Intercultural and Intergenerational – InCA in EUD Nepal
Discussion details
In today’s story, InCA experts Karolina Ehretsmann Thouvenin and Helen Blake share their experience with latest InCA Lab held this past March in person in Nepal. Curious? Read for more!
Dear Helen and Karolina, your InCA journey as intercultural experts has really took you all over the world, with Nepal as your latest destination! Can you tell our readers more about this experience , and also about the InCA path of the EUD in Nepal?
Nepal is a country with a rich, deep and complex national culture. Working effectively in Nepal requires intercultural knowledge and agility. Understanding this, the EUD in Nepal has worked closely with the InCA programme in three phases of engagement since 2021, to deepen, enrich and become even more effective in their ways of working.
Phase 3 of InCA’s engagement with EUD Nepal took place in March 2023, in presence and we facilitated several InCA workshops throughout the week. The potency of being physically together in Nepal allowed deep exploration of sensitive topics in a series of workshops, leading to a commitment to ongoing intercultural actions.
Can you tell our readers more about the “focus” InCA workshop you held there, and how you came about in preparing it?
As InCA specialises in helping teams to work through ‘hot’ areas of cultural challenge, one topic of particular relevance in Nepal - ‘Intergenerational Dialogue’ - was a key workshop, where we brought together key stakeholders from important groups in Nepal society: Government Ministers, Civil Society leaders, members of the Youth Sounding Board* and key members of EUD Nepal.
As a result of the diverse and complex cultural mix in Nepal, each generation has its own beliefs, values, and customs. Nepal society has a long tradition of older people having more seniority, whose decisions or instructions should not be questioned by younger people. As society is changing, and younger people are taking on new roles, generational tension is not uncommon, and it can manifest in various ways: modern vs. traditional practises and values, language and communication, work and education, gender roles, technology and social media.
To address this, we facilitated a collective intelligence session that would reflect, analyse and define actions through an intercultural lens. In the workshop, we invited participants to define what ‘intergenerational dialogue’ meant for them and the areas they represented. We went further into generational issues by exploring what each culture in the room understood by different ages and stages in life in a ‘timeline’ exercise, before moving into an action plan to create ongoing exploration and dialogue.
What were the reactions following the workshop?
The positive energy, engagement, and open communication between every person in the workshop was inspirational and led to a highly impactful event. Here is an extract from a LinkedIn post from Sujit Chaudhary, one of the Youth Sounding Board representatives, about the Workshop: “I had the privilege of participating in a thought-provoking workshop on intergenerational dialogue organised by the European Union in Nepal…. The workshop was an incredible opportunity to learn from and engage with people from different walks of life. It was a reminder that, regardless of our age or background, we all have something to contribute to the ongoing conversation about the future of our communities and our world.”
Karolina Ehretsmann Thouvenin and Helen Blake are InCA intercultural experts, executive coaches, and consultants to leaders around the world, bringing insight and experience to cultural complexity.
InCA, the Intercultural Approach Programme, has been working within the European Commission since its first successful programme in Laos in 2016. It has set up an interdisciplinary action-research framework for promoting intercultural awareness as a methodological support for improving internal working modalities and therefore external partnerships.
To learn more about InCA programme visit one of our online communities on C4D. Tune in to the InCA Podcast Series "Cup of Tea" that features stories and real-life experiences from international experts in interculturality, diversity and awareness
*Footnote: The Youth Sounding Board is a space for young people to have an influence on EU external action and international partnerships. The selected board members will thereby contribute to make EU action more participatory, relevant and effective for young people in EU partner countries
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