EDUCA is an example of a cross-border project that promotes intercultural values in multi-ethnic societies trough education. For that purpose, research and university institution work together with schools, who have bilingual educational programmes to develop learning materials. The project was co-financed with the resources of the European Regional Development Fund and national funds.
Recent research on multi-ethnic societies underlines the importance of introducing the concept of “diversity management” at various levels of national, regional and local politics. It is about introducing a policy of recognizing the different ethnic communities that are present in society and their interests and rights. The related practices range in different areas of national action, among which the importance of education is crucial. The project responds to the four central needs arising from the socio-economic analysis of the program area:
- to strengthen cross-border co-operation between important stakeholders in the field of education;
- to evaluate cultural heritage and ethnic diversity with aim to transfer knowledge from research institutions to the schools;
- to encourage mutual cooperation among young people of different nationalities (majority, minorities and migrants;
- to provide mutual cooperation between teachers, who work in majority and minority schools.
Learning materials are available in Slovene and Italian in some cases also in Friulians and English. The use of these materials is free, but authorship must be published under a resource in accordance with the copyright law. Set of material consist of:
- “We cooperate” quiz with questions that require cooperation between learners, who come from different countries. It is available here
- Collection of Abstracts of the International Conference “Edukate to Diversity in a Cross-Border Area” is available here
- A didactic manual for intercultural education without borders “Interweaving” is available here
- The book “Friends … Neighbours. Italians, Slovenes and Friulians are converging” is available here
- The book ”Neighbours … friends to learn about” presentation of Slovenians and Friulians is available here
- The book “Developing Intercultural Abilities for Teachers and Students” is available here
- E-dictionary “Words of migration” is available here
- Video material “Living in Diversity” is available here