István Tarróssy, head of the Pécs 2010 programme office, is also presenting his city?s projects for 2010, when Pécs will share the title ?European Capital of Culture? with two other cities, to the conference.
The conference will focus on dialogue between cultures, with special regard to the Euromediterranean and Iboamerican contexts. Participants will also discuss the role of foundations, societies, civil organisations, and regional and local organisations in promoting intercultural dialogue.
The conference also serves to prepare a project entitled ?European Year of Intercultural Dialogue?, planned for 2008 and proposed by the European Commission. The proposal to the European Parliament and Council to make 2008 a European Year of Intercultural Dialogue is expected to be on the agenda of the meeting of culture ministers on May 18, after which member states can reach a political consensus on the subject. The Cultural Affairs Committee (CAC) of the European Commission presented at its April 12 meetings the schedule of preparations for 2008.
Hungary?s Ministry of Culture held a Euromed Information Day on April 21 entitled ?The Mediterranean: A Bridge to Connect?, which aimed at offering information to the wider public about Euromediterranean cooperation.
Below is the schedule for sessions and speakers at the conference:
On April 27, at a session entitled ?Intercultural Dialogue in the Euromediterranean context?, speakers included Egypt?s Mohamed Awad, Director of the Alexandria Mediterranean Research Center and head of the Anna Lindh Foundation Egyptian national network, Lebanon?s Georges Corm, an expert in the Middle East and the Mediterranean and former Minister of Finance of the Lebanese Republic, and France?s Olivier Roy, researcher and head of research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). The second session, entitled ?Intercultural Dialogue in the Context of the European Union/Latin America ? Caribbean?, featured Mexico?s Ramiró Osorio, General Director of The International Festival Cervantino, Argentina?s Carlos Juan Moneta, an international affairs consultant, and France?s Jean Tardif, a delegate of the International Association Planet Agora. The third session, on April 28, will be entitled ?The Participation of Foundations, Cultural Associations and Civil Society in Intercultural Dialogue?, where speakers will include France?s Yudhishthir Raj Isar, President of EFAH (European Forum for the Arts and Heritage), Portugal?s Emilio Rui Vilar, President of the Gulbenkian Foundation, the Czech Katerina Brezinova, Director of the Multicultural Centre in Prague, and Belgium?s Xavier Troussard, Councillor a the European commission. The fourth and last session, entitled ?The Role of the Regions and Local Corporations in Developing Intercultural Dialogue?, will feature speeches by Spain?s Oriol Balaguer i Julia, General Manager of the Cultural Institute of Barcelona, German Ambassador Karl-Erik Norrman, Secretary General of the European Cultural Parliament, and Hungary?s István Tarróssy, Director of ?Pécs 2010?.
The homepage of the conference is http://www.mcu.es/cooperacion/dialogoIntercul/
