Since I have heard that Coventry has become the city of culture in 2021 I was thinking to start a project in order to celebrate multiculturalism; I want to celebrate immigration and the beautiful society that is created due to the mixture of cultures and traditions. For me the blend of cultures does not mean that a society will necessarily lose its identity and authenticity, I think the exposure to other cultures enriches our lives, I personally love the wonderful mix of people in a society. I studied International Relations at Coventry University and because I had colleagues from all over the world, it made me realize how lucky I was to have the opportunity to study in a multicultural environment and learn about other's traditions. My course was an inspiration for me, because of the modules I have studied, ‘the study and practice of international relations is interdisciplinary in nature, blending the fields of economics, history, and political science to examine topics such as human rights, global poverty, the environment, economics, globalization, security, global ethics, and the political environment’. Considering the purpose of the course, this implies to analyze our increasingly interconnected world, historically, establishing treaties between nations has served as the earliest form of international relations, and this encourages the travel related to business, tourism, and immigration, providing people with opportunities to enrich their lives.
People have now more chances to travel than ever before, due to the increased number of agreements and treaties between nations, allowing people to move to other countries, start a new life and succeed in a new environment. In modern society, the most important thing for us is to be able to adjust our behaviour to globalization, to be ready to change and eager to explore. I find that Europeans have amazing opportunities because of the European Union, which facilitates this intercultural dialogue between citizens of member states, through its institutions. After the Second World War, Europe has experienced the most peaceful time in history, the fact that for one second we are capable to neglect that, it shows that because we lived in peace for most of our existence, in fact affects our judgment, we don’t realize the impact, negligence, has on our future. Therefore I want to use this project to increase awareness of the importance to create inclusive societies in order to accommodate other cultures so that we live peacefully. It’s time to celebrate diversity, it’s time to appreciate the opportunities that have been created for us by others, who paid for our freedom with their lives, it’s time to show appreciation and gratitude and stop taking everything for granted, it’s time to give back.
My personal experience made me think about the great opportunity that I had, only because I was born in a country that become a member state of the European Union, because of this, I had the chance to move to United Kingdom, and study an amazing course, I also had a lot of other opportunities, like getting involved in different projects, being asked to join great programmes funded by the EU, one of the programme was at the Chamber of Commerce in Coventry, the other one was at the Enterprise Hub at Coventry University . Therefore I want to celebrate this opportunities by creating this project, to show the amazing benefits of living in an interconnected world. My goal is to interview people from every member state of the European Union, and find out more about the impact of the EU in their lives. What better way to do this if not by showing appreciation to those who were brave enough to change their lives, take chances, dream and grow in this amazing environment. I plan do to so by giving them the chance to talk about diversity, inclusive societies and peace, making an example out of their experiences . In his book ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’, Dale Carnegie talks about the importance of appreciation and the need to praise others, giving as an example William James’s finding ‘the deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated ‘. Hence I will take this opportunity to do just that, showing appreciation to those who were not afraid to take risks to fulfill their dreams in their search for a better life. Let’s celebrate courage and optimism, hard work and dedication, let’s celebrate those that are brave enough to believe they can change the world, because they are the ones who will change it. My first interview will be with Dr. Mike Hardy the Director of the Center for Peace, Trust and Social Relations in Coventry,he will talk from his perspective about peace and diversity, historical legacies,Brexit and progress in Coventry.