What is a case of good practice?

Determining whether a project is good practice or not can be a highly subjective exercise in the absence of a clear definition of ICD and of standard indicators for evaluation and monitoring.   

Several critical questions were raised by the project team regarding cases of good practise, for example:

• are all projects promoted as good practice really addressing the core concept of intercultural dialogue or do they rather illustrate the larger issues of cultural diversity and/or cross-border cooperation?
• can standardised criteria be developed which helps us to better select, produce and/or evaluate different cases from all parts of Europe?
• would we not learn more from identifying cases of bad practice?
• as the contexts in which cases evolve are different, how transferable are the lessons to be learned?

The team devised a list of attributes which projects considered "good practise" should demonstrate:

• a multi-flow / interactive communication process in which all are equal participants;
• a change of attitude amongst participants in the process of the work;
• some form of cultural renewal or alternative understanding;
• a dimension of sustainability, i.e. not here one day, gone the next;
• an impact on mainstream institutional practices (in terms of staff, programming, audience participation);
• how different aspects are transferable (while avoiding the "copy cat syndrome");
• an element of impartial evaluation or critical self-reflection.

The shared space in which such dialogue processes take place can also be "virtual" as new technologies can provide an opportunity for those who are "hard to reach" to participate.