Africa and decolonisation

Intercultural competence training plays a critical role in how individuals and organisations understand,
navigate, and engage across cultural differences. Through its innovative learning tools and facilitation
methods, diversophy® contributes significantly to the field by promoting dialogue, reflection, and
experiential learning.

However, as global conversations on equity, representation, and knowledge production continue to
evolve, it becomes increasingly important to ask:

Whose knowledge shapes intercultural competence training?

And whose perspectives remain underrepresented?

To reflect global diversity, intercultural competence training must move beyond a single dominant
worldview and engage more meaningfully with the plurality of cultural realities that shape how people
understand and relate to one another. Decolonising the field involves rethinking how intercultural learning
tools are designed, used, and facilitated.

In this process, African philosophies and cultural frameworks offer important contributions. They expand
existing – and bring alternative – ways of knowing and being that emphasise connection, context, and
shared humanity, enriching both the theory and practice of intercultural competence.

diversophy® creates learning spaces where individuals and communities are not simply represented, but
are actively involved in shaping and sharing their own cultural narratives. Rather than relying solely on
externally constructed interpretations, the approach encourages self-representation, dialogue, and the co-
creation of knowledge.

Building on this, the Africa and Decolonisation initiative seeks to extend diversophy®’s impact by
embedding African perspectives more deeply into intercultural competence training, while addressing
questions of representation and narrative agency.

This includes:
● developing Diversophy learning games focused on African countries and cultural contexts,
grounded in locally informed knowledge and perspectives
● creating tools that centre storytelling, dialogue, and lived experience as key modes of learning

● contributing to global intercultural discourse through research, conferences, and collaborative
engagement
● fostering spaces for co-creation and knowledge exchange, where African voices actively shape
the conversation

Through this work, the initiative not only expands the content of intercultural competence training, but
also contributes to a broader shift, one in which people are recognised as authors of their own cultural
stories, and where intercultural learning becomes a more inclusive, participatory, and globally
representative process.

Project Leadership

This initiative is under the direction of Confidence Happiness Evwodere, a Cultural Researcher and
Project Manager at diversophy® Africa. The work brings together cultural research, project
development, and intercultural practice. The project is collaborative and involves game developers,
researchers, cultural practitioners, volunteers, and interns.

Learn More

This is an ongoing and evolving project aimed at reshaping how intercultural competence is understood and practiced globally. To explore the initiative in more detail, including its projects, tools, research, and opportunities for collaboration:

Visit the Africa & Decolonisation platform

Join the Conversation

Decolonising intercultural competence training is a collective effort. We invite educators, practitioners,
researchers, organisations, and individuals to engage with this work and contribute to building a more
inclusive and representative global dialogue. Get involved here.