Theodor Paleologu puts forward projects to South-Eastern Europe culture ministers

 

 

Bucharest, April 10 /Agerpres/ - Minister of Culture, Religious Affairs and National Heritage Theodor Paleologu put forward two projects to the 3rd meeting of the Council of the South-Eastern Europe Culture Ministers held in Athens on April 3; the projects, having got the approval of all the participants, were included in the Council's revised Action Plan.

The first project proposed by Paleologu is called 'Protecting traditional cultural expression/folklore (TCEs) and traditional knowledge' and it is aimed at the protection, restoration, capitalization and promotion of the richness of folklore - of the traditional cultural expression - and at the traditional knowledge of South-Eastern Europe. To this end, the project will seek to develop knowledge and the abilities to learn by means of the exchange of good practices. Therefore, in order to create a legal framework, it is essential to take into consideration the efficient protection against abuse, as it is equally necessary to assert the cultural identities with a view to preserving the diversity that defines each region. The project will be implemented by staging a workshop in Horezu (north-west of Bucharest), over October-November 2009.

The second project put forward by the culture minister is called 'SEE Diversity in Dialogue' and it targets the creation of a virtual community of the public policy researchers and specialists from each participating country as part of the Charter of the Council of the South-Eastern Europe Culture Ministers. The purpose of the initiative is twofold: to enable better visibility of the projects and actions conducted by the Council and to allow better circulation of the information, the exchange of know-how and good practices meant to protect and promote the diversity of the cultural expressions in South-Eastern Europe.

The virtual community - achieved by means of a portal - should attain the following goals: hosting all the activities and projects of the Council of the South-Eastern Europe Culture Ministers, publishing the surveys and research on ethnic diversity, publishing the policies aimed at the cultural heritage and the creative industries, initiating comparative cross-border research on the cultural changes linked to the globalisation and multiculturalism and inter-cultural dialogue, the research on overcoming the view on the Balkan space as a 'sum' of pure identities and ethnicities and the new forms of cultural diversity and convergence in the urban spaces. Furthermore, the new virtual community will research the new forms of cultural diversity in the region that arise based on the emergence of the communities of immigrants and on the basis of the forms of cross-border cooperation.

The portal is going to be bilingual, at an early phase (in English and French) and it will be launched at the end of 2009. Drawing up and managing this project has been taken upon by the Ministry of Culture, Religious Affairs and National Heritage via the Centre of Cultural Studies and Research.

Minister Paleologu also unveiled in Athens a Romanian initiative to organise the Conference of the Culture Ministers from the International Cultural Policies Network (ICPN) in Bucharest, on this May 25-26; countries that are not ICPN members will also be invited to attend as observers.

Participating in the Athens gathering were the culture ministers from Greece, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, Turkey, Romania and representatives of the Council of Europe.

The Council of the South-Eastern Europe Culture Ministers was set up in 2005, when the Council Charter was signed in Copenhagen. According to the Charter, the Council set up a working structure made of the national coordinators, who are tasked with ensuring the relation with the other member states, while on the other hand providing an interface between the Council and the cultural operators in their countries.

The Council presidency is held by the culture ministers from the member countries by annual rotation, in alphabetical order.

The first meeting of the Council of the South-Eastern Europe Culture Ministers was held in Tirana, on February 8-10, 2006. At that event, Romania unveiled the project called 'The Regional Observer and the Cultural Diversity' that was enlisted on the Council's Action Plan, which was drafted and signed on that occasion. The project is to be achieved in the year in which Romania will hold the Council presidency, i.e. in 2011.

 

[Source: Romanian National News Agency AGERPRES ]