Building communities through performance: emerging approaches to interculturality.
OBJECTIVE
Changing definitions of culture are modifying approaches to intercultural education and training. This paper outlines the principal features of these emerging models for innovation and capacity building in communities.


METHODS
Semiotics provides a theoretical frame for the interdisciplinary analysis of research on cultural competency, especially regarding recent studies on "cultural intelligence", performance and creativity.


RESULTS
Interdisciplinary research on cultural literacy is shifting from cultural knowledge to intercultural know-how. This know-how translates into the individual's capacity to innovate and illustrates the influence of culture on individual and group performance.


CONCLUSIONS
Research on cultural intelligence, performance and creativity provides promising new models for capacity building in communities. These approaches constitute a synthesis of previous research on cultural competency and provide new avenues for innovative social action through intercultural exchange.
Parent
Roger
R
Campus Saint-Jean, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. roger.parent@ualberta.ca
D054521:Cultural Competency; D003469:Culture; D006801:Humans; D017145:Models, Educational; D011793:Queensland; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012424:Rural Population; D012919:Social Behavior; D016746:Transcultural Nursing