Report from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions  - Evaluation of the 2008 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue
Date: 2010-07-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European cultural event, cultural cooperation, cultural pluralism, cultural policy, public awareness campaign, report

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 6.7.2010 
COM(2010)361 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND 
THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Evaluation of the 2008 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 

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REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND 
THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Evaluation of the 2008 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

2008 was designated as the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue ("EYID" or "the Year") 
in Decision N° 1983/2006/EC of the European Parliament and the Council1.  

This report presents the conclusions and recommendations drawn from the external evaluation 
of the Year conducted by ECOTEC Research and Consulting Limited, and the Commission's 
response to those findings. The evaluation can be consulted at: 

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/evalreports/index_en.htm#cultureHeader 

2. 

OBJECTIVES AND BUDGET OF THE YEAR  

The  Year  was  a  response  to  the  increasing  cultural  diversity  of  Europe,  a  result  of  EU 
enlargement,  labour  mobility  in  the  Single  Market,  old  and  new  migration  flows  and 
globalisation.  It  sought  to  raise  awareness  of  the  principle  that  Europe's  cultural  diversity 
represents  a  significant  asset  and  to  encourage  opportunities  to  learn  from  different  cultural 
experiences, both across national borders and within communities. 

The evaluators distinguished between three sets of objectives for the Year: 

2.1. 

Overall objectives 

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Demonstrate intercultural dialogue (or "ICD"), what it is, what works, and why 

Achieve an impact on the views and attitudes of a large number of people 

Achieve an impact on policy makers 

Set in motion a sustained process of activity related to intercultural dialogue 

Promote a more structured dialogue with civil society 

Help provide people living in Europe with intercultural competences 

2.2. 

Specific objectives 

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Raise  awareness  of  the  concept  of  intercultural  dialogue  among  the  general  public, 
especially young people 

OJ L 412/44 of 30 December 2006 

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Raise the profile of EU programmes which support intercultural dialogue 

Identify and spread best practice and innovation 

Highlight  the  ways  in  which  education  and  the  media  can  help  develop  mutual 
understanding between cultures 

2.3. 

Operational objectives 

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Promote intercultural dialogue through events on a European scale 

Promote the objectives of the Year on national and regional levels 

Spread the key messages on the objectives of the Year and on best practice 

Assess and report on the preparation of the Year, its effectiveness and impact 

In order to achieve these objectives, a budget of €10 million was earmarked for the following 
measures: 

–  National projects, one per Member State, received cofunding for activities at national and / 
or regional levels. These projects were typically implemented by the National Coordinating 
Body (NCB) for the Year in each country. Grants were allocated in proportion to the size 
of each country, with amounts ranging from €26,000 for Malta to €252,000 for Germany.  

–  European  flagship  projects  were  selected  following  an  Open  Call  for  Proposals.  Seven 
projects  of  the  three  hundred  proposed  received  cofunding  for  transnational  awareness 
raising  activities,  involving  partners  in  anything  from  five  to  twenty-two  countries.  The 
average grant amount was €340,000. 

–  A  Community  level  information  campaign  was  delivered  through  cooperation  with  an 
external  communications  contractor,  including  a  website  and  a  programme  of  events. 
Within this campaign, resources were also available to each National Coordinating Body to 
call on the services of the national office of the communications contractor. 

–  Opening  and  closing  events  for  the  Year  were  organised  by  the  Slovenian  and  French 

Presidencies of the EU and received cofunding. 

In  addition,  the  Year  logo  and  information  materials  were  provided  free  of  charge  to 
organisations wishing to "label" their activities under the banner of the Year.  

The table below summarises the budget earmarked by the Decision and the amounts actually 
committed. 

