Steering Committee of the European Academic Network on Romani Studies

The 4th meeting of the Steering Committee of the European Academic Network on Romani Studies (EU/CoE Joint Programme) took place on 13-14 December in Brussels. The objective of the project is to enhance the social inclusion of Romani citizens in Europe by raising the visibility of existing research on Roma issues, to foster co-operation between researchers and policymakers and promote young researchers through grants and an annual summer school. (more...) [17/12/2012]

Draft agenda

Award Ceremony for the prizewinners of the International Heritage Photographic Experience (IHPE)

The Award Ceremony for the prizewinners of the XVIIth International Heritage Photographic Experience "Heritage and Landscape" took place on 3 December 2012 in the Council of Europe. Young people from 37 countries from several continents took part to this edition of the IHPE. This initiative, launched in Spain by the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, has had the support of the Council of Europe for many years and takes place in the context of the activities of the European Landscape Convention. It helps young people to become familiar with the value of their landscape and heritage. [05/12/2012]

Programme

37 Swiss sites are the first to officially join the Emerald Network

On 30 November 2012, at its 32nd Annual Meeting in Strasbourg, the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention formally adopted 37 sites located in Switzerland as "Emerald" sites. The Swiss Confederation became the first among the Contracting Parties to the Convention to see its sites formally integrate the Emerald Network. The formal adoption of these 37 sites is a recognition of their importance for the conservation of threatened species and habitats in Europe, while stressing the responsibility of Switzerland to strengthen existing measures in the country to protect its rich biodiversity sites and over the long term. (more...) [03/12/2012]

32nd Standing Committee meeting to the Bern Convention

The Standing Committee meets once a year to monitor the implementation and the review of the Convention. The meeting is attended by delegations from 50 Contracting Parties, including the European Union, observer States, representatives of governmental and non-governmental organisations, international biodiversity conventions, agreements and programmes, as well as by independent experts. Over 100 participants were expected at this year’s meeting in Strasbourg from 27 to 30 November to discuss issues such as climate change, invasive alien species, protected areas, illegal killing of birds, among others. [03/12/2012]

Special file

11th annual meeting of HEREIN national coordinators

The 11th HEREIN Coordinators plenary session took place in Strasbourg this week on 29-30 November. The main aim of this important meeting was to take stock of the latest developments in the HEREIN network, and to reach a consensus on future development and an action plan for 2013-2014. In the afternoon of Wednesday 25 November, the 3rd annual meeting of HEREIN thesaurus correspondents took place. This meeting was mostly devoted to a practical working session. [03/12/2012]

2nd Bureau meeting of the Steering Committee on Culture, Heritage and Landscape (CDCPP)

The second Bureau meeting of the CDCPP took place in Strasbourg on 27 and 28 November 2012. The members of the Bureau took note of the progress made with the preparation of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers of Culture "Governance of Culture - Promoting Access to Culture" (Moscow, 15-16 April 2013). They exchanged on the Committee’s future work and working methods for 2013 and onwards. The Bureau further exchanged on how the Committee of Ministers declaration "Making gender equality a reality" might entail the CDCPP's work programme. [28/11/2012]

Programme

Task Force on the 2013 Conference of Ministers of Culture

The Task Force preparing for the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers of Culture on "Governance of Culture – Promoting Access to Culture" (Moscow, 15-16 April 2013) met on 26 November in Strasbourg. The conference will analyse the challenge for governments in promoting access to and participation in culture at a time of social, economic and financial change, also reflecting the specific opportunities generated by the digital era in this area. The event will feature novel policy approaches and stimulate exchange of experiences and good practices among political leaders. At the same time, it will highlight the CoE’s role as a European intergovernmental forum on culture and laboratory of democratic governance. [26/11/2012]

MARS Programme: Media Cross-Production - European Media Encounter, Bordeaux, 21-24 November 2012

