Recent research undertaken by the British Council among young people shows that the next generation of leaders in Europe, Russia and North America are truly concerned about intercultural issues and how these are aggravated by global mobility.

Thirty-three per cent of those surveyed expressed major concern about human rights and 26 per cent cited social exclusion as a significant worry.

In response to their concerns the British Council has initiated Intercultural Navigators – a project that aims to deal with the challenges that we face in the multicultural world.

Intercultural Navigators aims to develop groups of young leaders in Europe who can easily ‘navigate’ within and between different cultures – who are aware of their own cultural backgrounds and who are able and open enough to accept, respect and understand other cultures.

The project will be launched in 2008 in nine countries in central and northern Europe. It is a large-scale project that will be organised in partnership with a diverse group of institutions and experts working in the area of leadership development and intercultural literacy from the UK, Europe and Africa.

The young participants will be able to contribute to issues such as the:

To help young leaders successfully engage in these international issues the British Council will organise training in leadership skills and intercultural communication. The young participants will also have the opportunity to take part in international attachment programmes in public and non-governmental institutions and the business sector.

The British Council and its international partners will also encourage the young people to develop their own initiatives by providing training in project management and fund-raising – and will supply investment for the best projects to be initiated.