Fields of Research-Action

Field 1. Grassroots Participation and Intercultural Community Development (local) ; Two programs

Program 1 : Regeneration of Communities and Neighbourhoods.

Objectives :

• To revitalize grassroots communities.
• To regain confidence in people’s power to reappropriate responsibilities that have been delegated to professionals and institutions.
• To raise mutual awareness of one another’s history in rebuilding their respective communities and reconstructing their identity in the context of immigration.
• To do research on mutual perceptions that give rise to stereotyping and prejudice, as well as on the difficulties encountered in terms of neighbourhood interaction between families of diverse origins.
• To work on possible solutions to improve neighbourhood living in an intercultural context.

Program 2 : Social Movements and Cultural Pluralism.

Objectives :

• To encourage participation of people and communities of diverse origins in Quebec’s social movements.
• To develop intercultural relations within these movements.
• To create and articulate alternative knowledge through mutual learning between cultural, racial and religious communities, in order to respond to social issues.

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Field 2. Knowledge, Innovation and Intercultural Alternatives (local and international);  Three programs

Goals pursued in this field

• To carry out participatory action-research into the knowledge and practices of indigenous and local communities, so as to identify, understand and evaluate them, and thereby propose innovative alternatives.
• To promote and sustain intercultural co-operation and solidarity among indigenous and local (grassroots) communities, by adopting South-North and South-South exchange programs.
• To inform and sensitize various types of development workers (government agencies, NGOs, private sector groups, universities...) to the viability of endogenous and traditional knowledge and practices in the pursuit of well-being for communities.

Program 1 :  Local and National Research Projects (LNRP) :

on social, political, economic issues in Quebec and Canada in the area of education, health care and social issues, community development, specific social groups (youth, elderly, women, families).

Program 2 : International Network for Cultural Alternatives to Development (INCAD)

Its members are activists, social analysts and scholars, grassroots workers and development philosophers from different regions of the world.

INCAD’s activities are oriented towards carrying out cultural analysis of development and its impact on human societies and nature, conducting participatory research on the cultural knowledge and practices of micro-communities throughout the world and seeking alternatives through intercultural dialogue.

INCAD’s activities consist of international conferences, research projects, and action projects.

Historical account: IIM's Activities on Development Issues

A. Since 1972, cultural sensitization sessions have been offered to the agents of international cooperation of various NGO's, on their request: SUCO (services universitaires de coopération outre-mer), CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency), Jeunnesse Canada Monde, CECI (Centre d'éducation et de coopération internationale), Jeunes du Monde, Entraide Missionnaire, Développement et Paix (on Native Indian issues), YMCA International, etc.

B. Seminars, symposia, colloquia

1974 - Seminar on "Ethical Strategies in the Struggle for World Development" to sensitize Canadian NGO's on the issue of Cultures and Development (published);

1981 - Symposium on "Cross-cultural Economics and Alternatives to Modern Culture" (published);

1983 - Colloquium on "Intercultural Approach to International Cooperation" in Marlagne, Belgium (published);

1989 - Seminar on "Technological Complex and Cultural Pluralism" (to be published);

1991 - Colloquium on "Native Justice/White Justice: A Study of Two Systems of Justice in Canada" (published);

- Colloquium on "Development, Environment and Native Nations" (published);

1992 - International conference: ``Living with the Earth: cross cultural perspectives on sustainable development" (published); Orford Statement;

1995 - Beginning of a project on establisment of a database on traditional and endogenous knowledge and practices, named ROOTS;

2000 - Conference-workshop “A Cross-Cultural Dialogue on Knowledge and Livelihoods in the context of Globalization”

C. In 1980 the IIM initiated a reflection group composed of representatives from various development NGO's on the issue of cultures and development. There were three meetings held at the Institute, but the project was discontinued due to a lack of interest on the part of the NGO's.

D. Since 1986, the IIM has been giving workshops for development workers in intercultural relations, as well as sensitization programs on the issue of Cultures and Development.

INCAD MEMBERS

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Program 3 : International Grassroots Alliance : for the Protection and Promotion of Local Knowledge (IGRA)

Objectives :

• To allow exchange of knowledge, practices and innovations between grassroots groups from different regions of the world.
• To provide a forum for discussion and analysis of common problems.
• To establish dialogue between grassroots groups and development organizations, in order to promote the type of collaboration that will foster acceptance of endogenous and traditional knowledge and practices.

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Field 3. Foundation for Pluralistic Societies;
One program

Reflection and research are carried out through various types of activities : seminars and symposia ; dialogue sessions ; conferences, local or international, held in collaboration with persons, groups, organizations and institutions.

Diffusion of research : publication of our bi-annual journal InterCulture ; conference proceedings, seminar reports, etc.

Thematic Focus

Pluralism and societies ; intercultural philosophy ; intercultural relations ; interreligious dialogue ; modernity and pluralism ; aboriginal nations ; nation state and cultures ; human rights and cultures ; cultures and development ; legal pluralism ; politics and interculturalism ; pluralism of knowledge systems, etc.

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