To be held from 21 to 24 November 2012 in Bordeaux (France), the aim of this encounter is to encourage pairings of media professionals at European level with a view to co-produce and co-disseminate high-quality and professional written or audiovisual media reports on sports’ issues, even if not exclusively, including non-discrimination and expression of diversity as an angle of media coverage. (more...) [30/10/2012]

Cultural Routes Annual Advisory Forum

The 2012 Advisory Forum was held in Colmar from 22 to 23 November. This year, the Forum celebrated a quarter of a century of Council of Europe cultural routes since the Declaration of Santiago de Compostela in 1987. Participants were representatives of the Council of Europe’s 24 certified cultural routes and new candidates, representatives of member states and other organisations working in culture and heritage, academics, experts and cultural tourism professionals. The Forum is an annual occasion to take stock of the activities of the routes and to discuss current challenges around thematic presentations. (more...) [23/11/2012]

Italian Network of Intercultural Cities: school of best practices in Reggio Emilia

On 19-20 November the Italian Network of Intercultural Cities held a school of best practices in Reggio Emilia (Italy). Based on the recognition of the diversity advantage, the event was dedicated to sharing lessons learnt by Italian cities in terms of intercultural dialogue, governance and living together. Delegates of Italian city authorities dealing with migration issues along with the head of the Council of Europe Office in Italy and a representative of the Council of Europe Intercultural Cities Programme attended the event. [20/11/2012]

Programme

Compendium: news

In the context of linguistic diversity and with the goal of broadening the access to the Compendium, French and German versions of the Compendium were successfully launched in Autumn 2012. Moreover, the Compendium developed a new “Research & Development Series” which started with an article from Joerg Schindler with the title "En route to a Practice of Culture-Related Impact Assessment?". In the coming days, a new thematic section on Cultural Participation will be introduced. This section will present with the help of the Compendium Expert Group on Cultural Participation the main issues and information material regarding this specific field. Finally, the Cultural Policy Profiles of the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Monaco, Romania, San Marino and "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" were recently updated. [25/10/2012]

Asia-Europe Intercultural cities summit in Hamamatsu (Japan), 25-26 October 2012

On 25 and 26 October 2012, Mayors and practitioners from intercultural cities of Europe and Asia gathered in Hamamatsu City (Japan) for the second "Asia-Europe Intercultural Cities Summit". They exchanged experience and discussed challenges facing cities in their task for managing diversity as a resource. They discussed the ways of adapting their governance and policies to an increasingly diverse citizenry, in particular in the fields of education, partnerships with business and civil society, and engaging citizens in building the intercultural city. The "Hamamatsu Declaration" was presented by Yasutomo Suzuki, Mayor of the host city Hamamatsu, as a summary of the summit, and was adopted with the approval of participants. [30/10/2012]

Cultural routes: 25th anniversary of the Ways of Saint James

On 24 October, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland and the Director of the European Institute of Cultural Routes, Penelope Denu visited Santiago de Compostela to participate in the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Ways of Saint James as the first Council of Europe cultural route. They also visited the exhibition "Pilgrimage Memories" and spoke at the conference "The Way of St. James - The Way of Europe". [25/10/2012]

Cultural Policy Review of Turkey : experts meeting

In the framework of the Cultural Policy Review of Turkey, experts met on 22 October in Paris to work on their report after having visited Turkey twice, i.e. 6 major cities over the past two years. This 29th Council of Europe Cultural Policy Review will give a comprehensive appreciation of the Turkish cultural policies and latest trends and developments. The results of the review (both national report and expert report) will be presented at the Plenary Session of the Steering Committee for Culture, Heritage and Landscape (CDCPP) in spring 2013. [23/10/2012]

MARS Programme: Journalism and Media Training and Literacy

From 24 to 26 October in Mechelen (Belgium), the aim of this National Media Encounter was to allow trainers and educators to develop and to have access to pedagogical and methodological tools for journalism training and media literacy in order to allow journalism students and journalists to considering non discrimination and expression of diversity as an ongoing angle of media coverage. (more...) [26/10/2012]