Type of activity 

Budget  allocation  in 
the Decision € 

Budget committed € 

% of the budget 

National projects 

3,000,000 

2,993,830 

30 

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European flagship 
projects 

Opening and closing 
events by EU 
Presidencies 

Information 
campaign, surveys 
and studies at 
Community level 

(of which, support for 
national 
communication 
campaigns) 

2,400,000 

2,363,248 

600,000 

600,000 

4,000,000 

3,922,639 

(1,254,033) 

Total Year budget 

10,000,000 

9,879,717 

24 

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40 

(12) 

100 

In  addition  to  the  Commission,  the  main  actors  engaged  in  delivering  the  above  measures 
were  the  National  Coordinating  Body  appointed  in  each  Member  State  (in  many  cases,  this 
was  the  Ministry  of  Culture),  the  European  flagship  project  coordinators  and  their  partners, 
the  external  contractor  for  the  communication  campaign,  and  numerous  civil  society 
stakeholders. 

3. 

EVALUATION 

3.1.  Methods 

The evaluation took place over a 15-month period from April 2008. In addition to document 
review,  the  evaluators  conducted  fifty  interviews  with  Commission  staff,  the  external 
communications contractor, flagship project coordinators, National Coordination Bodies and 
civil  society  stakeholders,  and  carried  out  four  country  case  studies.  Direct  participants  in 
Year  events,  users  of  the  logo  of  the  Year  and  the  1,000  associations  or  individuals  who 
registered on the website as "partners of the Year" were also surveyed. 

The evaluators examined the following five criteria, around which the present report is also 
structured: relevance; external coherence; efficiency; effectiveness; sustainability. 

3.2. 

The evaluators' conclusions 

The evaluation of the Year was very positive in a number of aspects. The Year was relevant to 
stakeholder  needs  and  to  the  challenges  identified  around  cultural  diversity  in  Europe. 
Resources were efficiently managed, a result in part of a "dual approach", which combined a 
strong European-level communication campaign and a small number of flagship projects with 
decentralised  initiatives  and  one  national  project  per  Member  State.  The  Year  achieved 
increased  general  awareness  of  ICD  issues  through  a  critical  mass  of  events,  successfully 
mobilised  stakeholders  and  sparked  a  high  volume  of  relevant  activities  organised  without 

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direct funding. 

More  doubts  were  raised  concerning  the  degree  to  which  the  Year  was  able  to  impact  on 
general public attitudes in this complex field. Stakeholder engagement with the Year was very 
strong in the culture sector and to some degree in education,  but fell short  of the ambitious 
cross-sectoral  mobilisation  which  was  the  goal.  The  absence  of  more  widespread  structural 
changes  (to  administrations,  for  example)  raises  doubts  about  the  solidity  of  the  basis  for 
sustainable follow-up activity on intercultural dialogue. 

These points are covered in more detail below. 

3.2.1.  Relevance to problems and stakeholder needs 

The objectives of the Year were relevant to the problems identified and to stakeholder needs. 
The  strong  involvement  of  civil  society,  notably  the  Rainbow  Platform  (now  the  structured 
dialogue  Platform  for Intercultural  Europe2)  in  the  preparation  of  the  Year  is  highlighted  as 
having  contributed  to  this  accurate  match  between  needs  and  objectives.  Stakeholders  were 
able to easily link the Year to specific national issues and they explicitly recognised the role 
which intercultural dialogue can play in addressing these issues. 

The  broad  definition  of  the  objectives  in  the  Decision  provided  the  flexibility  needed  by 
individual  Member  States  to  tailor  implementation  activities  to  their  own  specific  contexts, 
while  remaining  within  an  overall  framework  with  a  common  understanding  of  the 
overarching  goal.  Some  stakeholders  felt  that  a  more  precise  centrally-defined  set  of  target 
activities would have been helpful in structuring their preparations for implementation of the 
Year. 

3.2.2.  Coherence with existing programmes and policies 

The Year was coherent with existing programmes and policies, most clearly at international 
and  European  level.  The  concept  of  interculturalism  is  present  in  many  European  and 
international policy fields, even if not always expressed as a specific need for dialogue. The 
importance of interaction between cultures as a force for progress is widely recognised and is 
reflected  in  the  policies  of  the  United  Nations,  Council  of  Europe  and  OSCE.  Particular 
synergies existed in the joint actions between the European Commission and the Council of 
Europe, including the Intercultural Cities3 project. 

