British Council India
As UK’s international cultural relations agency, British Council aims to create opportunities for individuals, connect communities, bridge societies and create a space for debates that are otherwise difficult to have. We are therefore delighted to partner Institute of Ideas for the Battle of Ideas Festival 2010 and hope to strengthen cultural relations between UK and India by looking at some of the shared issues on social justice and democratic engagement.
Sujata Sen, director East India British Council, programme leader, projects related to Intercultural Dialogue and Literature

British Council Norway
Our Battle Satellite event in Oslo From open values to burqa bans: have Europeans lost the habit of tolerance? gives us a unique platform to launch one of the British Council’s European flagship projects in Norway - Our Shared Europe. We are delighted to work in partnership with the Institute of Ideas that give us direct access to the core of contemporary UK thinking and experts to the debate. We know our audience at the House of Literature in Oslo will greatly appreciate the Battle of Ideas confrontational style where they will be challenged to take an active role in shaping the debate. 
Elisabeth Bøe, Project Manager, British Council Norway

British Council Germany
Having been very active in the area of society and citizenship over the past years, the British Council in Germany gladly joins the Institute of Ideas as local partner for the Battle Satellite event in Berlin. Its theme “Immigration: the more, the merrier” reflects current discussions in Germany as well as in the UK, and it links to a number of projects the British Council is working on in close partnership with German institutions. Among those projects, two are of particular relevance to the Immigration debate:

• The Migrant Integration Policy Index, a research project which examines the strategies and approaches towards immigration in all EU countries as well as in Norway, Switzerland, Canada and the USA (www.mipex.eu)
• OPENCities, a project which promotes well-managed immigration as a key driver of success for cities and provides a toolkit for the assessment of cities’ “openness”, aiming to share best practice between local governments worldwide (http://opencities.britishcouncil.org).

We are confident that the Berlin Battle Satellite will provide substantial input and inspiration for both initiatives and look forward very much to participating in an exciting evening.
Guido Jansen, Head, Open Europe Programme, www.britishcouncil.de