Abstract
Objective: Changing definitions of culture are modifying approaches to intercultural education and training. This paper outlines the principal features of these emerging models for innovation and capacity building in communities.
Methods: Semiotics provides a theoretical frame for the interdisciplinary analysis of research on cultural competency, especially regarding recent studies on “cultural intelligence”, performance and creativity.
Results: Interdisciplinary research on cultural literacy is shifting from cultural knowledge to intercultural know-how. This know-how translates into the individual's capacity to innovate and illustrates the influence of culture on individual and group performance.
Conclusions: Research on cultural intelligence, performance and creativity provides promising new models for capacity building in communities. These approaches constitute a synthesis of previous research on cultural competency and provide new avenues for innovative social action through intercultural exchange.
Notes
*Comments pertaining to the Intercom Project: a series of documentaries on applied cultural semiotics. These same documentaries were used in the Queensland workshop.