Cultural Diversity and Urban Areas Bringing the UNESCO Convention to Life Essen, April 27th 2007 1
Wer sich selbst und andere kennt, wird auch hier erkennen: Orient und Okzident sind nicht mehr zu trennen. Sinnig zwischen beiden Welten sich zu wiegen, lass ich gelten; also zwischen Ost und Westen sich bewegen, sei's zum Besten! Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 2
Background Cultural diversity as diversity of all members of a society (persons, groups and minorities of all kind) Processes of globalization and migration Demographic change of societies and cultural pluralism in urban areas Change of the Perspective: Dealing with cultural diversity as a resource of potentials and opportunities 3
Cultural Diversity in Urban Areas Focus of our Approach Concepts for cultural policy and institutional provisions to establish equal participation and representation of all groups in cultural life Building consciousness on cultural diversity: The Crucial Role of Education and Media Inclusion of the left out cultural expressions and marginalized urban spaces into the spatial planning What does this mean for the implementation of the UNESCO Convention: Recommendations for (local) cultural, educational, media and spatial policy 4
Recommendations for (Local) Cultural Policy and Institutions Developing transparent cultural concepts that reflect demographic changes and structure of society (on the base of facts and figures) Ensuring participation of the representatives of different groups on an executive level in cultural policy, administration and cultural institutions Developing sustainable public financial programs Supporting cultural participation of minorities, different ethnic groups and their organizations Opening public cultural institutions for everyone by rethinking program target groups staff members (artists, managers etc.) 5
Recommendations for Educational Policy and Institutions Developing a culture of openness, trust and esteem / living democracy in school and early-childhood education Introducing intercultural competence as a subject in university and school curricula Promoting, representing and institutionalising linguistic and cultural diversity in school and early-childhood education Promoting creative competence of young people as a premise for the promotion of cultural diversity Establishing networks with cultural and social institutions as well as with communities/ educational institutions as an active part of the community and Civil Society 6
Recommendations for Media Policy Promote and represent linguistic and cultural diversity. Ensure minority perspectives in mainstream media Facilitate a greater number of diverse and independent media Ensure representation of cultural diversity among employees and decision makers of media institutions Introduce media literacy as a school subject Institutionalize media monitoring of dominant news-outlets Ensure exchange and co-productions between journalists and film makers internationally 7
Recommendations for Spatial Policy (1/2) Assessment of the left out cultural expressions due to discriminating spatial planning Develop strategies to ensure participation of marginalized people in cultural urban life. The inclusion of the marginalized urban spaces into the spatial planning The spaces populated by marginalized people The spaces of other cultures Offer cultural activities, programs and platforms to represent the diversity of languages in public urban spaces 8
Recommendations for Spatial Policy (2/2) Cultural policies that invite marginalized cultures to take place in urban public life Accessibility of public urban space to everyone Organize festivals and events Create open spaces for cultural expressions (places of possibilities) Create places for intercultural exchange Increasing public awareness through a greater presence of diverse forms of cultural expression in the urban public space with the help of artists, political actors, NGOs and the educational institutions 9
The UNESCO Convention: What is to be expected? Some of the challenges The degree of requirements in the convention text Different countries different politics What we need to do Information sharing and transparency of taken measures National Action Plans adapted to respective conditions in each country with a liability for state and local governments to develop their own action plans Establishing an international exchange of best practices available to everyone, e.g. website, online discussion forums etc. Dissemination of the Convention 10
Team Svetlana Acevic Meral Cerci Iris Dzudzek Yilmaz Ersahin Kira Funke Katharina Heider Eren Özalay Katja Römer All authors are members of the mentee program "U 40", initiated by the German Commission for UNESCO, to give young experts the opportunity to participate in the international debate on Cultural Diversity and the implementation of the UNESCO Convention on the protection and on the promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions (2005), within the conference "Cultural Diversity - Europe's Wealth. 11