Spanish EU presidency: Seminario Cultura y Desarollo

The current Spanish EU presidency is preparing, together with the European Commission, an important event on culture and development.

Here ist a description from the website:

http://www.culturaydesarrollo2010.es/

"After more than 50 years of cooperation policies, we can today affirm that the process of development of a community is closely intertwined with its culture. The success of any development policy depends on recognizing and considering the principles of cultural diversity.

This approach is clearly inspired by the progress on this matter that, during these last years, has taken place in the international scene. The UNDP Report on Human Development of 2004, Cultural Freedom in a Diversified  World, recognizes, for the first time within the UN system, the incidence of the cultural dimension in human development. The report also acknowledges the cultural diversity characterizing the different societies, and states that democracy and equitable growth are not enough to reach a holistic development, but that multicultural policies recognizing the differences and defending diversity and cultural freedom are also necessary. In that sense, allowing the peoples to communicate in their own language, to practice their own religion and to participate in the formation of their own culture are part of these multicultural policies.

The past work of the international instances around cooperation and cultural diversity takes shape in the adoption, in October of 2005, of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. The Convention's introduction explicitly stresses that cultural diversity is one of the main drivers of sustainable development for communities, emphasizing its importance for an integral realization of the human rights and fundamental liberties proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We should also bear in mind that the UNESCO Convention highlights the specificity of cultural goods and services as elements carrying identities, values, and meanings, which places culture at the heart of any sustainable social and political project.

Concerning the EU, the UNESCO Convention negotiations were undertaken in close common coordination, creating bonds that later, and thanks to the decisive impulse of numerous cultural organizations of the European civil society, led to the 2007 European Agenda for Culture. The European Agenda and the subsequent work of several Presidencies have hinted the way to go in order to promote cultural diversity and to take advantage of the potential of culture and its relation towards creativity, economic development and governance. The Spanish Presidency wants to contribute to one of the strategic targets established by the European Agenda: the enhancement of culture in the Union's external relations, and, in particular, in the common European development cooperation.

For this reason, we want to take over from the successful Colloquium “Culture and Creativity, vectors for development”, which was organized by the European Commission and the ACP countries (Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific) in April 2009, and resulted on the adoption of the "Brussels Declaration". Spain now proposes to further expand the EU's cultural development cooperation with the organization, together with the European Commission, of an International Seminar in Girona, on the 4th and 5th May 2010.

Structure and methodology

The Seminar assumes that there is already an international consensus in place concerning the link between Culture and Development. For this reason the debates will be oriented to assess the way in which Culture is being integrated in Development Cooperation, both through a practical and a strategic analysis. The Seminar will seek to identify good practices, and to exchange experiences on programs and projects of cultural development cooperation.

The Seminar will revolve around three main thematic lines:

The Seminar will be structured around a series of plenary discussion panels. Its main objective will be to adopt a document with conclusions that summarize the main future challenges concerning Culture and Development.

Each Panel will have a coordinator and several speakers. The coordinator will act as a moderator and will introduce the Position Document drafted for each panel. The speakers will provide different perspectives. The organisers will try to combine political participants and thematic experts in every panel. Finally, every panel will have a rapporteur.

The Panels and the Follow-up Committee meeting will both take place in the plenary room. The facilities include translation and interpretation in Spanish, English, French and Portuguese.

The event will have three different parts:

• On the 4th May, prior to the inauguration of the Seminar, the Follow-up Committee of the Colloquium “Culture and Creativity, vectors for development” will hold a meeting to keep track of the implementation of the recommendations of the Brussels Declaration. This meeting will be restricted to the members of the Follow-up Committee.
• The Seminar on Culture and Development will take place on the 4th and 5th May and will be open to all the participants who wish to register.
• After the conclusion of the Seminar, in the morning of the 6th May, EU Member States, the European Commission and cultural organisms and institutes will have an informal work meeting. This meeting will be restricted to the representatives of EU Member States, the European Commission and representatives of the organisms and invited cultural institutions.

Participants

The Seminar will have the presence of Ministers/High Representatives of Culture and Cooperation of EU Member States and partner countries. It will also be attended by leaders, directors and presidents of institutions and NGOs linked to the world of development and cultural cooperation.

The presence of countries with experience vis à vis the integration of culture in their national development strategies, will be actively sought. In the same way, the attendance of organizations with consolidated working lines in the field of fight against poverty through culture will also be encouraged.

The representatives of international organizations of the sector will also be invited: UNESCO, OECD-DAC, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura (OEI), Secretaría General Iberoamericana (SEGIB), Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (CPLP), Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) and Commonwealth of Nations, among others."