Solving intercultural conflicts with international students (11/2018–11/2020)
ERASMUS+ 2018-1-PL01-KA203-050751
The Erasmus+ project SOLVINC aimed to facilitate the development of intercultural and conflict management skills among international students, local students and higher education staff. By engaging with real-life cases of intercultural conflict and proposing possible solutions to said conflicts, SOLVINC raised awareness for the existence of cultural differences and thus attempts to alleviate discriminatory experiences students may have made on campus. Within the project, we collected and analyzed real experiences of intercultural conflict, devising strategies for negotiation and conflict management as well as creating training material for Higher Education staff to better deal with an increasingly diverse student population. Formats of intercultural learning between international and local students will also be implemented at partner universities in order to facilitate the development of intercultural skills among all students. This project was funded by the European Commission and is supported by universities from several European countries, including Poland, Austria, France, Portugal, and Germany.
For more information visit
http://solvinc.eu/ and https://www.zww.uni-mainz.de/solvinc
International Online Conference and Workshops on „LEARNING FROM CULTURE SHOCKS” online in October 2020
In October, the final conference of the SOLVINC project “Learning from Culture Shocks - Addressing the Challenges of International Students: A Positive Way to Working with Cultural Differences. Creating Connections with Local Students" was presented online. The event was the final highlight of the two years of cooperation in which the project partners presented the intellectual results of the project, offered workshops and a panel discussion on culture shock and its multi-layered implications. The project results, including
- a collection of Critical Incidents,
- Sensitive Zones,
- an Exercise Toolkit for diversity and internationalisation in Higher Education and
- a Toolkit on intercultural student encounters,
are available on the SOLVINC homepage and the Online Tool.
Partner Meeting online in September 2020
The last partner meeting took place online in September, just before and in preparation of the International Online Conference and Workshops on
„LEARNING FROM CULTURE SHOCKS”. The partner institutions reviewed the results of the project and prepared to present them to a wider audience in the field of Higher Education.
Partner Meeting in Paris in March 2020
Photo: © ZWW
The fourth partner meeting was held in the beginning of March 2020 in Paris. Participants from the Centre for Continuing Education (ZWW) and other project partners were welcomed by Elan Interculturel. Not all partners were able to attend personally but attended remotely via video call instead. The meeting focused on finalising the scientific texts of the sensitive zones and planning the last part of the project, including the final conference.
Partner Meeting in Vienna in November 2019
Photo: © ZWW
The third partner meeting took place at the University of Vienna, Austria (UNIVIE). The goal of this meeting was to collect several critical incidents. The contents of the sensitive zones reader were a major part of the meeting. Furthermore, the third phase of the project started, in which an online tool for teachers of Higher Education Institutions (HEI) is being developed.
Partner Meeting in Mainz in May 2019
Photo: © ZWW
The second Partner Meeting of the SOLVINC project took place in Mainz. First results of the analysis of multiple critical incidents were discussed and the second phase of the project, the definition of sensitive zones using relevant literature was initiated. The outcome of this step will be a reader on sensitive zones of intercultural encounters in Higher Education.
Paris Training Event in January 2019
Photo: © ZWW
The 3 days joint staff training for 16 staff members from participating universities and 2 trainers from ELAN was held in Paris. It introduced the participants to the concepts, vocabulary and methodological steps of the critical incident methodology. Connecting to this event, the project members will develop an online-tool for Higher Education staff.
Kick Off Meeting in Porto in December 2018
Photo: © ZWW
On 17th and 18th December 2018 Dr. Beate Hörr and Iris Thimm-Netenjakob took part on the Kick-Off-Meeting in Porto from the project SOLVINC - Solving intercultural conflicts with international students. SOLVINC is an ERASMUS + project and planned for 2 years. It aims to solve intercultural conflicts and communication problems between international students and staff members as well on individual as institutional level.