At  operational  programme  level,  intercultural  dialogue  has  achieved  high  visibility,  even  if 
the understanding of the term varies to some extent. Projects are funded through programmes 
including Youth in Action, Europe for Citizens, Culture and Lifelong Learning.  

The  extent  to  which  the  Year  was  coherent  with  national  policies  proved  more  difficult  to 
assess  since  very  few,  if  any,  countries  have  specific,  identifiable  intercultural  dialogue 
policies  per  se.  In  some  countries,  complementarity  between  the  agenda  of  the  Year  and 
national  policies  was  identified,  while  in  others  national  policies  on,  for  example,  non-
discrimination or culture, were considered at least to be non-contradictory. 

3.2.3.  Efficient use of resources 

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http://www.intercultural-europe.org/ 
http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/culture/Cities/Default_en.asp 

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The Year budget was spent efficiently. 

The  distinction  made  between  European  transnational  "flagship"  projects  and  national 
projects  allowed  the  Year  to  combine  the  benefits  of  a  degree  of  decentralisation  (one 
European-cofunded  national  project  per  Member  State)  with  EU-wide  project  activity 
delivered  through  the  seven  flagship  projects.  This  reflected  the  need  for  intercultural 
dialogue activities between as well as within countries.  

A  relatively  large  part  of  the  budget  (almost  40%)  was  dedicated  to  mostly  centralised 
communication activities, with a focus on the Year website. The external contractor worked 
with  the  Commission  to  deliver  a  campaign  coordinated  at  Community  level  but  also 
articulated  in  the  Member  States,  through  a  common  graphic  identity,  shared  information 
materials and a website section dedicated to each national campaign. Countries could access 
the  services  of  the  contractor's  network  of  media  partners  to  support  their  national 
dissemination plan. 

Some  stakeholders  would  have  preferred  to  have  had  control  over  more  substantial 
decentralised budgets for communication activities, but in the majority of cases cooperation 
between  National  Coordinating  Bodies  and  the  local  media  sub-contractor  was  reported  to 
have worked well.  

The evaluators conclude  that  a  fully  decentralised approach would have risked reducing the 
impact of the communication campaign of the Year and that the "dual approach" was the most 
appropriate one, combining a European-level campaign and flagship projects with a degree of 
decentralisation. 

Member States  were expected to fund complementary activities in addition to the European 
cofunded national project from their own resources as appropriate. The degree to which such 
funding was made available varied widely, with a small number of countries making available 
a national budget of several million euro for projects and communication activities, and others 
having  no  dedicated  funding  but  nevertheless  able  to  build  cooperation  with  partner 
organisations. 

3.2.4.  Effectiveness  

Activities funded, both by the budget of the Year and by Member States using complementary 
resources,  matched  the  objectives  of  the  Year.  The  European  flagship  projects  achieved 
cooperation through partnerships across a large number of countries. Creativity was the main 
vehicle  to  bring  people  together,  so  project  outputs  typically  included  cds,  dvds  and  use  of 
new  media  spaces.  National  project  activity  was  more  diverse.  Activities  in  countries  with 
relatively  less  experience  of  multiculturalism  primarily  aimed  to  raise  awareness  of  and 
celebrate  diverse  cultures.  Member  States  with  a  longer  history  of  immigration  and  /  or 
greater  civil  society  or  government  capacity  to  deliver  projects  often  sought  to  provide 
specific opportunities for dialogue and to exploit existing networks. 

The  role  of  national  context  is  a  determining  factor  when  attempting  to  measure  the 
effectiveness  of  the  Year.  Very  varied  cultural  and  demographic  backgrounds,  institutional 
structures and public administration and civil society capacity mean that the starting point of 
each  Member  State  was  quite  different.  The  evaluators  underline  the  significant  "distance 

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travelled"  during  the  Year  by  some  Member  States  whose  national  contexts  meant  that  the 
concept  of  intercultural  dialogue  was  relatively  recent,  with  fewer  structures  in  place  to 
support implementation. 