Ethics & Editorial Management - National Media Encounter in Madrid

The objective of this encounter, which was held in Madrid (Spain) from 19 to 20 October, was to allow prospective and in-service journalists and media professionals to include non discrimination and expression of diversity in their proper professional ethics and to consider non discrimination and expression of diversity as an ongoing angle of media coverage in editorial management. (more...) [22/10/2012]

Business partnerships for the Intercultural City: making the Diversity Advantage real 

The objective of the Seminar, which was held in San Sebastian (Spain) on 18-19 October 2012, was to discuss initiatives and strategies that cities members of the Intercultural cities programme could put in place to help enterprises, in particular SMEs, to realise the benefits of cultural diversity ("diversity advantage"), and encourage enterprises to support the intercultural integration policies of cities. [19/10/2012]

Special file

30th Council of Europe Art Exhibition "The Desire for Freedom. Art in Europe since 1945"

Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, opened the 30th Council of Europe Art Exhibition "The Desire for Freedom. Art in Europe since 1945" on 16 October 2012 at the German Historical Museum in Berlin. The exhibition  shows the role of the artists in relations with Council of Europe values. 113 artists from 28 countries illustrate through their works their engagement with a belief in universal human rights, freedom, equality and democracy and raise questions about the meaning of our social existence. After Berlin, the exhibition will be shown in Milan, Tallinn and Cracow in 2013/2014. [17/10/2012]

Special file

European Heritage Days Events, 14-16 October 2012, Nicosia (Cyprus)

In the context of the European Heritage Days, the European Heritage Forums are annual international crossroads for all stakeholders involved in the interpretation, communication and dissemination of the cultural heritage. Such forums offer once a year an opportunity for dialogue among heritage professionals and professionals from other sectors of society. The 5th EHD Forum was organised in Nicosia (Cyprus) on 15 October 2012 on the theme "Communicating Heritage". The annual meeting and the training session of the EHD National Coordinators were held on 16 October. [17/10/2012]

Special file

International CEMAT Symposium and Meeting of the Workshops for the implementation of the European Landscape Convention

The 16th International CEMAT Symposium and 12th Council of Europe Meeting of the Workshops for the implementation of the European Landscape Convention were held in Thessalonica (Greece) on 2-3 October 2012. The main subject of the Symposium was "Vision for the future of Europe on territorial democracy: Landscape as a new strategy for spatial planning". Approximately 200 participants from various countries participated at the event. [04/10/2012]

Special file

European Heritage Days

Once a year, citizens in 50 countries celebrate Europe’s cultural heritage. This initiative of the European Heritage Days, launched by the Council of Europe in 1991, has been since 1999 a joint action of the Council of Europe and the European Commission, putting new cultural assets on view and opening up historical buildings normally closed to the public. [14/09/2012]

2012 Events |  EHD on

2012 Intercultural Innovation Award

The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the BMW Group have launched the 2012 edition of the Intercultural Innovation Award. This Award selects and supports the most innovative projects that encourage intercultural dialogue and cooperation around the world. Selected projects must be able to make a long lasting impact and have the potential to benefit the widest possible audience. An international jury of scholars and experts from different regions of the world will assess this year’s applications. Five top winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony that will take place at the 5th Forum of the UNAOC in Vienna (Austria) in February 2013. Deadline for applications is October 10th. (more...)  [14/09/2012]

3rd meeting of the Standing Committee of the European Convention for the Protection of the Audiovisual Heritage

This 3rd meeting took place thanks to the invitation of the Croatian authorities in Zagreb on 28 September 2012. The Council of Europe and the European Broadcasting Union studied how to implement the Recommendation 2001(2012) on protection of and access to the audiovisual cultural heritage by the Parliamentary Assembly, which indicates that both organisations should co-operate on strategies to protect, and ensure access to audiovisual material held by public service broadcasters throughout Europe. The Standing Committee underlined again the importance for member States should sign and ratify the European Convention for the Protection of Audiovisual Heritage (CETS No. 183) and its Protocol (CETS No. 184). [03/10/2012]

Special file

First meeting of the Bureau of the Steering Committee for Culture, Heritage and Landscape

