Last week, Clingendael Academy provided a training on communicative competences in an international environment for Swedish senior diplomats in Stockholm.

Each year, the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs selects a group of highly talented individuals to partake in the aforementioned programmes, in which they are trained to represent the country’s interests to the best of their ability. This year, Clingendael supported the participants towards developing an awareness of how cultural conditioning influences the way we interpret the world around us and increase their understanding of this process to allow for increased effective cooperation across borders.

Who decides the character of a cultural identity? What is the difference between a stereotype and a generalization? How do we avoid ethnocentrism, without compromising our own values and principles? These were just some of the questions that were explored during these sessions, through the analysis of case studies, moral dilemmas, and intercultural negotiation exercises.

Charlotta Ozaki Macias, head of training and development at the Ministry, commented that:

a professional mix of theory, interaction, and intragroup discussions [...] suited our diplomats very well.

The training was part of a collaboration with the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in which Clingendael contributed to the Young Diplomat- and the Administrative Officer Programme by providing training in intercultural awareness.

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