Curriculum Impact in Teaching and Research: Good PracticePractice

1. The Jean Monnet Programme of the EU

The contribution of the European Jean Monnet Programme to the development of European integration studies can be considered a very interesting case study of curriculum building in European teaching and research. Still its potential importance lacks visibility and content impact in European decision-making processes. The Jean Monnet Action was launched in 1989 to stimulate teaching, research and reflection in the field of European integration studies at the level of higher education institutions within and outside of the European Community. In 2007 it has been turned into a Programme and became part of the Lifelong Learning Programme (2007-2013).² It developed from a strict, limited and disciplinary focus (law, economics, history and politics) to a much more open and multiple focus that now covers a wide geographical reach and targets various groups. Today the programme illustrates a greater diversity and innovation in teaching, research and reflection on European studies.

The Jean Monnet Programme is now present in 72 countries and five continents. Between 1990 and 2011, it has helped to set up approximately 3,700 projects in the field of European integration studies, including 165 Jean Monnet European Centres of Excellence, 879 Chairs and 2,139 permanent courses and European modules. The Programme brings together a network of more than 1,500 professors,

2 http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/llp/jean_monnet/jean_monnet_en.php

reaching audiences of 250,000 students every year. In short, the overall Jean Monnet programme is a successful practice in teaching, researching and reflecting on European integration, involving a wide variety of topics and target groups. An excellent example of applied academic and interdisciplinary work are the different Jean Monnet activities which have been developed within the Interdepartmental Centre on Human Rights and the Rights of people of the University of Padua for more than a decade.

2. The Interdepartmental Centre on Human Rights and the Rights of People of the University of Padua

The Interdepartmental Centre on Human Rights and the Rights of Peoples, established in 1982, is the structure of the University of Padua devoted to carrying out educational, training and research activities in the field of human rights. Within its existing pluridisciplinary structure and interdisciplinary approach (political science, economics, international law, international relations, philosophy and education sciences) the centre offers various teaching and research activities within the University and in collaboration with local, regional, national and international partners. Many of these activities focus on human rights, democratic citizenship, cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue in a European and international perspective. It has at its disposal a good regional, national and European network in the interdisciplinary area of intercultural dialogue, human rights and governance. Recent developments and events in Europe and the world have intensified the policy-oriented debate and necessitated an extended and deepened analysis of the relation between multi-level governance, intercultural dialogue and human rights within a European and global perspective.

The centre operates in an interdisciplinary and proactive synergy, within and outside university, and possesses a wide-ranging expertise in international relations, human rights, political sciences, intercultural dialogue and interdisciplinary studies with a focus on policy-oriented research programmes. Since 2000 the centre has been a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, which organises many teaching and research activities as well as conferences in the area of intercultural dialogue, human rights and multi-level governance. Its various activities benefit today from the international networking of three Jean Monnet Chairs and a pluridisciplinary staff, able to relate to the multidisciplinary and multidimensional programme of the centre. On 11 April 2013 the Interdepartmental Centre on Human Rights and the Rights of Peoples of the University of Padua became (the) “University Centre for Human

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Rights”, implying an important added quality dimension to its academic and international profile.

1) A Jean Monnet Transnational Research Project

In 2006-2007 the centre successfully undertook the action-oriented interuniversity research project: “The role of intercultural dialogue in the development of a new, plural and democratic citizenship in Europe”.

The research lasted for eighteen months, involved four universities and more than forty researchers. The research work was carried out by four transnational teams respectively, at the Universities of Lodz dealing with“Intercultural dialogue and Democracy”, Panteion Athens, dealing with “Governing a Multicultural Europe: a new Republican Approach”, Malta, dealing with “Intercultural dialogue and EU-Mediterranean Partnership” and Padua dealing with “Intercultural dialogue and Human Rights, civil society and world order issues”. It was promoted by a network of Jean Monnet Chairs, Centres of Excellence and European Community Studies Associations, and co-financed by the European Commission and the Region of Veneto.

This transnational research project resulted in a major publication³ that provided an important academic contribution to the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, 2008. It resulted in some policy recommendations for further policy research in the specific field:

– The subject of intercultural dialogue is multi, inter and transdisciplinary by nature and affects many themes and issues in European societies. The current decade has witnessed a growing enlargement of the European Union and an increasing diversity in an era of opportunities and challenges. The EU represents more than ever an immense richness of cultural, social and linguistic diversity. In such a context, the shared values that hold together European societies, such as freedom, fairness, democracy, human rights, rule of law, tolerance and solidarity, become crucial for Europe’s future.