A  great  deal  of  activity  took  place  during  the  Year  which  was  not  directly  funded  by  its 
budget.  Based  on  estimates  provided  by  National  Coordinating  Bodies,  a  range  of  8,000  to 
10,000 activities took place, of which around half were organised by NCBs with an element 
of public funding, and half were outwith their control. 

The  high  number  of  events  helped  generate  media  interest  and  facilitate  media  cooperation. 
Over 11,500 press clippings reported on the Year. Member States' media cooperation ranged 
from  national  tv  and  newspapers  (typically  in  smaller  Member  States)  to  specialised 
publications or programmes. Logo  use by Year-related initiatives also contributed to raising 
visibility,  with  an  estimated  2,700  instances  of  use.  The  website  of  the  Year,  including  a 
section for each Member State, received 800,000 visits and over 5 million page views.  

The following main effects of the Year were identified: 

–  Increased  general  awareness.  The  Year  was  most  successful  in  raising  awareness  of 
intercultural  dialogue,  above  all  through  artistic  and  cultural  activities.  Activities 
demonstrated to a reasonably wide audience, and especially to young people, the different 
ways  in  which  intercultural  dialogue  could  contribute  to  strong  economies  and  cohesive 
communities.  Feedback  from  direct  participants  in  Year  events  was  positive,  underlining 
the "re-invigoration" which can result from taking part in these activities. Almost 70% of 
respondents  said  their  participation  would  lead  to  them  taking  ICD  into  account  in  a 
different way when developing policies and strategies. The degree to which the Year had 
an  impact  on  the  attitudes  to  ICD  of  a  large  number  of  people  proved  much  harder  to 
measure.  

–  Increased participation and engagement by stakeholders, stimulating links across different 
sectors  of  civil  society  and  public  administration.  This  was  most  successful  in  those 
Member  States which focused  on working with or building on existing networks or on a 
specific  sector,  often  education.  Arts  and  culture  organisations  predominated,  with  the 
education  sector  in  second  place.  Other  fields  in  which  ICD  might  be  expected  to  be  a 
high-profile theme, notably sport and religions and beliefs were relatively less involved, at 
least  in  most  countries.  The  original  goal  of  a  fully  cross-sectoral  Year  proved  hard  to 
achieve. 

–  Policies  and  approaches  which  establish  or  reinforce  measures  which  explicitly  take 
account of ICD. Examples are found above all in school education and include: changes to 
language teaching; reform of school curricula to include intercultural competences; teacher 
training  initiatives;  and  dialogue  with  wider  school  communities,  notably  families.  Other 
effects  include  a  more  integrated  strategy  across  education,  youth,  sport,  and  in  several 
Member  States  the  continuation  of  funding  instruments  launched  during  the  Year  to 
support ICD initiatives by artists and culture professionals. 

–  In the run-up to the Year, each Member State prepared a national strategy4, providing the 
national  context  and  priorities  and  setting  out  actions  to  involve  civil  society  and  the 

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communication sector in order to reach young people and other target groups. Preparation 
of such a strategy was a first in many countries, and proved an especially useful exercise in 
Member States where intercultural dialogue had been lower down the policy agenda.  

–  Structures.  Evidence  of  changes  in  structures  is  not  widespread,  but  some  interesting 
examples  include  new  ICD  units  or  organisations  within  public  administrations;  inter-
ministerial  committees  to  facilitate  cross-sectoral  cooperation;  working  groups  with  key 
stakeholders,  including  civil  society.  Progress  was  recorded  in  several  countries  on  the 
setting  in  motion  of  a  more  structured  dialogue  with  civil  society,  but  not  across  all 
Member States.  

3.2.5. 

