Cultural Diversity, Intercultural Communication and Digital Culture

Project Description

Recognizing diversity among cultures as the integral part of identity and the element that activates intercultural connections and cooperation is a phenomenon of our time. New approaches to cultural diversity have been developing, which promote specific cultural expressions, goods and services as bases for intercultural communication, which is marked by the application of ICTs to stimulate the creation of new forms of culture, such as digital culture. The basic premises are that cultural diversity, intercultural communication and the intensive development of digital culture represent development resources for knowledge societies. This hypothesis is to be scientifically verified by researching the different characteristics of their interrelation. Monitoring and defining the development, use and impact of digital culture in the context of cultural diversity and intercultural communication will give new insight into their interdependence.

Expected results include the systematisation and presentation of knowledge on new approaches to cultural diversity, intercultural communication and the role of digital culture as well as the identification of basic elements of their interaction and ways in which they are realized in different aspects. Research should focus on the dynamics of changes in Croatian culture and the impact of digital culture on changes in traditional cultural sectors, as well as result in international cultural cooperation and exchange.

Results will be evaluated by way of international conferences in Croatia and abroad, as well as through the Culturelink Network (based at IRMO), which stimulated research on cultural diversity and intercultural communication in the world. UNESCO’s Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expression and the Council of Europe’s efforts will also serve as a way of evaluation of the research results. The results will be published and disseminated through the Culturelink Network.

This research will contribute to the integration processes of Croatia into the European cultural, scientific and educational flows, as well as to defining the position of Croatia in international communication. It will try to answer the question of whether digital culture in Croatia offers a new perspective of cultural development and international cultural communication, as well as how much the interdependence of cultural diversity, intercultural communication and digital culture contributes to the new notions of Croatian cultural policy and cultural strategy.

Summary of Project Results.

IRMO Project Collaborators:

• • Biserka Cvjetičanin, PhD
  • Nada Švob-Đokić, PhD
  • Aleksandra Uzelac, PhD
  • Ana Žuvela Bušnja, M.A.

External Collaborators:

• • Hajrudin Hromadžić, PhD, Institutum Studiorum Humanitatis, Ljubljana, Slovenia
  • Kruno Martinac, PhD, University of Melbourne, Australia
  • Zrinjka Peruško, PhD,  Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia
  • Nikola Petković, PhD, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Rijeka, Croatia
  • Joost Smiers, PhD, Utrecht School of the Arts, the Netherlands