CVEK

CVEK co-organized V4 Summer School at the Willa Decius in Krakow this year again. The Visegrad Summer School is a two-week educational program which provides an interdisciplinary learning space for young Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Slovak students, and for their peers from other Central and Eastern European countries. The program consists of lectures, panel debates and seminars on issues and challenges relevant to the Visegrad Group region, the European Union and beyond.

The topics cover current social, economic, political and cultural issues, such as multiculturalism, economic transition in Central and Eastern European countries, relations between the EU and other countries, and European and national cultural identity and heritage. School gives many opportunities to learn about each other and start an international co-operation between the people and the countries. 

The program of the seventh edition of the Visegrad Summer School included debates on actual challenges for European Union and political situation in Russia together with its implications for region. Environmental protection, energy security as well as regional and Euroatlantic cooperation were also discussed. The Summer school was aimed especially at graduate students, young researchers and journalists from Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary and some other CEE countries.  

Dr. Michal Vašečka lectured on the 7th edition of the Summer School on “Paradigmal changes of multiculturalism in 21st century“.

More information:

1. News of CVEK

2. Web page of the Willa Decius

Slovakia has been represented on the 7th edition of the Summer School by 8 participants:

1. Eva Jakubčáninová, Faculty of Humanity Studies, Charles University, Prague

2. Marianna Mišúrová, Comenius University, Bratislava

3. Tina Gyarfášová, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno 

4. Matej Kresáč, Faculty of Economics, Masaryk University, Brno

5. Lukáš Makovický, Faculty of Social & Economic Sc., Comenius University, Bratislava

6. Peter Hlohinec, Philosophical Faculty, Comenius University, Bratislava

7. Stanislava Šimurdová, Faculty of Social Science, Aalborg University, Aalborg

8. Zuzana Kostovčíková, Faculty of Arts, Constantin the Philosopher University, Nitra

According to several analyses conducted in Slovakia, education system is still relatively ethnocentric. Integration of autochtonous as well as of the so-called new minorities is so far failing also due to non-effective school system. School curricula do not reflect cultural diversity of Slovakia, school-texts are practically free of information on national and new minorities. This is clearly influencing both chances of integration of other ethnic groups and processes of majority population attitudes formation. Integration into the society is not possible without acceptation of minorities by the majority.

Multicultural education as a topic incorporating issues of cultural diversity into the educational system might be an effective tool for the integration of these minorities. Effective incorporation of the multicultural education into the school system depends, however, on numerous factors that have to be met. One of the most important ones is good knowledge of young people attitudes toward different ethnic and religious groups. Identification of prejudices and stereotypes can help to identify proper form of the multicultural education in order to implement it effectively. 

Most important aims of the research have been identification of spheres that multicultural education should be focused on and recommendation of practical steps how to implement it into the educational system. The task of researchers has been to answer research question: “Which spheres should be multicultural education focused on within educational system in order to reflect changed needs of society in relation toward different types of minorities?” Quantitative analyses of attitudes and prejudices of elementary schools students is a result of the study that reflects regional and stratification differences.  

Publication with results of the research was presented in the OSF Gallery in Bratislava on April 21, 2009.

The aim of the project has been to identify best practices of minority protection, while at the same time studying under which conditions such practices can function and under which circumstances the application of certain measures is not recommendable. This goal was reached by comparatively studying the real situation of autochthonous minorities in certain key areas, taking into consideration the respective social, cultural, historical, political and economic context. The situation in Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania has been studied.

Main focus has been placed on the impact that the implementation of provisions for the protection of minorities have had on the interethnic living together, the mutual trust, the functioning of institutions and the interstate relations. This is shedding light on which impact an adequate minority protection system can have on the internal and external stability, economic prosperity and the lived cultural diversity within a state.

Project has been dealing with issues of discrimination, segregation, and marginalization of ethnic minorities that are in stark conflict with the cornerstone values of the EU as embedded in acquis communautaire. Yet, social and economic disintegration remains an everyday challenge to millions of members of ethnic minorities living in the EU today. Ethnic integration challenges appear in a variety of forms, from unequal access to health care and social services to unemployment, underemployment, and substandard remuneration of individuals belonging to different ethnic minorities.

