This paper takes the perspective of one contributing partner country, Portugal. It considers three contributory themes / research processes and their relationship to the strategy of the initiative as a whole. The first is the national needs analysis as conducted in Portuguese schools and its local findings concerning the impact of socio-economic, ethnic and cultural background on academic achievement. The situation that emerged is not one catered for in current initial teacher education training, despite 2001 legislation requiring teachers in all age sectors to acquire specific skills and competences in intercultural education. The second theme has been a concern of the Portuguese TEP (the local partnerships set up under the project) and charts the antecedents of EUCIM-TE through a number of local initiatives developing plurilinguistic approaches to the teaching of migrants and ethnic minorities. The project supports and builds on local initiatives; it is a wing not a parachute. Under the third theme we discuss an emergent if embryonic facet. Managing the local adaptations of the European Core Curriculum will require a critically reflective method of curriculum development with strong elements of emancipatory action research and (in the European dimension) comparative pedagogical research around issues of equality, achievement and inclusiveness.