Successful future societies will be intercultural - ALF meeting in Paris 2015

The Anna Lindh Foundation presents the InterCultural Dialogue in facing Environmental Challenges (ICDEC) initiative in the framework of the UN COP-21 Conference in Paris

PARIS (15 OCTOBER 2015) – At the French National Assembly, the Anna Lindh Foundation (ALF), in partnership with the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), presented the InterCultural Dialogue in facing Environmental Challenges (ICDEC) initiative on 15th October. The ALF Forum on Intercultural Dialogue and Environmental Challenges showcased the work being carried out by ALF member organisations in the field of climate change and intercultural dialogue. It was a forum for developing future high impact initiatives, taking into account that the UNFCCC COP 21 will be held in Paris in December 2015 and that Morocco will host COP 22.

Experts on intercultural dialogue and climate change from the Euro-Med region gathered to demonstrate how intercultural dialogue can directly contribute to the development of adaptation options, actions and initiatives at regional, cross-border, national and local levels. Over one hundred participants representing the civil society from Algeria, Egypt, Estonia (SSCW), Finland, France, Italy, Jordan, Palestine, Slovenia, Tunisia and the UK also joined the event with the objective of raising awareness of the important role of intercultural dialogue in responding to environmental challenges.

The Anna Lindh Foundation considers the issue of environmental challenges caused by climate change, in the context of sustainable development, as a critical dimension that needs to be urgently addressed for the successful future of the Mediterranean region. This initiative, to be advocated at the UN COP21 summit, establishes intercultural dialogue as a central component that needs to be included in decision-making and in fighting climate change to prevent conflicts and to enhance social cohesion and resource management.

As a result of the event, the ALF will establish a forum to enable the exchange of information and best experiences on intercultural dialogue and climate change issues between its communities and will encourage its members to integrate options to mitigate to climate change within their intercultural dialogue projects.

- See more at: http://www.annalindhfoundation.org/news/successful-future-societies-will-be-intercultural#sthash.wj2Kv11m.dpuf