The first meeting of the Bureau of the Steering Committee for Culture, Heritage and Landscape (CDCPP) took place in Paris on 20-21 September, reviewing progress on co-operation projects in the field of culture, heritage and landscape as well as planning for future key activities. These include a Council of Europe Conference of Ministers of Culture on the theme of "Governance of Culture – Promoting Access to Culture" , to be held in Moscow on 15-16 April 2013. The Conference Task Force met on 19 September to prepare the concept and roadmap leading up to the event. [01/10/2012]

Unlocking the Potential of Migrants in Europe

On 27 September 2012 the Intercultural Cities Programme of the Council of Europe and the European Commission participated in the international Symposium "Unlocking the Potential of Migrants in Europe: From Isolation to Multi-level Integration" in Brussels. The Symposium aimed to disseminate knowledge on current integration strategies across Europe and discuss policies for encouraging greater cohesion between migrants and the host societies, in particular with a view to combating discrimination. The Symposium was organised by Public Policy Exchange (London) and brought together responsible European and national authorities and stakeholders. [28/09/2012]
Programme

Monitoring intercultural cities: discourses in action (Barcelona, 21-22 September  2012)

The meeting involved politicians and policy officers from cities members of Intercultural cities programme to discuss two essential topics: the implementation and evaluation of intercultural policies. Questions on how to translate the diversity into action were central, as well as issues related to the viability and feasibility of intercultural strategies for urban diversity management. Required resources and existing restrictions for the implementation of intercultural integration were also discussed. [27/09/2012]

Programme

Intercultural pathways to urban safety

On 17 and 18 September 2012 a workshop on "Intercultural Pathways to Urban Safety" brought together in Lisbon representatives of local authorities, police and civil society organisations from cities members of the Intercultural cities network, and the European Forum for Urban Security. Participants explored ways of ensuring safety by building broad partnerships in culturally diverse local communities, based on the unique Intercultural cities approach of valuing diversity of citizens as an asset for improving urban well-being, including urban safety. Member cities reviewed their safety policies from an intercultural perspective in order to make them an element of a comprehensive intercultural strategy. [27/09/2012]

Special file

Launching Event for the European Heritage Days 2012

The official opening of the 2012 events of the Joint Programme "European Heritage Days" took place on the premises of the Vivanco Wine Cultural Museum in La Rioja, Spain, on the 15 September. The Director of the Museum, Santiago Vivanco, invited important personalities to join him in the official opening of the EHDs 2012. They celebrated the thousands of heritage events across 50 European states that throughout September open their doors to many millions of visitors. [27/09/2012]

Support to the Promotion of Cultural Diversity: exhibition in Pristina

A six-day exhibition was organised by the Council of Europe in the context of the joint programme "European Union/Council of Europe Support to the Promotion of Cultural Diversity" (PCDK). The exhibition aimed at promoting the PCDK’s achievements as well as the publications and documentaries produced since the beginning of the project in October 2009. The exhibition took place in Pristina at the Brotherhood and Unity monument next to the EU Office, from 13 to 18 September 2012. [27/09/2012]

Media Cross-Production - National Media Encounter in Budapest

From 13 to 16 September in Budapest (Hungary), this encounter was the last step of the MARS European production tour. It proposed to a group of 30 journalists living in Hungary to finalize this quest for an inclusive and intercultural way of producing media content that started a year ago in Austria. (more…) [27/09/2012]

Fifty years of cooperation: IUCN and the Council of Europe

Fifty years ago, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Council of Europe signed a cooperation agreement and today they celebrate this very fruitful collaboration which has led to concrete achievements for the protection and enhancement of the biological diversity of Europe. In particular cooperation has focused on the Council of Europe’s Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern 1979) and species conservation through the IUCN Species Survival Commission. Among others, the IUCN Invasive Species Specialist Group has contributed to the Bern Convention’s European Strategy on Invasive Alien Species (IAS). [05/09/2012]

