The German Commission for UNESCO and the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) have launched the publication, Mapping Cultural Diversity – Good Practices from Around the Globe, at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 29 November 2010. The launch took place during a meeting of the Fourth Ordinary Session of the Intergovernmental Committee of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and the Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005) (thereafter referred to as the UNESCO Convention 2005).
The publication, a collaboration between ASEF and the German Commission for UNESCO, aims to contribute to the protection and promotion of diversity of cultural expressions in line with the UNESCO Convention through documenting case studies that aid planning and policy making and also provide inspiration for collaboration.
It profiles 39 case studies in different fields that protect, preserve and/or promote the diversity of cultural expressions, especially those that belong to minority cultures. The case studies cover projects initiated by governments as well as those set up by civil society actors and innovative public-private partnerships.
Members of the U40 Network for “Cultural Diversity 2030”, a group of young cultural policy experts under 40 years of age, were selected by the German Commission for UNESCO to put together this publication.
Cultural Diversity
Cultural diversity is recognised both as a resource to be preserved and as a driving force for sustainable development. The protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions, be it music, theatre or traditional knowledge, is gaining increasing attention among key stakeholders in governments and civil society, particularly in the context of the UNESCO Convention 2005.
In October 2010, the international community celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Convention. It now enters its implementation stage where parties to the Convention examine and exchange relevant good and policy practices.
At the recent 4th ASEM Culture Ministers’ Meeting (September 2010, Poznan, Poland), governments acknowledged the progress in the ratification of this Convention by all ASEM partners in Asia and Europe. The Ministers also recognised the actions and measures undertaken for the implementation of the Convention with regard to the operational guidelines for its implementation and future activities adopted by the Second Ordinary Session of the Conference of Parties to the Convention.
It is in this context that ASEF and the German Commission for UNESCO decided to collaborate on a publication documenting good practices relating to the diversity of cultural expressions with contributions from the Fellows of the U40 Network for "Cultural Diversity 2030".
The U40 (Under 40ies) Network is a group of 60 young experts selected for the interdisciplinary capacity building programme U40 "Cultural Diversity 2030" initiated by the German Commission for UNESCO in 2007 during the German presidency of the European Union Council.
A project of culture360.org
The publication is a project of culture360.org , the web portal connecting Asia and Europe through arts and culture. culture360.org has been identified by UNESCO as a platform for information exchange which compiles best practices in the field of arts and culture.
http://www.asef.org/index.php?option=com_project&task=view&id=671