Sustainability 

Different  national  contexts  means  that  a  mixed  picture  emerges  as  to  whether  the  positive 
effects of the Year are likely to last. In some Member States, the legacy of the Year includes 
policies and structures, typically in countries where an ICD framework or action plan was in 
place before the Year. In others, the effects of the Year were more often immediate impact on 
individuals and so are likely to be short-lived. The strongest prospect for continued activity is 
in  the  school  education  field;  new  teacher  training  initiatives,  curriculum  reform  and 
awareness raising are firmly on the agenda in several countries. 

At European level, one clear effect of the Year was to demonstrate the relevance of ICD to a 
wide  range  of  policy  areas  and  increase  understanding  of  the  need  for  coherence  and 
complementarity  in  fields  including  intercultural  competences,  the  education  of  children  of 
migrants, and integrated policy initiatives at city level. Beyond the culture field, the need for 
and  benefits  of  intercultural  dialogue  were  highlighted  in  policies  including  education, 
employment,  justice  and  security,  external  relations  and  regional  development.  The  formal 
and  informal  networks  of  policymakers  created  through  these  efforts  are  likely  to  prove 
durable, making sustained support at European level for intercultural dialogue more likely. 

One clear message is that follow-up activity is essential if the progress made during the Year, 
whether  at  local,  national  or  European  level,  is  not  to  be  lost.  Two  main  recommendations 
made in this respect are to make sure that the materials and experiences of the Year continue 
to  be  used  and  disseminated,  and  that  EU-level  follow-up  takes  place,  through  funding 
support and / or a forum of interested Member States. 

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4. 

MAIN RECOMMENDATIONS – COMMENTS BY THE COMMISSION 

The  evaluators  addressed  eleven  recommendations  to  the  Commission  and  six  to  Member 
States.  These  will  be  followed  up  in  discussion  with  Member  States  during  the  second 
semester of 2010 on the definition of the next Workplan for Culture, to run from 2011. One of 
the  means  by  which  the  Workplan  is  implemented  is  cooperation  between  Member  States 
through  the  Open  Method  of  Coordination  (expert  groups),  comparing  experience  and 
formulating policy proposals for action at European and / or national level. The discussion of 
the next Workplan will be the occasion to identify which of the recommendations below can 
be effectively addressed through cooperation of this type. 

4.1. 

Support dialogue with civil society 

Provide  continuing  support  for  structured  dialogue  with civil  society,  through  platforms  for 
example.  

The  Culture  Programme  offers  support  for  this  structured  dialogue  through  its  Strand  2, 
"policy  support  structures  for  the  Culture  Agenda".  In  this  context,  the  Platform  for 
Intercultural  Europe  currently  receives  a  contribution  to  its  operating  costs.  This  type  of 
dialogue in candidate and potential candidate countries is supported by the Instrument for Pre-
Accession Assistance ("Civil Society Facility"). 

4.2. 

Use the outputs and results of the Year  

Take steps to ensure continuing and systematic dissemination and exploitation of the outputs 
and results of the Year, for example by supporting the continuation of relevant features of the 
EYID website and building on the success of the photographic competition “Cultures on My 
Street” through identifying opportunities to use the images in connection with a range of EU 
and national activities as appropriate. 

The Year website remains accessible. The transfer of certain of its features to the culture and 
education  webpages  of  the  European  Commission  is  ongoing.  The  outputs  (teaching 
materials, dvds, handbooks etc) which have been brought together in the "resources" section 
of  the  Year  website  are  also  being  transferred  to  the  Commission's  education  and  culture 
pages.  The  "Culture  on  My  Street"  images  have  already  been  used  for  several  Commission 
publications  and  remain  available  also  for  use  by  Member  States  and  the  culture  sector  on 
ICD-related topics. 

4.3. 

Research the impact of intercultural dialogue in schools 

Consider commissioning further research in particular on the impact of ICD in schools, given 
the  strong  focus  on  this  during  the  Year  and  the  likelihood  of  longer-term  impacts  in  a 
number of countries. 

