Ateliers de situation interculturelle

2015- | Manon Deschênes, Anthony Grégoire, Bob W. White | Laboratoire de recherche en relations interculturelles (Université de Montréal, Canada)

The project was born in 2015 with the ambition of better understanding intercultural dynamics at work in Quebec. Based on the notion of an “intercultural situation” – moments of tension or cultural incomprehension that require mutual adjustment – the team conducted action-research workshops across several sectors: Montreal neighbourhoods, community settings, healthcare, and education. The aim was to create a qualitative database, inspired by quantitative methods, to analyse these situations by cross-referencing the stories, their weight in Quebec society and their media coverage. The aim was to equip society better to understand and negotiate cultural differences in a diverse context. The pandemic profoundly transformed the project. The lockdown put an end to face-to-face meetings, forcing the team to reinvent its methods: workshops moved online via Zoom or Teams, with tools like Google Forms for data collection. This transition to digital technology made it possible to introduce greater flexibility, interactivity and user-friendliness (notably through the use of music), while geographically extending the field of investigation beyond Montreal. At the end of this period, a hybridisation of formats was introduced. Participants can now directly fill in digital forms during workshops led by the researchers, who have become trainers. The process is now semi-autonomous and deployed throughout the province of Quebec. The partnership with Quebec City marked a turning point. It enabled the co-construction of a training programme for municipal employees, based on the lessons learned from the workshops. This enduring link with institutions underscores the project’s commitment to producing not only academic knowledge but also concrete tools for field application. The involvement of municipal players, the flexibility provided by digital tools, and the transformation of the role of researchers have all contributed to making this project part of a long-term dynamic in which science and public action mutually enrich each other.