Welcome to the podcast series “Cup of Tea”, an initiative of the InterCultural Approach programme (DG INTPA).

Through this series, we aim to bring a moment of cultural empowerment through stories and conversations with guests from around the world. Our guests share their insights and experiences with multiculturalism from their personal and professional lives. Surely, this must be your “Cup of Tea”!
The Intercultural Approach programme aims to increase the effectiveness and the results of the EU external policies and interventions though an intercultural sensitive partnership with countries and implementing organisations by developing cultural awareness and facilitating intercultural reflections.
The Intercultural Approach programme is managed by the Unit D4 of the DG INTPA/European Commission.

For further information: INTPA-KNOWLEDGE-MANAGEMENT@ec.europa.eu.

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INCA Podcast Series "Cup of Tea"!

In this first episode Irena Guidikova from the Council of Europa paints a landscape in which true intercultural encounters become not just possible, but an inspirational perspective in the global village that we live in today.

IRENA GUIDIKOVA
A graduate of Political Science and Political Philosophy from the Universities of Sofia (BG) and York (UK), Irena Guidikova has been working at the Council of Europe since 1994. She founded in 2008 the Intercultural cities programme and was the coordinator of the World Forum for Democracy between 2013 and 2017. She is currently leading the Inclusion and Anti-discrimination programmes of the Council of Europe which support policy development and capacity-building in relation to anti-discrimination, equality, countering hate speech, LGBTI equality, migrant inclusion and minority rights.


Dans ce premier épisode, Irena Guidikova du Conseil d'Europe peint un paysage dans lequel de véritables rencontres interculturelles deviennent non seulement possibles, mais une perspective inspirante dans le village planétaire dans lequel nous vivons aujourd'hui.

IRENA GUIDIKOVA
Diplômée en sciences politiques et en philosophie politique des universités de Sofia (BG) et de York (UK), Irena Guidikova travaille au Conseil de l'Europe depuis 1994. Elle a fondé, en 2008, le programme des cités interculturelles et elle a été la coordinatrice du Forum mondial pour la démocratie de 2013 à 2017. Elle dirige actuellement les programmes d'inclusion et de lutte contre la discrimination du Conseil de l'Europe, qui offrent un soutien en matière de développement législatif et politique et un renforcement des capacités pour un large éventail de parties prenantes dans les États membres en ce qui concerne la lutte contre la discrimination, l'égalité, la lutte contre les discours de haine, l'égalité LGBTI, l'inclusion des migrants et les droits des minorités.

Irena Guidikova – On humility, space and curiosity (43 min)

Anna van Malder vit depuis bientôt vingt ans en Afrique de l’Ouest. Elle est venue pour le plaisir de découvrir l’Afrique et elle y a trouvé son chemin. L’interculturel fait partie de sa vie quotidienne, aussi bien sur le plan personnel que professionnel. Au Mali elle a vécu l’expérience de vivre dans une grande cour familiale avec son mari, ses trois enfants et sa belle-famille. Femme d’affaires dans le secteur du tourisme, elle a toujours travaillé avec des équipes locales. En même temps, elle enseigne le français et l’anglais dans des écoles internationales. Après des longs séjours au Mali et en Guinée elle réside actuellement en Sierra Leone. Esprit libre, elle porte un amour profond pour l’Afrique et la liberté qu’elle y trouve.

Anna van Malder – Esprit libre en Afrique (28 min)

Our guest in this episode is Dr. Richard Harris (Ph.D.), who, born in London (UK), is a tenured professor in the School of Management at Chukyo University, Japan, where he has lived for 42 years. He speaks of the difference between cultural relativism and relativity, but most of all he shares his passion for the discovery of different cultures and advocates for friendship as the best entry into a new culture. 

Dr. Harris teaches Intercultural Communication and Intercultural Management (in Japanese) at undergraduate and graduate levels and travels extensively out of personal and professional curiosity. Richard’s eclectic research interests range from the influence of physical and psychological space on intercultural encounters to the representation of ourselves and the other in media, museums, tourism and interpersonal interaction. He has presented at dozens of conferences around the world, and written many papers on the cultural impact of space, on the representation of cultures in Southeast Asian museums, and is the author of Paradise: A Cultural Guide, a study of cross-cultural concepts of the ideal.

