Building A Multi-Ethnic and Multi-National Cyprus to Promote European Values and Regional and International Peace

This Project has been implemented between June 2007 and June 2008. The main objective of the project was to promote awareness and increase the sensitivity of the Cypriot Society on how a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural Cyprus serves European values and promotes regional and international peace.

To meet the main objective, the project managed to engage students, teachers and parents in workshops and activities to create a vision map for a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic Cyprus, as well as visualize and implement specific activities, which contribute towards materializing the vision for a multi-cultural society.

This project addressed three immediate target groups:

• students of different ages

• parents

• teachers

Furthermore, through a number of additional actions, such as panel discussions, participation at a conference and informational events the project reached out to the Cypriot society, at large.

The project mainly implemented two types of actions: Panel discussions and structured dialogue workshops.

The panel discussions created a forum, which encouraged discussion, open debates, and the exchange of different views. These open discussion forums helped create awareness about the problems, familiarize attendees with current European practices and regulations, and led to better understanding of other people’s perspectives.

In their first phase, the structured dialogue workshops focused on developing a joint vision map for a multi-cultural Cyprus with a special focus on the school environment. The second phase focused on defining obstacles to a multi-cultural school environment. In the workshops, teachers, parents and students worked together. In a third phase they developed an action plan to implement their own specific projects, with the aim to facilitate materializing that vision of a multicultural school.

The project concluded with the participation in the international conference ‘The potential of Youth to build peace in a multicultural society’ and with a structured dialogue workshop bringing together students, parents, teachers as well as representatives of the Pedagogical Institute and the Ministry of Education to jointly develop common goals for multicultural school.

Results of the Project :

¤ A shared vision for a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic Cyprus created jointly by students, teachers, and parents.

¤ A set of specific activities to foster sensitivity for a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic Cyprus, carried out by participants involved in the project.

¤ A map of shared goals for multicultural school in Cyprus created jointly by students, teachers, parents, and representatives from the Ministry of Education and Culture

¤ A scientific article “Communication Praxis for Ethical Accountability: The Ethics of the Tree of Action: Dialogue and Breaking down the Wall in Cyprus”, discussing the results of the structured dialogue workshops at the Elementary School Deryneia A, published in Systems Research and Behavioral Science Syst. Res.25.

¤ A series of five booklets about multiculturalism to be disseminated during panel discussions and other events.