The Story of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008 (EYID)
EYID 2008 was a year of projects, festivals, debates, information campaigns, competitions, articles, speeches, networking and reflection all aimed at:
- raising public awareness in Europe and beyond of the need for intercultural dialogue to help us adapt to an increasingly mixed and complex world.
- involving many people in exploring what intercultural dialogue means in their daily life
- promoting the role of intercultural dialogue in:
- increasing mutual understanding
- exploring the benefits of cultural diversity
- fostering active European citizenship and a sense of European belonging
Who was involved?
One of the striking features of the Year was the active involvement of a wide array of local, regional and national associations and other representatives of civil society – in keeping with the bottom-up, participatory approach, involving:
- European Commission (coordinator) and other EU institutions
- national coordinating bodies – responsible for implementation in EU countries
- national governments, regional and local authorities in EU countries
- 1200 civil society partners – associations and networks that spread key messages, engaged people in debate and shared the results of their work on intercultural dialogue
- specially appointed ambassadors – European and national cultural figures – tasked with raising awareness of the importance and benefits of intercultural dialogue
- pan-European media partners
EU funding and support
The Year had a dedicated budget of €10m, for:
Hundreds of other projects received – and continue to receive – funding through other EU programmes, e.g. Culture, Lifelong Learning, Youth in action, Europe for citizens, Progress, European Integration Fund.
