The Anna Lindh Foundation Swedish network hosted the sixth edition of Celebrating Our Diversity Forum on 16 - 18 October 2024 at the World Culture Museum in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The sixth edition theme: Living Together
The Forum brought together more than 45 intercultural dialogue practitioners working on building inclusive, intercultural and sustainable cities from Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. The Forum was an opportunity for our members and alumni to:
- network and create new partnerships
- exchange knowledge and expertise
- get inspiration for future activities
- promote their projects and organisation work
- get familiar with ALF programmes and opportuntities
The programme included Practitioners Lab capacity building workshops where members can hold a workshop for 90 minutes to spread the word about a manual/toolkit or promote their organisation and ongoing projects.
One of the main goals of the Forum is to enable members and alumni of the Anna Lindh Foundation to network with each other and build partnerships. This was done through peer exchanges in pairs or groups. In addition, we offered members the chance to present an initiative or a project they are currently working on during the Open Mic segment.
For the first time, we had the intercultural book circle in person and attended by 11 participants. The book circle was moderated by our network member, Karin Bruce (LärOlika, Stockholm).
As a group activity, our network member Kotte Kollektiv organised a workshop called "Unpacking Play" during which the participants visited the World of Games exhibition at the World Culture Museum.
The Swedish Dialogue Institute MENA hosted a panel on the power of sharing stories and its role in protecting our democracies.
The last part of the programme was dedicated to presenting ALF programmes and open calls in addition to the Swedish network governance and upcoming update of the Network internal rules.
Photo by: Amer Kapetanovic
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Programme
Wednesday 16 October
11.00 - 12.00 Welcome and registration
12.00 - 13.00 Lunch
13.00 - 14.00 Networking
14.00 - 14.30 Intercultural Dialogue Today: opportunities and action
14.30 - 15.00 Fika break ☕🍪
15.00 - 16.00 Open Mic
🔘 Tania Bauder, ProQVi (ALF in Motion project)
🔘 Hazni Demir, Creative Insights Studio (ALF in Motion project)
🔘 Toka Qataya, Jesuit Cultural Centre Alexandria (Jesuit Short Film Grants - Egypt)
🔘 Lama El-Awad, Dawaer Foundation (Football for Youth Employability, Leadership and Participation - Lebanon) online via Zoom
16.00 - 17.00 Visit World Culture Museum (optional)
17.00 - 18.00 Check-in hotel and rest
18.30 - 20.00 Dinner
Thursday 17 October
08.30 - 09.00 Morning Ritual with Ieva Ugne Ulianskaite (Well-being Lab) optional
09.00 - 09.30 Introduction and warm-up
09.30 - 10.30 Open Mic
🔘 Donna-Maria Maalouf, Clowns without Borders (Creative Arts for Peace and Equality)
🔘 Anna-Carin Hall, Sara Habane & Bawan Hamza, Kvinna till Kvinna (Young Perspectives)
🔘 Steph Toro, Digidem Lab (Climate neutral cities)
🔘 Steven Vihalem & Kristi Ockba, ALF Estonian network coordinators (last Thursday: 11 years of lyrical anarchy - Estonia)
🔘 Javeria Rizvi Kabani, Swedish Institute (SI and MEAN)
10.30 - 10.45 Fika break ☕🍪
11.00 - 12.30 Practitioners Lab (parallel workshops)
🔘 Social Innovation: Catalysing Inclusion and Participatory Methods by Abbas Sbeity (Mindpark)
🔘 Banned Words in Worlds: community arts and activism by Samar Zughool (Reka Si - Slovenia)
🔘 Master Your Time by Zeinab Hefny (Zeina Coaching)
🔘 Where does inclusion stand in your work? by Abderrahman Assorhani (Framtidståget)
12.30 - 13.30 Lunch
13.30 - 15.00 Practitioners Lab (parallel workshops)
🔘 Världen finns här | Världen & Vi by Fatima Grönblad (ABF Göteborg) på svenska
🔘 "Where Am I?" On power dynamics and cultural sensitivities in community work by Deena Ossama (Alwan w Awtar - Egypt)
🔘 Advance your leadership and communication skills by Eman Albohtori (Support Group Network)
15.00 - 16.00 Group activity
Intercultural Book Circle by LärOlika
Unpacking Play by Kotte
16.00 - 16.30 Reflections and take-aways
16.30 - 17.30 After Work with a Panel on Digital storytelling: the intersection of culture, peace and security. Open to the public
Speakers: Edgar Mannheimer (Kalam podcast), Omar Alshogre (Syrian Emergency Task Force) and Rasha Shaaban (Mind the Gap).
Moderation: Martina Berglund, Swedish Dialogue Institute MENA
Friday 18 October
08.30 - 09.00 Morning Ritual with Ieva Ugne Ulianskaite (Well-being Lab) optional
09.00 - 09.30 Introduction and warm-up
09.30 - 10.30 Open Mic
🔘 Hans Nyman, Friends of Alexandria (Pollution in the Mediterranean)
🔘 Raja Mohamed Ali, Swedish Muslims for Peace and Justice (Equipping for Youth Leadership)
🔘 Margaret Maged, Crossing Borders (ACCT - Antiracism and Civic Courage Training - Denmark)
🔘 Sami Hourani, For9a (Employability pathways - Jordan)
10.30 - 11.00 Fika break ☕🍪
11.00 - 11.30 Anna Lindh Foundation programmes
11.30 - 12.00 Swedish network governance
12.15 - 12.30 Reflections and closure
12.30 - 13.30 Lunch
13.30 Departure
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For information/questions
Rasha Shaaban - ALF Coordinator in Sweden
This Forum is organised by the ALF Swedish network coordinator, the National Museums of World Culture with the support of the Anna Lindh Foundation, European Commission, the Swedish Ministry of Culture and the Swedish Dialogue Institute MENA.
Special thanks to the support from the ALF Swedish network advisory committee members: Bilal Almobarak (Support Group Network), Nasma Salim (PeaceWorks Sweden) and Farhia Nur (STPLN).