest conversation, Peace education and many more. The next ‘Learning to live in a multicultural world’ conference will take place from 1 to 6 July 2012.

>> Videos about the conference

>> Photo gallery

>> Speeches

>> Further information about the International Caux Conferences 2011