As we have seen,
the fight against discrimination also depends upon each individual’s attitudes and stems from positive personal interactions between persons with different cultural backgrounds. In order for intercultural dialogue to happen, every person needs to acquire and must be equipped with intercultural competences, which may be acquired thanks to educational curricula and activities. Intercultural competence is defined as “the set of attitudes, values, knowledge, understanding, skills and behaviours which are needed for: 1. understanding and respecting people who are perceived to be culturally different from oneself; 2. interacting and communicating effectively and appropriately with such people; 3. establishing positive and constructive relationships with such people [...]” (Barrett M., “Intercultural competence: a distinctive hallmark in interculturalism?”, in M. Barrett ed. , Interculturalism and Multiculturalism: Similarities and Differences, Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg, 2013).
Interculturalism and intercultural competence in democratic societies are closely related to the development of democratic competences. These competences are considered essential in order to live peacefully and respectfully in modern democratic societies. A list of these competences can be found in the Council’s of Europe
Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (RFCDC). This model encompasses 20 competences, divided into four categories: (a) values, (b) attitudes, (c) skills, and (d) knowledge and critical understanding.
- If you look at the list of key descriptors for the RFCDC you can see that a person who
“Promotes the view that we should be tolerant of the different beliefs that are held by others in society” is considered at a BASIC Level of competence; whereas a person who “Argues that intercultural dialogue should be used to help us recognise our different identities and cultural affiliations” is considered an ADVANCED level.
