Mike Hardy
Prof. Dr. Mark Hardy CMG OBE is a Professor of Intercultural Relations and Executive Director of The Institute for Community Cohesion (iCoCo) at Coventry University in the United Kingdom. Hardy also served in the British Government and worked on the behalf of the European Commission and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Biography
Professor Mike Hardy has been established as a leading expert in the field of intercultural dialogue and diversity. He served in the UK Government and European Commission and was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2001, and was appointed a Companion of Honor of St. Michael and St George (CMG) in the Queen's Birthday Honors in 2010 for his work internationally in intercultural dialogue. Hardy is currently Professor of Intercultural Dialogue at Coventry. From 1992-2000 he worked in eastern Europe aiding the transition of new member states into the European Union on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and European commission,. He also spent three years working in Cairo and the broader Middle East with the British Council on private sector development, and four years in Indonesia. Before Hardy joined Coventry University, he served in the UK Government and European Commission, and was also the Head of Economics and Public Policy at Leeds Metropolitan University. Following overseas postings to cities such as Cairo, Jerusalem and Jakarta, he was appointed to lead the British Council’s global program in intercultural dialogue.
He was recently appointed as lead expert for “Identity” for the Vodafone-sponsored new Future-Agenda Initiative. Hardy continues to contribute to national and international conferences, global discussions, and applied research in multiculturalism, intercultural dialogue, and diversity. In 2011, he was invited to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, and was appointed to act as special adviser to the Azerbaijan Minister of Culture and Tourism, Dr. Garayev Aboulfas Mursal Oglu, in September 2012.
Since 2012, Hardy has been working with the Azerbaijan minister of culture to develop and manage the second World Forum for Intercultural Dialogue. He is now leading Coventry University's new Grand Challenge initiative on human security, which is designed to mobilise talent from across the university to contribute to the freedoms that people should enjoy worldwide.
Further Information
An Interview with Prof. Dr. Mike Hardy. The ICD Annual Conference on Cultural Diplomacy 2012 . (Berlin, December 13th - 16th, 2012)
"Peaceful Relationships between People: cultural Relations in a World of difference", A Lecture by Dr. Mike Hardy. The ICD Annual Conference on Cultural Diplomacy 2012 -"The Power of the Arts & Culture to Promote Democracy & Global Peace" The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy. (Berlin, December 13th - 16th, 2012)
