Nansen Dialogue Centre Skopje is local non-governmental and non-profit organization, founded in 2000.

NDC Skopje is profiled as an intercultural resource centre, which continuously creates and develops innovative intercultural upbringing and education strategies, approaches and resources, supporting teachers, students and parents in creating new and successful intercultural school practices.

The vision of NDC Skopje is a society in which everyone has equal access to high-quality education based on interculturalism, integration and interethnic cohesion.

 The mission of NDC Skopje is to support and contribute to the development of education by strengthening the capacities of upbringing and educational institutions and entities with initiating intercultural and innovative educational policies and practices, as well as promoting and implementing the dialogue for conflict prevention, reconciliation and building peace in society.

Major donor of NDC Skopje is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway.

 Values and principles of NDC Skopje:

  • Equal opportunities
  • Non-discrimination
  • Multilingualism
  • Transparency and openness
  • Positive and inclusive environment
  • Opportunities for development of innovations and capacities
  • Creativity, flexibility, originality
  • Constructive and open communication
  • Commitment
  • Mutual respect
  • Motivation
  • Loyalty
  • Teamwork
  • Efficiency and effectiveness
  • Tolerance
  • Responsibility
  • Democracy
  • Awareness
  • Professionalism and long-standing experience

DEVELOPMENT OF NDC SKOPJE

Since its foundation in 2000, Nansen Dialogue Centre Skopje has been mainly focused on students, young politicians and NGO representatives. The purpose of activities was to familiarize the participants with skills used in non-violent communication and constructive dialogue.

In 2001, the activities were expanded to the regional level by organizing several seminars and forums with participation of journalists, young leaders and politicians from Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Croatia.

Programme activities in 2003 and 2004 were focused on strengthening the capacity of political parties, i.e. youth organizations within political parties, by creating and implementing several “Schools for young politicians”.

In 2005 NDC Skopje started with implementation of the programme “Dialogue and Reconciliation” in the municipality of Jegunovce, which in 2002 faced an ethnic division of primary schools.

Seminars, dialogues and trainings on communication, cooperation, tolerance, teamwork and peaceful conflict resolution enabled conditions for establishing six classrooms, in which students of mixed ethnicity attended bilingual IT courses, and courses in English, Macedonian and Albanian language.

The programme was implemented until 2008, when conditions were created for opening of the first Integrated Primary School “Fridtjof Nansen” in the village of Preljubište, municipality of Jegunovce. Because of this initiative, Nansen model for intercultural education was developed and implemented, based on an integrated, bilingual and games approach to extracurricular activities.

In 2010, the first Integrated Secondary School “Moša Pijade” was officially opened in the village of Preljubište, after which the project was successfully extended to other municipalities.

In the past decade, NDC Skopje has been dedicated to promoting intercultural education and the Nansen model in more than thirty primary and secondary schools, both in the country and in the region, involving over 6,000 students and over 700 teachers.

An important part of the implementation of mission and vision of NDC Skopje is the first Training Centre for Intercultural Education, founded in 2012, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science.

In 2013, a partnership with the Council for Integrated Education of Northern Ireland was established, as long-time experts in the field of integrated education.

NDC Skopje Training Centre offers a variety of intercultural training programmes for educators, supporting their personal and professional development.

In 2015, the NDC Skopje team prepared the strategic plan: Concept for Intercultural Education, which was accepted by the Ministry of Education and Science in 2016.

Starting from the priorities of the Concept, two multilayered analyzes of the overall textbook literature, available in all languages of instruction in primary education, were carried out, assessing their intercultural dimension.

The concept of intercultural education has also initiated extensive research in ten schools in order to identify the intercultural situation in multiethnic school environments.

In 2011, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) awarded the 2011 Max Van der Stoel Award to NDC Skopje for their outstanding work to promote integrated education and improve co-operation between different ethnic communities.