AN INTERCULTURAL APPROACH TO THE DANUBE GORGE (BRIDGING ETHNIC DISPARITIES BY ENSURING CULTURAL COMPETENCE)
AN INTERCULTURAL APPROACH TO THE DANUBE GORGE (BRIDGING ETHNIC DISPARITIES BY ENSURING CULTURAL COMPETENCE)

Summary/Abstract: An area encompassing at least five ethnic groups that display a cultural heritage of their own, pieced together in the mosaic art as individual stones, merely to create a composite pattern that celebrates multiculturalism, or woven into a tapestry of ethnocultural interactions, this is The Danube Gorge of Romania. A celebration of the culturally diverse landscape of the area may be an incentive in itself, yet from acknowledgement of the demographic canvas to intercultural competence, the interactions in the aforementioned region and the cross-cultural exchanges need not be ignored. A correct responsive approach to such an environment, which accommodates Czech, German, Hungarian, Roma and Serbian communities, alongside the Romanians, as recorded in the 2011 Romanian census, require all-encompassing interactions, rather than the bare ethnocultural acknowledgement. Thus, in tailoring for the mechanisms and frameworks that would enhance awareness of the other and would nurture cultural exchanges, can cultural competence be fostered in the Danube Gorge. The present paper is a descriptive analysis of a theoretical framework based on historical complexities, never ceasing exchanges, with the case study of the Danube Gorge as practical example. Various pathways and recommendations serve as incentives for the intercultural tapestry to be woven in the future.

• Details
• Contents