Welcome message from the Organizing Committee

We invite you to the 2023 Regional Conference of the International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychology with the Irish Céad Míle Fáilte (One Hundred Thousand welcomes) and a multicultural wish that you join us in creating and sharing knowledge and experiences in the beautiful setting of our campus, at the University of Limerick, in the West of Ireland.

We wish for the past and present expertise from IACCP and beyond to come together to create knowledge and networks for a better future. We wish that the 2023 conference becomes a significant milestone into how psychology can contribute to new Pathways towards a Sustainable Future. We invite you to contribute with your psychological insights to issues that are pressing and global, relevant for each and all of us, demanding of our personal and professional involvement. Come with your minds and hearts to re-energize our scientific pursuits, after the turbulent COVID-19 pandemic!

We present you with the challenges of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We raise the challenges and reality of 100 million people displaced from their homes, according to UNHCR. The escalation of the war in Ukraine in 2022 displaced 8 million people within the country and another 6 million people outside the country. Overall, people are displaced because of wars and conflicts, but also because of natural disasters and the consequences of climate change. In addition, we signal the challenges brought by increased workplace diversity in private and public sectors. The millennial generation is more ethnically diverse than others, and the workforce overall is more diverse now than before, in terms of age, gender, disability and cultural backgrounds. Organisations are challenged to understand and invest in diversity, equality and inclusion. Psychology can contribute to these challenges, and cross-cultural psychology, in particular, can significantly improve our collective endeavours to create a more sustainable, inclusive and innovative future.

Come to IACCP 2023 to contribute in making the world a better place! Come to learn and teach others, to share and amplify the effect of our collective knowledge of the human Minds and Hearts. Come to help carve new Pathways towards a Sustainable Future in our discipline, our societies and the world! As William EB Du Bois once said: “Men must not only know, they must act.”. We paraphrase: Psychologists must not only know, they must act!

Looking forward to welcoming you to Ireland!

An Invitation to Limerick from the IACCP President

I hope you are as thrilled as I am that we will finally hold a face-to-face conference for the first time since 2019! Over these four years, you surely have learned more about Zoom, recording lectures, and all sorts of virtual technologies than you ever expected to. We are fortunate indeed that our first return to “normal” will take place in the wonderfully salubrious Limerick, Ireland. In the spirit of Irish culture, the IACCP officers have resolved that any conference delegate who can present an officer with a genuine four-leaf clover will receive a free year membership.

The theme of this conference is Global Minds and Hearts: Pathways Towards a Sustainable Future. The theme is apropos in several ways. Globalization has taken a serious hit over the last several years as nations pull inward, backslide from democracy, erect trade barriers, revert to mid-20^th century power politics and warfare, and erode the centuries-long Enlightenment project of reshaping the world to enrich the human condition. Sustainability, an idea whose time had better come soon–or else–is increasingly pertinent as a multitude of human-made and natural disasters raise the specter of a diminished planet. If you believe psychology matters (I do), then the path to the kind of sustainable future that we wish for ourselves and our grandchildren runs through minds and hearts. As psychologists, our work is clearly cut out for us.

As we come together to share cross-cultural psychology in Ireland, at the far west end of Europe, we can’t help but reflect on the terrible things happening at the east side of the continent. The war in Ukraine has weighed heavily on IACCP, being a multinational scientific society with members on all sides of the conflict, geographically as well as politically. My sense is that we are at an inflection point in history: going forward, we will need to make choices about whether, and how, to defend our values as scientist-citizens and heirs to the principles of the Enlightenment. The future of the modern experiment lies in our hands. Is liberal democracy sustainable?

Organizing a conference, even a small-ish one, requires a huge investment in time, effort, and creativity. Whenever you see Anca Minescu and the members of her team, please thank them for all they have done, buy them a beer, or give them a four-leaf clover.

See you all in Limerick!

Bill Gabrenya

IACCP President

Does anybody ever read these conference invitation messages? If you read down to the end, click here.

CODE OF CONDUCT

This code of conduct applies to all participants, members of the Association, Officers, elected members, and any guests at IACCP-endorsed meetings or activities.

The International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP, Inc.) aims to stimulate productive, enjoyable, and safe experiences at its conferences, Culture and Psychology Schools (CPS), and other professional events sponsored or represented by delegates of IACCP. We are dedicated to encouraging an environment of collegiality and mutual respect for all members, who represent diversity in nationality and ethnic background, sex, gender identity, affinity orientation, age, abilities, appearance, and religion. Attendance at an IACCP-sponsored meeting or activity, including any extracurricular activities that occur during IACCP-organized events, requires that all registered individuals and guests follow a code of conduct that stipulates that you will: (1) treat others with respect and (2) not engage in discrimination, intimidation, harassment, and/or abuse at these events or at any social activities associated with, or occurring during, these events.