Labor market segmentation is a particularly worrisome issue, since equal labor market opportunities are a cornerstone for achieving the key objectives of the European Employment Strategy, as defined by full employment, increased productivity and enhanced quality of work, and strengthened social cohesion and inclusion. Therefore, it is imperative for the European society to strengthen labor market integration of ethnic minorities. To this end, a large number of legislative acts, policies, and local actions have been implemented to date.

The overriding objective of the study on the social and labor market integration of ethnic minorities in Europe was to provide the High Level Group on the social and labor market integration of minorities (HLG) and the European Commission (EC) with
1. an expert analysis of the labor market situation for relevant ethnic minorities;
2. identification and description of the barriers relevant ethnic minorities face in the labor market and actual and potential policies aiming at overcoming these barriers;
3. policy evaluation including identification of best policy and business conduct practices;
4. policy recommendations concerning overcoming the barriers ethnic minorities face in European labor markets to support the High Level Group in formulating its recommendations to the EU Commission.

In the first part of the study the team provided the contextual framework describing the labor market situation of ethnic minorities in the EU member states. Experts documented to what extent, different ethnic minorities, such as Roma in Slovakia, Muslims in Western Europe, or the Russian speaking population in Latvia, experience discrimination and segregation in the labor market. An inclusive understanding of ethnic minority such that the relevant minorities in Europe are covered was adopted. At the same time, to facilitate cross-country comparability, more refined definitions of ethnic minorities has been investigated.

The second part of the report identified the external and, whenever possible, internal barriers that members of ethnic minorities face in the labor market. Experts utilized different datasets available through IZA’s own Data Service Centre and micro-econometric techniques. The key focus in this section was to identify labor market discrimination of ethnic minorities.

In the third part of the report different public policies and private initiatives on labor market integration of ethnic minorities were evaluated, distinguishing three levels of policy implementation: (i) the EU level, (ii) the country level, (iii) and the local level. In the comparative analytical framework, the key evaluation dimensions that are proposed to be employed include relevancy, efficacy, timing, fairness, and feasibility.
The last part concluded with policy implications and recommendations on how to improve labor market integration of ethnic minorities in the EU member states. This part was predominantly draw on the insights of the renowned international economic and policy experts in the IZA team.

The beginning of 2007 marks the start of a first regional project launched by UNDP to accelerate implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in 8 new EU Member States and in candidate countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Slovak Republic and Turkey. The Project aims at promoting and supporting the integration of sustainability principles into the business strategies. The Project is expected to contribute to regional cohesion among old and new EU Member States and candidate countries. The project is funded by the European Commission.

As a partner institution, CVEK realized the research in cooperation with international expert team. The main objective of the research was to investigate the actual level of CSR promotion in Slovakia and to bring recommendations from stakeholders. The research was based on qualitative interviews with various representatives of small and medium companies and stakeholders (NGO, media, academic institutions, associations, ministries.)

The output of the research consists of the Baseline Study on CSR Practices in the New EU Member States and the national report for Slovakia where all the results of the qualitative and quantitative research are included. The report as well formulates the recommendations for various actors active in the field of CSR promotion.

Elena Gallová Kriglerová presented results of the study on June 20, 2007 at the UNDP headquarters in Bratislava to representatives of firms, media, non-governmental organizations and governmental bodies. Results of the research were presented also on October 17 in Košice and on October 30 in Žilina.

Objective of the conference has been to contribute to better understanding of the processes of redefinition of nation’s identity. That in consequences would allow not only better conditions for handling of the minority and migrant issues, but also increased mutual understanding between nations in Central Europe. In Central European countries, the process of national self-determination since 19th century has been more on the ethnic and cultural side than on the civic and territorial one.

Central European reality can be characterized by the notion “Kulturnation” (broad cultural community), rather than “Staatsnation” (self-determining political nation). The salience of ethnic component in constructing nationhood among CEE is likely the critical factor why these states are not ready to fully accept the cultural other as equal members – the other may be national minorities or new immigrant groups. Most societies, entering the era of post-industrial times and cross-country migration are not ready for full acceptance otherness – either autochtonous minorities, migrants, or even people with multilayer identities. Confusion is visible mostly in radically different manner in which citizenship in particular countries of the Central Europe – ius soli (birthright citizenship) and ius sanguini principles (right of blood) are used to determinate of the state citizenship in most of EU countries.
Participants from 10 countries took part on the conference.