The impact of ICD in schools will be further examined in the framework of the various sub-
programmes of the Lifelong Learning Programme or the Framework Programme for research 
and development.  

4.4. 

Further work in the education field 

In  particular  consider  measures  to  maintain  the  momentum  achieved  in  the  education  field 

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during  the  Year,  for  example  by  promoting  and  facilitating  transfer  of  knowledge  on  the 
pedagogy of ICD, curriculum development and teacher training. 

Cooperation between Member States will continue through work on the thematic priorities set 
in the Education and Training 2020 strategic framework, in particular within the work on the 
implementation  of  the  2006  Recommendation  on  key  competences  for  lifelong  learning. 
Transfer of knowledge through peer learning activities is at the heart of this process. Follow-
up  of  the  2008  Council  Conclusions  on  Intercultural  Competences  will  be  one  important 
element of Member State cooperation. 

4.5. 

Transfer learning 

Consider  ways  to  promote  and  stimulate  the  transfer  of  learning  from  the  Year  between 
Member  States,  through  working  groups  at  EU  level  including  representatives  of 
governments, civil society and other stakeholders for example. 

Expert groups in the fields of education and of culture will continue to work together through 
the  "open  method  of  coordination"  on  peer 
learning  and  on  formulating  policy 
recommendations  where  appropriate.  The  Commission  will  explore  ways  of  facilitating 
dialogue between all stakeholders concerned, for example through thematic seminars. 

4.6.  Monitor and report on progress 

Establish a monitoring and reporting framework to allow benchmarking of progress on ICD 
in  Member  States,  for  example  through  existing  monitoring  and  reporting  processes  in  the 
fields of education and integration of migrants. 

In  the  field  of  education,  the  Commission  intends  to  further  develop  its  monitoring  of  the 
achievement  gap  between  migrant  and  native  students,  following  the  invitation  of  the 
Education, Youth and Culture Council of Ministers of 26 November 2009.  

4.7. 

Strengthen Community programmes 

Consider  strengthening  the  ICD  strand  within  Community  programmes  through  the  process 
of  annual  calls  for  proposals  in  order  to  better  support  co-funding  of  thematic  projects, 
notably those with an emphasis on cross-sectoral cooperation between education, culture and 
youth on one hand and public services and/or active citizenship on the other. 

The  possibility  of  targeted  support  for  cross-sectoral  cooperation  through  Community 
programmes  will  be  further  explored  during  2010  in  the  public  consultation  on  the  next 
generation of programmes. 

4.8. 

Cooperate across policy sectors 

Work with other relevant parts of the European Commission (within and outside DG EAC), 
including in the field of youth, lifelong learning, employment and education to ensure ICD is 
operationalised  more  explicitly  and  systematically  in  EU  programmes;  including  making 
available  to  other  parts  of  the  Commission  learning  from  the  design  and  implementation  of 
the Year. 

The  2010  consultation  and  subsequent  design  of  Commission  proposals  for  the  next 
generation  of  Community  programmes  will  explore  ways  in  which  the  priority  for 

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intercultural  dialogue  can  be  made  more  clearly  operational,  for  example  through  a  more 
consistent definition. 

4.9. 

Cooperate with international organisations 

Continue  to  work  with  key  international  organisations,  in  particular  the  Council  of  Europe 
and UEFA, building on the current effective strategic partnerships.  

Cooperation  with  key  international  cooperation  continues,  notably  with  the  Council  of 
Europe, including the Intercultural Cities project and in the context of cooperation with and 
between the European Neighbourhood countries. 

4.10. 

Include less visible areas 

Consider  ways  to  improve  progress  in  some  of  the  areas  which  lacked  visibility  during  the 
Year  –  sport,  disadvantaged  communities  and  public  services  –  including  identifying 
appropriate partners in government and civil society with which to work. 

The  Commission  will  explore  ways  in  which  to  more  closely  involve  under-represented 
sectors in future initiatives, including transfer of learning between sectors in the framework of 
the next generation of Community programmes. 