IACCP discourages relationships that may create an appearance of impropriety. IACCP does not tolerate behaviors that threaten a person’s career or sense of safety. IACCP welcomes members to share observations, concerns, or experiences that were distasteful, unsettling, or inappropriate. IACCP affirms that it will take all concerns seriously.

Below we elaborate on some of the activities that are not tolerated at IACCP-endorsed meetings or activities, and the possible consequences of engaging in these actions.

These prohibited activities include, but are not limited to:

Intimidating, abusive, derogatory, or demeaning speech or actions
Deliberate intimidation or stalking
Unauthorized and unwanted photography or recording
Use of social media to intimidate, abuse, or demean people
Sustained disruption of talks or other events
Inappropriate physical contact
Unwelcome sexual attention
Persistent and unwelcome solicitation of emotional or physical intimacy accompanied by real or implied threat of professional harm
Real or implied threat of physical harm
Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviours

Additionally, the IACCP opposes misconduct of a sexual nature between people in positions of authority, influence, power, or status (e.g., IACCP Officers, elected members, workshop leaders, etc.) with junior attendees including students. Such relationships should remain professional at all times during all IACCP events. Abuse and exploitations are not tolerated. The IACCP further acknowledges the harm to observers of many of these prohibited activities and the right of observers to file a complaint using the same procedures as the targets of them.

We also endorse the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations (http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights) and the Universal Declaration of Ethical Principles for Psychologists (https://www.iupsys.net/about/declarations/universal-declaration-of-ethical-principles-for-psychologists).

Reporting

If someone makes you or anyone else feel unsafe or unwelcome, if you witness or experience harassment, intimidation, or abuse, please report it as soon as possible. Your report can be made anonymously, however if the allegations are found to be clearly true your identity may be presented to the ombudsperson who will investigate the case.

Procedure for Code of Conduct Breaches at IACCP Events

The IACCP, Inc. (henceforth, IACCP) wants to ensure a collaborative, open, safe, equitable, and inclusive climate at all its meetings. A Code of Conduct has been formulated that communicates the values that we hold and expect to be upheld at our meetings. The procedures specified below address the handling of allegations of a breach of this Code. All persons attending IACCP-sponsored meetings promise to comply with the Code of Conduct.

The procedure to deal with violations is as follows:

1. IACCP has a designated person (“ombudsperson”) to whom complaints can be expressed. The EC appoints a specific person for each international meeting (international conferences, Culture & Psychology schools, regional conferences); for other meetings and occasions complainants can contact the President or Secretary-General. The complaint can be a written statement by the complainant or a statement about the meeting with the ombudsperson that has been confirmed by the complainant.

2. The complainant can remain anonymous, if requested.

3. The ombudsperson discusses with complainant the next course of action. If the course of action does not go beyond lodging a complaint, the ombudsperson will open a file and keep secure the complaint. If the course of action requires further action, the ombudsperson may solicit written agreement from the complainant to pursue further investigation of the allegation. Upon written agreement, the ombudsperson will contact both the complainant and the assumed perpetrator. Note: If the complainant accuses another person of acute, harm or threat to person, immediately after the event law enforcement will be contacted.

4. The ombudsperson makes a written report that is presented to both parties within four weeks after the event was reported. Both parties can provide their comments which will be included in the final report.

5. The ombudsperson proposes action(s), which may be reconciliatory or punitive. Punitive actions would be presented in the form of a proposal to the President, President-Elect, Secretary Gen (Sec.-Gen), and Treasurer to exclude the assumed perpetrator from future conferences, discontinue membership of IACCP for a specified time, and/or inform the alleged perpetrator’s employer.

6. The President and Sec-Gen carry out the agreed upon proposed action(s) by the Ombudsperson (if applicable).

7. If an event is acute and presented on-site at a conference or meeting, identified as an immediate concern that may harm (have harmed) or pose a threat to the person, the Ombudsperson, in consultation with the President, President-Elect, Sec-Gen, and Treasurer may ask the local organizer of the event to deny access to the assumed perpetrator for the remainder of the event. A full report is needed, that can be written after the event.

8. The final report by the Ombudsperson is confidential and is only accessible for the complainant, accused, President, President-Elect, Sec-Gen, and Treasurer. In case of a severe breach, the President, President-Elect, Sec-Gen, and Treasurer may also decide to inform the employer of the accused.

9. After the final report is submitted, both the complainant and the accused may file an appeal against the report by the Ombudsperson. This report will be evaluated by an ad hoc committee of three people (from the EC).

Ombudspersons for the Limerick conference:

Sharon Glazer

e-mail: sglazer@ubalt.edu

WhatsApp: +1 (408) 768-0697

Klaus Boehnke

e-mail: kboehnke@constructor.university

Mobile: +49-160-98375886

WhatsApp: +49-160-98375886