False propaganda, misleading manipulation, deception: words that fairly describe the true nature of disinformation which is one of the primary challenges of the 21st-century world. So, to unearth the bad sides of disinformation, to acquire the appropriate skills to counter its spread and to explore how one of the most powerful soft skills, cultural diplomacy, can be the most factual means for that, we participated in the “Cultural Diplomacy to Counter Disinformation” conference, held in Berlin, Germany.
There were participants from Eastern partnership countries involved, which made the conference multi-layered. During the conference we had the chance to listen to the speakers, who expressed their ideas about the Cultural Diplomacy importance and its use currently. Also, one of the main parts of the conference was the teamwork, which helped us, firstly, to get to know the other participants from other countries, to understand their national and personal characteristics and to develop ideas on different topics. The other interesting part was that during the conference we learned how to develop influential project ideas in an organized way and engage like-minded people.
The last day of the conference was dedicated thoroughly to us to present our ideas and develop our networking with the other participants. For instance, I developed 2 project ideas with the participants of Caucasus countries. And, of course, the coffee breaks and the informal communication evenings were the best time to openly communicate and make friends with international people.
And, of course, what is a trip without travel and adventure? Though we were passing the main part of our day in the conference hall, we were ingeniously finding time to travel around Berlin and visit its picturesque places. We visited the two parts of Berlin wall, the historic and the graffiti made one, Berlin Cathedral, the Reichstag Building, the Brandenburg Gate, and so on and so forth. And we had the chance just to have evening walks in the narrow streets of Berlin, visit the friendly cafes and communicate with the native Germans.
So, I will surely say this trip was a once in a lifetime experience for me.
The next success story from the same project is below.
In recent times, cultural exchanges have begun to play an even more important role in bringing together people of different religious, economic, and social background. Through this project, we wanted to combine how to counter disinformation using cultural diplomacy and the exchange of thematic experiences of the participants. The event brought together 60 civil society representatives from the CIS countries. The conference consisted of speaker sessions, dialogues, simulation games and an idea competition. The intercultural atmosphere influenced on each of us significantly from the first day. We made new friends and experienced communication with foreigners. In conclusion, I think we all had spectacular days that we can remember forever and we are grateful for giving us this chance. I want to take this opportunity to thank the organizers, FIOH Armenia and CRISP – Conflict Simulation. You were very caring, friendly and bright and You did a really huge job! Once again, thank you!