Cultural Routes Summer Seminar

The first annual seminar on Council of Europe cultural routes was held on 3-7 September 2012 at the European Youth Centre in Strasbourg. The “summer university” was designed for representatives of cultural routes of the Council of Europe and managers of new projects. The aim was to work together on optimising cultural routes’ capacities to build and manage cultural routes and to develop new tools for creating, maintaining and communicating them. Different half-day modules combined methodological sessions and hands-on practical exercises in groups. (more...) [07/09/2012]

6th Session of the World Urban Forum

On 1-7 September 2012 the Sixth Session of the World Urban Forum under the theme "The Urban Future" took place in Naples (Italy). The World Urban Forum was established by the United Nations to examine the phenomenon of growing urbanisation and its impact on communities, cities, economies, climate change and policies. The Forum has become the world’s premier conference on cities, bringing together international organisations, national and local government officials, NGOs, community leaders, professionals, academics, youth and slum dwellers groups. On 4 September 2012 the Intercultural Cities joint programme of the Council of Europe and the European Commission held a side event to present the intercultural approach to integration. The focus was placed on ‘diversity advantage’ as a sine qua non condition for cohesive development in modern cities. (more...) [07/09/2012]

Grants for Early Career Researchers

Members of the European Academic Network on Romani Studies are invited to submit an application for partial funding in order to attend relevant scientific events. Based on competitive applications received, small grants will be awarded; the maximum amount awarded is 400 euro. The aim of this grant scheme is to increase overall visibility of scientific research related to the European Roma and to encourage the attendance at scientific events by early career scholars. [25/06/2012]

1st summer school of the European Academic Network on Romani Studies

The European Academic Network on Romani Studies opened its first summer school on 25 June to 51 participants. They studied "The Roma in Europe – Debates on Comparative Analysis/Policy Strategy" in the Central European University, Budapest. The participants had the possibility to choose between three courses: - The Roma in Europe - Comparative Analysis: a course for PhD students (9-20 July 2012); - The Roma in Europe - Policy Strategy: a course for policy experts (2 weeks, 2-14 July 2012); - Training in film documentation (25 July - 9 August 2012). [09/08/2012]

Council of Europe awards its "Cultural Event" label

The Council of Europe seized the opportunity offered by the Aix-en-Provence Music Festival to award its label "Cultural Event" (CECEL) to the Music Initiative of the "Aga Khan Trust for Culture" on 12 July 2012. The award was presented on the occasion of Alim Qasimov’s concert and marked the recognition of the presentations and concerts of the initiative called "Performance, Creation and Outreach". This year, four other projects were awarded the Council of Europe label, Hotel Gelem, Satellistaden, CultureFutures Club and Warriors-Generation-Europe. The Council of Europe "Cultural Event" label (CECEL) recognises exceptional and innovative cultural and artistic projects, which convey strong messages related to the Council of Europe’s mission and values and address key challenges of the European societies of today. (more...) [17/07/2012]

The 4th MARS National Media Encounter in Berlin

Co-organised by Community Media Forum Europe (CMFE), Bundesverband Freier Radios, Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg and Prix Europa 2012, the 4th MARS National Media Encounter - Media Cross-Production - was held from 6 to 9 July 2012 in Berlin (Germany). The objective of this encounter was to encourage pairings of media professionals with a view to co-produce and co-disseminate high-quality and professional written or audiovisual media reports on sports’ issues, even if not exclusively, including non-discrimination and expression of diversity as an angle of media coverage. (more...) [10/07/2012]

Cultural Access and Participation - from Indicators to Policies for Democracy

The CultureWatchEurope 2012 event took the form of a think-tank on the interaction between policy and research with regard to the issue of access to and participation in culture. The issue of indicators was of key interest. The conference took up a recent Report and Recommendation by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on "The Right of Everyone to take part in Cultural Life". Participants presented their perspectives on "Cultural Policies for Democracy", a challenge to be addressed by the cultural sector, policy makers and the intergovernmental and parliamentary action of the Council of Europe. The Finnish Ministry for Education and Culture and the Council of Europe co-organised the think tank on 30 June in Helsinki. [03/07/2012]