4.11. 

Learn for future European Years 

In terms of future European Years, consider the following: 

–  How a systematic three-year cycle for European Years could be embedded in the process 
and 
to 

ensure  maximum  preparedness 

(preparation-implementation-follow-up), 
momentum. 

–  How the objectives of future years could be made more measurable. 

Experience of preparing for and implementing the Year has been shared with other relevant 
Commission  services,  notably  DG  Employment  and  Social  Affairs,  coordinating  the  2010 
European  Year  for  Combating  Poverty  and  Social  Exclusion  and  DG  Communication, 
coordinating the 2011 European Year of Volunteering.  

The  evaluators  also  addressed  six  recommendations  to  Member  States,  given  that  lead 
responsibility  for  many  of  the  policies  concerned  lies  at  national,  or  in  some  cases  regional 
and local, level. These recommendations propose that each Member State should: 

–  develop a national action plan for ICD, underpinned by an evidence base of research and 

statistics; 

–  develop guidelines to help formulate ICD strategies in fields such as sport, public services 

and active citizenship; 

–  take  better  account  of  ICD  across  different  fields,  including  public  service  design  and 

delivery, in order to promote community cohesion and social inclusion; 

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–  help increase capacity of civil society organisations able to address ICD, especially where 
the  NGO  base  is  weak,  in  particular  by  mapping  the  sector,  developing  networks  and 
providing training; 

–  contribute  to  EU-level  fora  and  working  groups  which  share  knowledge,  steer  policy 

development and increase the profile of ICD in national and EU policy-making; 

–  consider  establishing  a  national  system  for  monitoring  and  reviewing  progress  on  ICD, 

together with appropriate indicators.  

5. 

THE COMMISSION'S CONCLUSIONS 

The Commission agrees with the overall assessment of the Year made by the evaluators. The 
Year was most successful in raising awareness of ICD issues, notably among policy makers, 
and in mobilising stakeholders, above all in the arts and culture sector. Its impact on attitudes 
towards  ICD  proved  harder  to  measure,  given  the  much  longer  timeframe  needed  for 
profound  societal  changes  to  occur  and  the  complex  set  of  factors  which  influence  these 
attitudes. 

Follow-up to the Year requires the combined efforts of the European Commission, other EU 
institutions,  Member  States  and  civil  society.  The  Commission  will  give  priority  to  the 
evaluators'  recommendations  listed  in  chapter  four  above  and  will  concentrate  its  follow-up 
on: 

–  Encouraging  cooperation  and  transferring  learning  between  Member  States  and  between 
experts in different policy sectors relevant to ICD. The Open Method of Coordination will 
be a main vehicle for this type of cooperation and for using the results and the outputs of 
the  Year.  Learning  will  also  be  shared  with  sectors  which  were  under-represented  in  the 
Year. Projects such as Intercultural Cities, a joint initiative with the Council of Europe, or 
the proposed network of Romani Studies experts are opportunities to foster precisely this 
learning transfer and cooperation. 

–  Providing funding support for projects and initiatives on intercultural dialogue. Preparation 
of  the  next  generation  of  EU  programmes  will  be  the  opportunity  to  consult  widely  on 
options  for  supporting  ICD,  including  through  support  for  cooperation  between  policy 
sectors. The Commission will also aim to ensure that the priority given to ICD in certain 
Programmes is made clearly operational. 

–  Furthering work in the education field, where initiatives on key competences for lifelong 

learning and on teacher training, for example, are closely related to ICD.  

The recommendations which have been put forward should help ensure that ICD remains high 
on the EU policy agenda. The promotion of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue is one 
of the strategic goals of the European Agenda for Culture and joint efforts for its achievement 
by  EU  institutions,  Member  States  and  civil society  will  continue.  The  increased  awareness 
and understanding of the need for a coherent cross-sectoral approach generated by the Year is 
a sound basis on which to build further cooperation towards reaching this objective. 

EN 

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   EN