Launch of Intercultural Workplace Project (EIWP)
6 December 2004

Aileen Pearson-Evans and Beatrice Ornstedt

Beatrice Ornstedt of the European Commission, Directorate General for Education and Culture, launched the pan-European project on the European Intercultural Workplace on Friday 3 December. The event was held in the Helix and was attended by representatives from BITC, NCCRI, ICTU, the Equality Authority, the Immigrant Council of Ireland and the Department of Education. The project received €1m funding from the Leonardo da Vinci Programme and commenced in October 2004 with the partners drawn from Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the UK. Ireland, represented by DCU, is the lead partner.

Greater international labour mobility is creating more culturally diverse workplaces which has implications for employers, managers, employees and clients alike. Growing racism and the search for new ways of dealing with xenophobia, racist prejudice and discrimination have tended to focus attention on intercultural communication competence and management as a preventative measure for dealing with these issues. While some organisations have taken the lead in adapting their workplaces to take into consideration cultural diversity, the groups being targeted by this project are finding it increasingly difficult to deal with the challenges arising from an increasingly intercultural workplace.

The project will carry out a situational analysis as well as case studies on a national level in each partner country which will lead to new national reports. This will be followed by a trans-national analysis with the aim of producing sector specific booklets with a high transferability value for an increasingly mobile workforce.