Special file

Research Conference on Participation in Culture

"Incentives and barriers to cultural participation" were the topics the Compendium authors and experts discussed at their 11th Annual Meeting, which took place in Helsinki on 29 June 2012. This Conference, hosted by the Finnish Ministry for Education and Culture, was organised in connection with a IFACCA Europe meeting and a debate on research results with members of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly at the CultureWatchEurope 2012 event. [03/07/2012]

Agenda

Meeting on "Engaging citizens in diversity"

The city of Copenhagen hosted on 28 and 29 June a meeting of Mayors and elected officials of cities members of the Intercultural cities network on "Engaging citizens in diversity". The meeting looked into examples of city practice of citizen involvement and stimulate reflection and exchange around some of the key challenges around social media, the arts, and diversity campaigning and young people’s engagement in the intercultural agenda. [03/07/2012]

Programme

3rd meeting of the Scientific Committee of the European Academic Network on Romani Studies

The 3rd meeting of the Scientific Committee took place on 26 June in Paris. The main objectives of this meeting were : to engage in a general discussion on the connections between the Academia and the policy making communities; to refine and consolidate the working rules for internal functioning of the Network; to optimise relevant initiatives within the EU, the CoE and other institutions, NGOs and relevant bodies; to discuss the communication strategy of the Network (including the website); to present an overview plan of activities for the year 2012 and preview activities for 2013. Mr Sixto Molina, Head of the Roma Support Team of the Council of Europe, joined also the meeting. [27/06/2012]

Agenda

Seminar on Intercultural urban planning and place-making

An event on intercultural urban planning and place making took place in Venice on 21-22 June. The event was involve of leading academics (including Marcello Balbo of IUAV, Noha Nasser from London, Sandeep Agrawal from Toronto and Dean Saitta from Denver), and practitioners from cities within the Intercultural Cities network. The aim of this unprecedented event was to highlight and share some best practice principles and practices which will lead to positive innovations in our diverse urban spaces. [25/06/2012]

Programme

Communication about integration: making a difference

The Council of Europe/European Commission joint initiative, SPARDA demonstrates that effective communication and dialogue about migration and diversity at the local level can influence positively public opinion. The results of the initiative, carried out in partnership with 7 European cities, confirm the validity of intercultural integration approach to migrant integration piloted by the Council of Europe. Results were presented at an event in Brussels on 13 June. [14/06/2012]

Special file on the event

Natural Heritage Days in Kosovo*

In the framework of the PCDK and in partnership with the local NGO 7, the Council of Europe organised the Natural Heritage Days. This event, which took place in the beautiful countryside of Gjakovë/Djakovica, Pejë/Pec, Istog/Istok and Decan/Decane over the weekends of 2-3 and 9-10 June 2012 highlighted the natural and intangible heritage in Kosovo West. Over the two weekends, more than 400 visitors were able to take part in activities such as mountain hiking, introduction to and collection of a variety of aromatic herbs, presentation of local crafts and tasting of local specialities as well as herbal teas. [14/06/2012]

Programme

The European Media Forum on Journalism & Media Ethics, Diversity & Sport: from 6 to 8 June 2012 in Birmingham (United-Kingdom) !

Co-organised by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Birmingham City University (BCU), the objective of these encounters is to allow prospective and in-service journalists and media professionals to include non discrimination and expression of diversity in their proper professional ethics and to consider non discrimination and expression of diversity as an ongoing angle of media coverage in editorial management. The Forum is part of the European Union / Council of Europe MARS – Media against racism in sport – joint programme. (more...) [01/06/2012]

Technical Co-operation and Consultancy Programme: fact-finding mission in the Republic of Moldova