„Top 10“ conclusions of the conference:
1. There is no consensus about the term nation in Europe (double meanings, difficulties of translation, different contents).
2. Ethnic and civic dichotomy brings conceptual problems to researchers while studying issues connected with a term nation.
3. Term nation should be studied by using a functionalist paradigm.
4. Functionalist paradigm does not exclude thinking about demands of minorities in terms of justice.
5. Issues of banal nationalism, symbolic exclusion, and tribal thinking is more important to conceptualize than to study open nationalism.
6. Researchers should avoid „fetishization“ of legal definitions of the term nation.
7. Language of conceptualization of the term nation is often primordial.
8. Modern national states create a „cocktail“ of civic and ethnic traditions.
9. The role of researchers is a deconstruction and falsification of policies and practices that are rooted unconsciously in nationalized legal norms.
10. Chance of moving forward: redefinition of the core solidarity based on ethnicity to core solidarity based on modern citizenship.

CVEK published a peer-reviewed publication out of selected contributions in English:Nation Uber Alles. Processes of redefinition and reconstitution of the Term Nation in Central European countries. 

The Server, www.digimedia.sk, launched on December 2006, provided critical information, news, articles, and interviews about digital broadcasting in Slovakia and elsewhere. The purpose of this server has been to facilitate transformation of Slovak broadcasting through well considered communication campaign targeted at professionals, working in the area of broadcasting and telecommunications as well as the general public.

The www.digimedia.sk server has been part of a larger project, The Study of Legislative and Socio-Economic Aspects of Transition from Analogous to Digital TV broadcasting, sponsored by the Slovak Ministry of Transports, posts and telecommunications.

Racism and Xenophobia European Information Network (RAXEN) was established by European Monitoring Center of Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC). The main objective of EUMC is to offer broad audience in the EU-25 objective, reliable and comparable data on issues of racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism in the territory of member states and to contribute to formulation of effective measures designed to fight racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism.

RAXEN Network consists of 25 national groups, one group operating in each member state. National groups are partners of EUMC providing needed information and data on national level. Center for Research of Ethnicity and Culture together with People Against Racism form national group for Slovakia. Particular national groups carry out different tasks specified by EUMC, collect information and statistical data about various activities in the area of fight against racism and xenophobia, work out general (general situation in the country) as well as specific reports (employment, education, housing, etc.)

Outputs in 2006:

1. Thematic study: “Combating Ethnic and Racial Discrimination and promoting Equality: Trends and developments 2000 – 2005

2. National Data Collection Report aimed at five main areas of discrimination (legislation, education, housing, employment, racial violence)

3. RAXEN Infosheets: Statistical data on migrants, foreigners and members of ethnic and national minorities in Slovakia

4. Database of organizations, their activities and publications dealing with discrimination, racism and xenophobia. Annual report on situation in the area of racism and xenophobia in the Slovak Republic and further information material mapping respective area in 2006.

5. RAXEN Bulletin: Bi-monthly newsletter on crucial news in racism and discrimination in Slovakia.

This survey has been undertaken in the context of the project PEACE-COM supported by the Sixth Framework RTD Program of the European Communities. Its objective has been to collect information on personal and professional background, as well as opinions of key actors of Slovak – Roma relations in Slovakia. Survey searched for important reasons of the conflict atmosphere, described needs and activities of actors, and their opinion on potential settlement/ accommodation initiatives. For these purposes 30 semi-structured interviews with Roma leaders in Slovakia has been organized and furthermore analyzed.

Campaign All Different – All Equal is being run in different European countries and is based on three pillars: diversity, human rights and participation. Within its priority issues in Slovakia are: increase of interest of youth organizations and non-organized youth, observation of human rights, active citizenship and youth participation.

Research within this campaign aimed to bring knowledge and opinion of young people at the age of 14-26 about three main areas:

a) Diversity and Disadvantages – perception of different cultures, tolerance toward the members of different cultures, opinions on discrimination of disadvantaged people, interethnic and intercultural relations of youth

b) Human Rights – knowledge about human rights, attitudes toward education on human rights in Slovakia

c) Civic participation of young people

Outputs from the project contain very interesting findings, which could be very useful not only for further research in this area, but for the more complex and efficient work with young people. One of the partial aims of the project was to provide recommendations for young people oriented public policy, which would take into consideration attitudes and needs of youth.