About the DEDI Summer School

“The Summer School left me with the impression that to have successful institutions it is important that there be dialogue between decision makers and their constituents. Which  means citizen involvement in public affairs, so as to make the institutions relevant to people’s lives”.

This quote was by Motaz Attalla reflecting on his participation in DEDI summer School 2010. The Summer School program of 2010 consisted of a 10-day seminar in Copenhagen including lectures and field visits to political, social and cultural institutions in the country including alternative/experimental education facilities (Hellrup School), elderly homes, national museum and street art venues amongst several other main attractions in the city of Copenhagen, such as Tivoli and coincidentally the “Distortion” festival.

The project generated a number of debates that deviated from well-known cultural stereotypes, on the one hand by exposing the internal differences and varieties of opinions held by the Arab participants, and on the other by presenting Danish lecturers that internally held different understandings of the subjects in question.