Richard Harris – Making Friends (26 min)

Mor Khoudia Guèye, actuel Secrétaire Général du Ministère de la Jeunesse du Sénégal, nous parle de ses aventures culturelles et de la nécessité de rencontrer l’autre avec ouverture d’esprit et respect. Ce n’est qu’en reconnaissant l’interdépendance qui existe entre les cultures que nous pouvons mener des changements en bien. 
Inspecteur de l’Education Populaire, Mor Khoudia Guèye a une longue expérience de travail avec les plus vulnérables et les rencontres qui en faisaient partie ont fortement influencées sa vie personnelle et professionnelle. Après sa carrière dans l’enseignement, âgé aujourd’hui de 57 ans, Mor Khoudia Guèye a fait ses études universitaires en coopération et développement international à la faculté des Sciences Politiques de l’Université de Bologne, où il a complété des études de Master. Monsieur Gueye a séjourné en Italie durant 7 ans. Pendant son séjour il a eu le rôle de médiateur interculturel dans plusieurs activités éducatives et pédagogiques. Toujours intéressé par la rencontre interculturelle, sa vie professionnelle l’a amené au Mali, au Burkina Faso, au Rwanda, au Ghana, au Maroc, en France, en Allemagne et en Belgique.

Mor Khoudia Guèye - Respect de l'altérité (29 min)

Pour faire cet épisode spécial été, l’équipe du Cup of Tea s’est déplacé aux journées européennes de développement (EDD) à Bruxelles, tenues en juin 2022. Elle y a rencontré des acteurs du développement pour échanger avec eux sur des questions d’interculturalité dans les partenariats internationaux au développement.

On vous propose ici des entretiens avec Raphaël Daglande, de la Fondation Afrique-Europe, Nicolas Boissez de la Fondation Hirondelle et Marthe Djuikom, de l’ONG Ferdedsi ASBL. Nos interlocuteurs fonctionnent dans des contextes différents, mais ils partagent une sensibilité culturelle et des approches qui pourraient certainement nous inspirer dans notre travail interculturel.

On location: The INCA programme at the EDD (28 min)

In this episode, Media4Democracy talks to Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC about the increasingly complex threats journalists face because of their work and the legal tactics governments are using to silence journalists. Drawing on several prominent recent legal cases, she highlights how she and her colleagues are working together to step up legal protections for journalists to hold governments to account for crimes against journalist and fight back against the culture of impunity in many countries.

Topics
• Crimes against journalists
• Legal threats to journalists
• Lawfare
• Defending journalists
• Inter-American Court of Human Rights judgement on Colombia
• Daphne Caruana Galizia
• Maria Ressa
• Judith Bedoyo Lima

Links 
• International Media Defence Panel: https://www.doughtystreet.co.uk/international-media-defence
• Inter-American Court of Human Rights: https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/seriec_431_ing.pdf

The Media4Democracy podcast - Season 1 - Episode 2 - Caoilfhionn Gallagher

Media4Democracy talks to Guilherme Canela from his unique global perspective as UNESCO’s chief of section of Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists at their headquarters in Paris. He talks about how the wide range of financial, technological, legal and political threats to independent media combine to create the perfect storm, but he also remains optimistic that stronger multi-stakeholder action and data-driven policy can help media weather the storm and play a vital role in upholding democracy and provide citizens with independent news and information.

Topics
- Journalist safety
- Disinformation
- Regressive legislation
- Freedom of Expression
- Access to Information
- Independent Media Viability
- Impact of COVID on independent media

Links
- UN Action Plan on Safety of Journalists and Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists: https://en.unesco.org/un-plan-action-safety-journalists
- UNESCO’s flagship Judges Initiative: https://en.unesco.org/training-foe

The Media4Democracy podcast - Season 1 - Episode 3 -  Guilherme Canela

In this episode, Media4Democracy talks to David Kaye, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression where he set the agenda in debates about the role that powerful tech companies and social media platforms should play in promoting and protecting freedom of expression, and the need for governments to do more politically and financially to protect media independence in the digital age.

Topics:
- Business and Human Rights
- Internet Governance
- Online content regulation and self-regulation
- Government transparency in online content governance
- Tech platform transparency in online content governance
- Social Media Councils

Links mentioned in this episode:
- UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GuidingPrinciplesBusinessHR_EN.pdf
- Article19 Social Media Council: https://www.article19.org/social-media-councils/
- Oversight Board (Facebook): https://share.zencast.fm/embed/podcast/www.oversightboard.com

The Media4Democracy podcast - Season 1 - Episode 4 - David Kaye

Media4Democracy talks to Marius Dragomir, Director of the Center for Media, Data and Society at the Central European University to understand the growing phenomenon of media capture in the 21st century. He explains why and how governments capture media to gain political power and win elections. Marius highlights the important role the international community – including the EU – can play at this critical moment in addressing media capture to protect media independence, and the role of global tech companies in protecting spaces for independent, public interest journalism.

