••• Is diversity a societal asset or a key challenge to integration and social cohesion?

••• Which are the points of intersection between cultural groups that could enable

efficient societal cohesion?

••• What is the role of the minority media in intercultural dialogue?

••• How is diversity managed in the field of education?

••• Can linguistic divides be reconciled within multilingual societies through

targeted implementation of language rights?

These are some of the key questions that the Culture and Diversity Cluster is exploring, through a number of research projects addressing one of the key issues of contemporary politics – the governance of cultural diversity.

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Acknowledging the rise of cultural conflicts at the end of the 20th century, the cluster research programme departs from the assumption that politically relevant cultural differences such as language, religion, traditions and ethnicity have a significant potential to fuel tensions if manipulated or abused.

Elaborating strategies and practices of diversity management hence needs to become a policy priority in the age of globalisation. Ensuring societal stability and cohesion while respecting democracy, human and cultural rights is one of the key challenges of the 21st century.

To avoid terminological confusion with the numerous definitions of ‘culture’, and with respect to the goals of the research programme, the Cluster addresses the concept through the idea of the ‘others’, looking not so much at the reasons for ‘us versus them’ but rather than at the possibilities for ‘us with them’.