– Authentic intercultural dialogue in Europe has an external and internal dimension. It is seen as a vehicle, a concrete space and place for conviviality between citizens, based on some economic and social prerequisites. It is also seen as a laboratory for innovative practices and new (formal and informal) forms of democracy from the local level upwards. Moreover, it is an actual space for building European citizenship and for accepting multiple identities in a European context

3 Bekemans, L., M. Karasinska-Fendler, M. Mascia, A. Papisca, C. Stephanou and P.G. Xuereb (eds.),Intercultural Dialogue and Citizenship. Translating Values into Actions. A Common Project for Europeans and their partners, Venice: Marsilio, March 2007, 665 p.

that is against ignorance, intolerance and indifference. As a consequence, the management of intercultural dialogue should be done at all levels. Such a multi-layer approach includes trust-building activities (and not only institutional interventions) at the school, the city, the regional, European and international levels.

– But at the same time there was an urgent plea from the academic world to the EU for some serious investment in applied, long term and structured intellectual effort and research in intercultural dialogue, intercultural communication, intercultural knowledge and intercultural commitment, beyond rhetoric and single academic disciplines. A formal declaration was the outcome. Its purpose was the expression of a commitment from the academics involved in the research project to keep the Europe of ambitions, ideas and hearts alive. That’s a political project beyond mere economics!

As a structured follow-up to this research, in 2007 the University of Padua created a Jean Monnet Chair on “Globalisation, Intercultural dialogue and Inclusiveness in the EU”. It was initiated as part of the 2008 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue celebrations and has allowed the introduction of new degree and post-degree courses at the University and has contributed to extra-curricular training courses outside of the University.

2) The Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence

In 2009, the University of Padua, in particular its Interdepartmental Centre on Human Rights and the Rights of Peoples, set up the Jean Monnet Centre “Intercultural Dialogue, Human Rights and Multi-level Governance”. It was launched, with the support of the European Union’s Jean Monnet Programme in light of the broad political priorities of connecting Europe to its citizens and, in particular, following up on the policy suggestions of the transnational research project mentioned above. Its purpose was to strengthen and consolidate the European and international profile of the existing curriculum of teaching and research activities with a specific focus on capacity building and curriculum development in the area of intercultural dialogue, human rights and multi-level governance. It was argued that the confusing times necessitated an extended and deepened policy-oriented analysis of the relation between intercultural dialogue and human rights within a European and global perspective.

The vision, mission and workings of the centre are rooted in the

“acquis” which has been gained from ongoing participation in various Jean Monnet activities, from contributions to structural reflection on the dialogue between cultures and peoples, activities in lifelong learning programmes in the territory of north east Italy, as well as from the

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existing network of international cooperation. The activities and events cover specific teaching modules, public lectures by international experts on policy-related topics and an action-oriented research programme focussed on the interconnecting fields of intercultural dialogue, human rights and multi-level governance.⁴

Multi-level Governance and Intercultural Dialogue

In 2009 the Jean Monnet Centre launched a three-year research project on the relation between intercultural dialogue and multi-level governance seen from a human rights based perspective. Various workshops were organised in the period 2010-2011. Contributions all dealt with the broad framework of the concept, the policy approach and the linkage between multi-level governance and intercultural dialogue, in particular dealing with governance of intercultural dialogue, education about intercultural dialogue and civil society participation in intercultural dialogue. It proposed approaches to the understanding of the complexities of current realities and of managing diversities, oriented towards a common destiny and future. It presented, analysed and assessed various aspects and dimensions of internal and external political, legal and institutional dimensions of intercultural dialogue, conceived as a fundamental and integral component of a human rights based approach to social cohesion and human security. Finally, the action-oriented research produced general and specific policy recommendations and illustrated good practices.

In short, the research offered a general applied reading to policy-oriented academics, international relations and human rights scholars, regional, national and European institutions as well as civil society organisations dealing with human rights, governance, education and civil society issues. Its innovative, interdisciplinary and interconnecting approach dealt with crucial issues and challenges that address the European future from a human rights point of departure. In all its diversity of contributions, ranging from scientific reflections to policy papers and case studies, the main message of the research was clear: the fundamental importance of governance of institutional, political and societal diversity. This is rooted in respect for human rights, being a cross-cutting and cross-border building block for the Europe of the future.

A Value-driven European Future

Within the same period 2010-2011 the Jean Monnet Centre also initiated a structured and interdisciplinary indepth analysis of culturally

4 Bekemans, L. (ed.),Intercultural Dialogue and Multi-level Governance in Europe. A Human Rights based Approach,op. cit.

oriented and value driven applied reflections on Europe’s future. The research focussed on the current debate on the future of Europe, in particular on the complexities of transforming realities, oriented towards a common destiny of sustainable and cohesive societies in a globalised world, i.e. the building of a European future.⁵

The research first provided a conceptual framework for understanding and contextualising intercultural and interreligious dialogue, with a focus on an indepth institutional and international law approach. Secondly, it offered the value driven foundations of Europe, ranging from historical, value and human rights perspectives. Thirdly, it proposed applied reflections on the (future) perspectives of a value-oriented Europe in the world. Its interdisciplinary and interconnecting approach addressed crucial issues and challenges to a value based European future. The differing contributions all referred to the fundamental importance of a human-centric development, being the cross-cutting and cross-border compass for the Europe of the future.

Conclusion