31 May - 2 June 2010
Vienna, Austria
This series of workshops aims to bring together researchers and practitioners from different fields and disciplines with an interest in the issues and challenges of diversity in global working environments such as the UN. The objective is to deepen the international debate on questions pertaining to cultural diversity, ranging from diversity management and terminology to global education and the use of new communication tools.
On the 31. May 2010, the participants are invited to a reception by the Go4Diversity Project at the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber. Go4Diversity is a project concerning the topics migration, diversity and integration in Austria. In this reception the project representatives will present shortly the objectives, activities and results (until now) of this project.
Location:
Gewerbehaus, Wilhelm Neusser Saal
Rudolf Sallinger Platz 1
1030 - Vienna
Austria
Detailed information about the reception at:
http://www.termnet.org/english/about_us/news/?we_objectID=618
On 1 - 2 June 2010 the workshops will take place at United Nations Information Service, Vienna International Centre.
Location:
Vienna International Centre
Wagramer Strasse 5
1220 Vienna
Austria
The workshops take place in conjunction with TermNet's International Terminology Summer School, 24-28 May 2010 and the Annual Meeting of the Academic Council of the United Nations System (ACUNS), 4 - 6 June and in Vienna and are free of charge.
Registration prior to the event is required as places are limited.
Topics are:
● Diversity and Diversity Management
● Terminology and its important role for a better communication
● UN concepts and language - Bridging disciplinary perspectives and terminology
● Global education
● Migration and Science
● Fostering global understanding through new ICT tools and ways of communication
● Practical training
For more information about programme, registration and speakers, visit:
http://www.workshops-on-diversity.org/
or contact events@termnet.org
Jointly organized by TermNet, UNSA, University of Vienna, Heidelberg University
About the topics...
Terminology and its important role for a better communication in peacebuilding and peacekeeping
The planning and management of terminology is crucial not only in the commercial sector and national level (language planning), but in particularly for the use in peace operations and humanitarian operations. In this workshop we will give an introduction in the importance of language and terminology planning for commercial companies and industry (esp. in view of international trade and globalization), the not-for-profit sector (incl. humanitarian and other NGOs) and governmental actions (e.g. minority issues, language planning). Special focus will be given to its importance in peacekeeping and refugee environments. This discussion reflects the current debate among terminology experts worldwide and give some insight on the various requirements in different parts of the world. It also highlights the role of International NGOs, like TermNet and Infoterm (headquartered in Vienna) to promote exchange and cooperation in this field.
The programme include the presentation of a military expert on terminology work in the Austrian Army and linguistic challenges of international peacekeeping missions, a report about the socio-linguistic problems in post-genocide Rwanda, which currently re-assesses its part in the larger (East) African context, as well as about handling multilingualism in the EU or UN.
UN concepts and language - Bridging disciplinary perspectives and terminology
In the last decades, the United Nations has increasingly attracted research interest from various key disciplines: International Relations, International Law, and Economics. In default of a common, interdisciplinary ground of knowledge, each discipline approaches the UN drawing on distinctive terminologies, theories and methodologies.
Within a growing global community of researchers that aim at promoting UN Studies as an integrative field of studies in its own right, researchers are well aware that sharing knowledge and terminology across different disciplines bears great potential for synergies and epistemic development. Yet, there is still a long way to go in order to build a common foundation of knowledge and communication.
This presentation aims to contribute to building a common ground of scholarly understanding, focusing on concepts in UN research. Engaging researchers from various disciplines, UN practitioners and terminology experts in a joint discussion, the goal is to identify and compare concepts that are applied across disciplines, including specific terminologies.
Global education - the COMSIC project
The workshop will support transforming content from originally being a proposed goal of Global Learning/Education to specific techniques and practise. Too often very committed ideas do not follow adequate realisations. Critical incidents, dilemmas and case orientation are feasible didactical approaches adopted for the workshop agenda.
The work packages will circle around the three major subjects of contemporary concepts of Global Learning/Education: Sustainability, operating efficiency and inter-/cultural relations.
Mock scenarios will confront participants with output-oriented demands to act according to principles of Global Learning/Education. The participants will develop ways to approach or possible action to solve the presented cases. This will thus lead to a transformation from general account to actual action, from theory to praxis.
Participants primarily structure previously gathered aims, principles and virtues of Global Learning/Education. Secondly they work on and develop specific solutions to critical incidents, dilemmas and cases. As follow up to the workshop all participants are invited to complete a questionnaire and thus contribute to an ongoing project. Results will be made available to all interested as soon as the project COMSIC has reached the corresponding stage.
Fostering global understanding through new ICT tools and ways of communication
In the overall effort to build a global community of UN academics and practitioners that aim to promote UN Studies as an integrative field of studies in its own right, the UN Studies Association has identified new ICT and digital media as key tools to better link UN experts and their knowledge. The online UN Studies Portal is an informal and open resource that serves as members' main communication and collaboration platform. The portal allows members to network and interact, to develop and exchange new ideas concerning research and teaching about the UN, as well as to create entirely new knowledge.
In general, interactive online portals are the rising "new media" stars in terms of building (expert or issue-related) communities these days. Yet, conceptualizing and designing such tools, to the effect that they indeed improve communication and foster a joint understanding, is easier said than done, particularly not if deployed on a global scale.
This workshop aims to identify key challenges and opportunities of using new ICT tools in fostering global understanding, by drawing on the lessons learned from a two-year experience of running the UN Studies Portal and applying these lessons to the new Go4Diversity-Projekt Portal.
To better define the potential and limits of building a common understanding based on mostly virtual communicative and collaborative action, this workshop will provide participants with a hands-on experience of how new technologies work, and to what effect. Therefore, the workshop will first deliver an overview of web-based interactive tools (such as wikis, blogs, twitter etc.). In the next part, we will provide training on the use of such new technologies, using the new Go4Diversity Portal. We will then enter into a concluding discussion of the potentials and limits as well as the applicability of lessons learned and best practices to concrete diversity management projects.
TermNet
Sulzweg 9/3
1190 Vienna, Austria
Tel.: +43 664 344 6180
E-mail: termnet@termnet.org
