The UNESCO Chair on Intercultural Competence has announced that its 2026 annual conference will take place 28 September – 2 October 2026 in Senegal.
Now in its third year, the Conference invites scholars, practitioners, educators, and change-makers from across Africa and around the world to explore intercultural competences in African contexts and to deepen dialogue on how intercultural understanding intersects with issues such as climate action, peacebuilding, gender equality, and education.
The conference promises a dynamic mix of keynotes, workshops, parallel sessions, and poster presentations that highlight both research and practical tools for fostering intercultural engagement across cultures, generations, and communities.
Calls for Proposals are now open until 1 April 2026. Learn more about the application process.
The theme of the Conference is:
Exploring Intercultural Competences in African Contexts
The Chair invites contributions from academics, researchers, professionals, practitioners, educators, students, innovators, leaders, artists, and organisations with an interest in this theme. Participants are encouraged to consider the following sub-themes:
- How do aspects of Intercultural Competence intersect with and influence climate action, gender equality, or peacebuilding?
- The existence and use of intercultural practices in pre-colonial times.
- Intercultural tools available to the practitioner (for example; Cultural diversity and ethics; Ethical encounters and interactions; Culturally responsive teaching; Collaborative Online International (intercultural) Learning (COIL); tools for understanding values across multi-cultural and multi-religious societies)
- African Youth Perspectives on Intercultural Competence
The Chair welcomes research, reflections, lived experiences and examples from practice that respond to the theme and sub-themes. While the conference focuses on African contexts, the Chair has stated they also welcome perspectives and contributions from other regions of the world in relation to African contexts.
Contribution Formats:
- Workshops,
- Arts,
- Parallel sessions and,
- Poster sessions.
Submission Details and Timelines:
Please submit your proposal online by 1 April 2026 at: https://forms.gle/4NTynRUUwfLz2WudA
The UNESCO Chair on Intercultural Competences, hosted by Stellenbosch University in South Africa, is a member of the UNITWIN IDIU Network.