Centre for Cultural Exchange and Commonwealth Research
Colwyn Bay, Wales
A Brief Introduction
The mission of the Networking for World Awareness of Multicultural Integration (NWAMI) Centre for Cultural Exchange and Commonwealth Research in Colwyn Bay, Wales, is to forge/foreground partnerships through Cultural Exchanges, especially, but not exclusively, within and between the fifty-six member states of the Commonwealth.
The Centre will use UN Sustainable Development Goals as the overall framework, with focus on SDG17 (Partnerships). The Partnerships will work across North-South, South-South and Triangular axes at local, regional, national, and international levels.
The thematic focus of the Centre is Climate Change and the socio-cultural, economic and political challenges that it has posed across the globe leading to the one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many discussions in a range of domains of policy and practice at different intersections between voluntary, business and state sectors. Within academia, the search for social relevance and solution-oriented approaches to Climate Change challenges has reinforced collaboration beyond disciplinary silos. The Centre will promote these inter-professional and interdisciplinary initiatives.
Initially, the Centre will serve as a resource base facilitating dissemination of information on community-based practice in Colwyn Bay in Wales and promote the values of NWAMI among international students in the region, through support for intercultural understanding and pursuit of academic study and research at graduate and post-graduate levels.
In the next stage, the Centre will provide/facilitate opportunities for internships, publications through a series of edited volumes, a peer-refereed online journal, and virtual conferences. Subject to availability of funds, an annual conference would be organised during the summer, preferably on the NWAMI International Integration Day, facilitating cultural exchanges between the delegates, visiting tourists, and local creative industries.
In serving as the Chair of the Centre, I will draw on my current experience as a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London and academic research/teaching and learning at universities in UK, Europe (Switzerland), Africa (Algeria, Tunisia, and South Africa), and Asia (India). The Centre’s current team includes Dr Sibani Roy and Jamie Griffiths, but more volunteers will be joining the team soon.
The Centre was inaugurated on the 9th of October 2024, the NWAMI International Integration Day. I have attached a video and photos of the inauguration event and coverage in the local press, and I would appreciate comments and suggestions on the ways to enrich and enhance the activities of the Centre.
[Bala] Dr Balasubramanyam Chandramohan PhD (Shef), FHEA
Chair
Bala.chandra@sas.ac.uk
