Nowadays, no space is mono-cultural anymore. People and their cultural models of origin are more and more exposed to exchange and fusion, moving towards a valorizing direction of difference of thought and ethno-cultural conglomerate, as a transcultural space.
In questa dinamica, si distingue una figura mediante tra i contesti di origine e il quadro di arrivo, tra la cultura di appartenenza e quella del territorio che accoglie: il mediatore interculturale che diventa una risorsa pronta a partecipare alla programmazione, progettazione, realizzazione e valutazione degli interventi di politiche sociali per i cittadini stranieri su ogni territorio nel mondo.
In this dynamic, is distinguished a new role, aimed at connecting contexts of origin and the cultural framework of arrival: the intercultural mediator who becomes a resource ready to participate in planning, implementation and evaluation of social policy interventions for foreign citizens from any territory.
Through his actions, the mediator is a network generator, becoming part of a multidisciplinary team where he becomes an effective agent capable of managing the intercultural mediation engine in its complexity and in synergy with other professionals involved in social inclusion movements.
The Intercultural Mediator’s skills:
- To carry out mediation and information activities between immigrant citizens and the host society, favouring the removal of cultural and linguistic walls and the empowerment of the culture of origin
- Decodes and identifies the foreign citizen’s needs (needs analysis). Furthermore, he supports the Italian service in response process to the identified needs, while considering the cultural references of the two contexts involved: of origin and arrival
- Problem solving (context analysis and available resources, research, definition of the objective, creation of an intervention plan and collaboration with the right professionals)
- Has an adequate knowledge both of the host country language and culture and the immigrant ones
- Knowledge of immigration legislation in the host country (rights and duties)
- Has relational skills such as active listening, empathy, neutrality and cultural decentralization, observation, assertive communication (verbal and non-verbal)
- Ability to cooperate and create a network with other social professionals, by establishing positive and constructive relationships (such as trust with the immigrant)
- Excellent management of stress and emotions (the right emotional distance)
- Introspection (continuous self-criticism to control prejudice and acceptance of one’s own limits)
- Organisational skills (to manage deadlines, emergencies, economic constraints and priorities assignment)
In un’ottica di aggiornamento in sintonia con le attuali esigenze a livello di politiche sociali e di migrazione, oggi il mediatore interculturale può rappresentare una risorsa che, affiancando gli operatori dei servizi pubblici e privati nello svolgimento delle loro attività, è pronto a partecipare alla programmazione, progettazione, realizzazione e valutazione degli interventi di politiche sociali per i cittadini stranieri. Il mediatore interculturale, nelle condizioni di un riconoscimento legale e all’interno del team di lavoro, diventa un agente capace di gestire il dispositivo di mediazione interculturale in sinergia con altri progetti di lavoro finalizzati all’inclusione sociale.
The current needs in terms of social and migration policies, bestow the intercultural mediator a very important role in planning, design, implementation, evaluation of social policy interventions for immigrants. Therefore, as sais before, the intercultural mediator, while working within a multidisciplinary team, becomes an agent capable of managing the whole intercultural mediation engine, in synergy with other professionals involved in social inclusion movements.