Intercultural Dialogue

Towards more cohesive and peaceful societies

In a divided and fast-changing world, intercultural dialogue is a practical and value-driven approach to building the trust and understanding needed to tackle common challenges. UNESCO defines it as a process undertaken to realise transformative communication across cultures and identities; grounded in principles and values such as mutual respect, empathy, and a willingness to change perspective. As an operational strategy, intercultural dialogue enables people with different perspectives, beliefs, and backgrounds to connect meaningfully, navigate tensions, and co-create shared solutions. It offers a structured way to move beyond disagreement, helping to unlock cooperation where it matters most.

Policy and Thematic projects

Mobilising data to create space and opportunity for dialogue

Promoting dialogue for conflict transformation

Fostering intercultural leadership

Forging intercultural understanding in the digital sphere

Leveraging the arts to facilitate dialogue

Exploring the role of education in advancing dialogue

Promoting culture and heritage as vehicles for dialogue

Intercultural dialogue is an approach for aligning diverse interests around shared priorities; whether that means building more cohesive communities, fostering economic resilience, or responding effectively to crises. It helps create the human connections and shared language that are essential for joint action. UNESCO is committed to making this process effective and scalable: both producing the knowledge and evidence needed to understand how dialogue works and how it can be effectively supported, and through the creation of tailored projects at the country-level to put it into practice.