Migration from Poland to the United Kingdom over the 4 years since Poland joined the EU has been the largest wave of migration to the UK in centuries. Immigrants typically find work as plumbers, builders or manual work on farms.

The UK economy has benefitted enormously from this migration wave, especially small businesses who previously found it hard to recruit enough employees. However as prospects improve in Poland, many immigrants are thinking about going home. Others have decided to stay in the UK, and are taking part in community activities such as teaching locals about Polish culture and traditions.

This article from the Independent looks at the reasons behind their decision to stay or leave, and the potential consequences for the UK.

What are your views on migration? Do the positive effects outweigh the negative ones? Please let us know what you think in the comments.

The Indian fashion industry is growing in importance as Indian designers are becoming more experimental, mixing traditional Indian clothing styles and beautiful fabrics with Western fashion influences.

In Stepping Out the Economist comments that although Indian designers are starting to attract the attention of foreign buyers, the enormous home market cannot be ignored.

Tags: global fashion, India,

Scientists are working to decode what is now thought to be a very unusual writing system used by the Inca people in South America.

Khipu are knotted strings which were used by the Incas. They were recorded by the Spanish when they arrived in South America in the 16th Century. Previously, it was thought that the Inca did not use written communiation, which is surprising as their civilisation was so advanced in other areas. The possibility of these strings being a means of communication was not considered, because it is so different to the methods we use today.

However recent observations have noted similarities with other language systems. This article writes about progress in deciphering khipu.

A New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden is a very comprehensive book of recipes. From how to make the best hummous, to six different methods of stuffing vegetables, even how to barbeque a fish.

The author grew up in Egypt, and the book includes food from Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Israel. The book also includes many stories and anecdotes from the region.

If you enjoy Middle Eastern food you might also like to read our post on Turkish cooking.

Tags: world food, cookery books, Middle East,

Germany has for a long time been very progressive with regards to green initiatives such as recycling and use of renewable energy.

A new study* from Mckinsey looks at the economics behind Germany’s efforts to reduce emissions, and finds that the country can reduce emissions to 70% of 1990 levels without impacting economic growth or quality of life for German people. In fact with the right measures, such as better insulation and increased use of renewable energy, there will even be a profit for investors.

Germany already has the world’s largest capacity of installed wind power, which limits future potential from this relatively economical source of renewable energy. Reductions of more than 30% from 1990’s levels will entail some difficult trade-offs and potentially high costs. However this is a good indication that up to a certain level, reducing emissions does not have to mean forfeiting growth.

*The article is free, but you may have to register to get at it.

Tags: emissions reduction, energy, global warming,

Our purpose here at PocketCultures is to try to bridge differences between people of different nationalities by showing new aspects of different countries and world cultures. It’s an area which in our opinion is not getting enough attention at present, which is why we were delighted to find out about Pangea Day - an innovative event by leading film makers aiming to change the way we think about other countries.

The main screening itself will be held on May 10, at locations all around the world, and also broadcast live on the internet and television. But you can already catch some trailers on YouTube. Among those submitted so far are ‘Japan sings for Turkey’, a traditional Japanese rendition of the Turkish national anthem, ‘France sings for USA’ - elegantly-shot black and white scenes of Paris set to the background of Parisians singing the Star Spangled Banner.

Documentary maker Jehane Noujaim, the inspiration behind the event, explains the reasoning behind the idea of using films to show stories in this article. Learning someone’s story, and coming to see them as a person, rather than a ‘foreigner’ is key to breaking down prejudices.

Update: the films have now been uploaded to the Pangea Day website. Watch them here.

Queen Rania of Jordan is embracing technology in her efforts to increase cross-cultural dialogue and help understanding between her country and the rest of the world.

She has launched a YouTube page to try to answer people’s questions about Arabs and the Middle East. She will accept questions until August 12th.

In her vlog she says that she has been surprised by some of the questions she has received so far (such as ‘do all Arabs hate Americans?’) and she aims to break some stereotypes with her campaign and help people to see the real side of the Arab and Muslim world and culture.

This initiative is sure to raise a lot of awareness - there are already more than 500 questions posted on the YouTube page.

Whilst Queen Rania is obviously not an average citizen of Jordan or the Middle East and so probably cannot speak for all the Arab world, this initiative should help to increase awareness and understanding of some important facts.

Tip-off from Global Voices Online.