Topics:
• Media Capture
• Elections
• Regulatory Capture
• Public media capture
• Private media capture
• Control of state advertising budgets
• Oligarchs
• Independent Media

Links mentioned in this episode:
• Centre of Media Data and Society: https://cmds.ceu.edu/

The Media4Democracy podcast - Season 1 - Episode 5 - Marius Dragomir

Media4Democracy talks to Professor Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Director of the Reuters Institute for Journalism at the University of Oxford, where he leads research into the changing nature of the news industry. Rasmus explains why he thinks the best analogy for the current media crisis is the climate crisis, and discusses the recent global report – A New Deal for Journalism – which calls on governments to implement policies to protect media freedom and to support the financial sustainability of independent media.

Topics
• Sustainable media businesses
• Government policies
• Financing public interest news 
• New Deal for Journalism 
• Public media 
• Private media 
• Not-for-profit media

Links:
• A New Deal for Journalism: https://informationdemocracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ForumID_New-Deal-for-Journalism_16Jun21.pdf
• International Fund for Public Interest Media: https://share.zencast.fm/embed/podcast/www.ifpim.org
• Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism: https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/

The Media4Democracy podcast - Season 1 - Episode 6 - Rasmus Kleis Nielsen

Join us for this episode where we meet up with Louise Mabulo, a Filipino environmentalist, farmer, social entrepreneur, and master chef.
80% of our food is produced by family farmers, meaning our continuous support will enable them to become leaders of climate solutions across the agrifood systems. Louise is the founder of The Cacao Project, a social enterprise that works with over 200 farmers in the Philippines. She shares her thoughts with us on farming as a career choice, an opportunity to provide green jobs and landscape stewardship. She’s also a chocolate expert, explaining what fair trade means to the industry and how cacao farming can happen sustainably.Louise tells us about the power of food and recipes, how cooking can galvanize entire populations, promoting the farm-to-table narrative. In addition, Louise advises how young people can get involved in ecosystem inclusive spaces.

Hosts: Jennifer Gacich (FAO) and Mateusz Benko (UNEP)
Producers: Cecilia Casalini (FAO), Giorgia Cherubini (UNEP), Katia de Prado (UNEP), Pierre Flecheux (UNEP) and James Obata (FAO).
Picture: Courtesy of Louise Mabulo

Who doesn’t love chocolate? Our conversation with a sustainable cacao farmer and activist

“I believe that being aware of differences (without falling in the trap of stereotyping and
clichés), and being able to acknowledge them as well as our own biases and assumptions
are key elements when working in an organisation like ours.”

Evangelina Blanco Gonzales is programme manager for the EU Delegation in the Gambia and our guest for this episode. She draws upon a life of cross-cultural experiences having lived and worked in many European and non-European countries, but also being part of the cultural melting pots of Brussels, Bruges, and the European Commission. She explores how her Asturian roots (Northern Spain) have led her to this path.

Evangelina Blanco Gonzales – Acknowledging difference (Part one) (15 min)

In the second part of this episode Evangelina Blanco Gonzales explains how she works with cultural differences and how delicate situations sometimes require creative solutions.

Evangelina Blanco Gonzales is programme manager for the EU Delegation in the Gambia and our guest for this episode. She draws upon a life of cross-cultural experiences having lived and worked in many European and non-European countries, but also being part of the cultural melting pots of Brussels, Bruges, and the European Commission.

Evangelina Blanco Gonzales – Acknowledging difference (Part two) (14 min)

Coming from a bicultural background and having worked in four African EU Delegations, Jamila El Assaidi currently leads the Political, Press, and Information Section and is the Deputy Head of Delegation at the EU Delegation in Niger. We talk to her about the changing role of Europe and how that needs to be acknowledged in the relationships we have in partner countries, but also how existing relations influence the cultural space within which we can move.

Jamila El Assaidi– You can’t force it (Part one) (18 min)

In the first episode of the new Capacity4dev Podcast Series, the team sat down with Francine Pickup, Deputy Director of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support at UNDP, who shared insights from her field days and reflections on her work today.

Takeaways from the field: a candid interview with Francine Pickup, UNDP

The European Commission’s online platform for international cooperation professionals. Discuss, share and collaborate globally!

Jamila El Assaidi– You can’t force it (Part one) (18 min)

Capacity4dev

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