In the framework of the Technical Co-operation and Consultancy Programme related to the integrated conservation of the cultural and natural heritage and at the request of the authorities, a fact-finding mission took place on 5-7 June 2012 in the Republic of Moldova. The experts appointed by the Council of Europe were: Mrs Françoise Duperroy, Director of Heritage Protection, Walloon Public Service (Belgium), Mr François Goven, General Inspector of Historic Monuments, Directorate General of Heritage, Ministry of Culture and Communication (France) and Mr Mircea Angelescu, Director of National Heritage, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (Romania). The experts assessed the heritage policy of the Republic of Moldova and made recommendations to strengthen the policy and implement a national strategy for heritage development. (more...) [08/06/2012]

Council of Europe Landscape Award Forum of National Selections

The Council of Europe Landscape Award Forum of National Selections took place from 4 to 5 June 2012 in Carbonia (Sardinia), Italy. Four Workshops analysed the following themes: ’Landscape in urban and peri-urban areas: Landscapes for living’; ‘Landscape routes and trails: Discovering Landscapes’; ‘Landscape between nature and culture: Historic and alive landscapes’; ‘Landscape methodologies and tools: Learning and acting for the landscape’. The great experiences achieved in the Member States of the Organisation on the occasion of the two first sessions of the Landscape Award of the Council of Europe – 2008-2009 and 2010-2011 – were presented in this meeting showing that it is possible to promote the territorial dimension of human rights and democracy improving the landscape features of people’s surroundings. Around 120 participants from numerous countries participated at the event. [05/06/2012]

Programme

Expert Meeting on CultureWatchEurope

Compendium and CultureWatchEurope experts met in Paris on 25 May 2012 in order to prepare the 2012 CultureWatchEurope Conference "Cultural Access and Participation - From Indicators to Policies for Democracy", Helsinki, 30 June 2012, also in view of its contribution to the envisaged Ministerial Conference 2013. They also fine-tuned technical features of the new CultureWatchEurope related "Topicult" website and exchanged on World-CP, the International Compendium in the making. [31/05/2012]

An initiative to explore the Intercultural cities concept in the US context

The Centre for the Study of Social Policy and the California Endowment convened a consultative meeting on 24 and 25 May in Washington to compare US and European approaches to migrant integration and diversity management and explore the validity of the Intercultural cities concept in the US context. Representatives of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC, Montgomery County, the National League of Cities, the Council of Europe, Dublin, and Copenhagen, as well as a range of think tanks and organisations discussed the potential of setting up a leaning community within the US to build a body of knowledge and practice around the Intercultural cities' concept. Following Japan, US are likely to become the second non-European country to embrace the potential of Intercultural cities for a positive change in integration thinking and policy-making. [29/05/2012]

22 May 2012: International Day for Biological Diversity - "Marine biodiversity"

The Council of Europe celebrated the International Day for Biological Diversity and joins the global efforts to preserve marine biodiversity Nearly 20 years ago, the United Nations proclaimed May 22 the International Day for Biological Diversity. The event has since been celebrated to emphasise the importance of conserving biodiversity on Earth as a foundation for our future on this Planet. (more...) [22/05/2012]

Steering Committee for Culture, Heritage and Landscape

The Steering Committee for Culture, Heritage and Landscape (CDCPP) held its first meeting from 14 to 16 May 2012 in the Council of Europe. Delegations from the 50 signatory States to the European Cultural Convention were invited, as well as observers and international organisations and associations. The CDCPP dealt with the implementation of the activities in the 2012-2013 programme of activities already approved by the Committee of Ministers. It had a substantive discussion on how the sectors of culture, heritage and landscape can make an integrated and transversal contribution to the aims of the Council of Europe, and made proposals for future action to be submitted to the Committee of Ministers. It also decided on the working methods and the structure of the next plenary session in 2013 with a view to the best possible implementation of the Terms of Reference. [16/05/2012]

Special file

4th MARS National Media Encounter - Journalism & Media Training & Literacy

The 4th MARS National Media Encounter - Journalism & Media Training & Literacy - will hold from 24 to 26 May 2012 in Cluj (Romania). Co-organised by Active Watch / Media Monitoring Agency, the objective of this encounter is to allow trainers and educators to develop and to have access to pedagogical and methodological tools for journalism training and media literacy in order to allow journalism students and journalists to considering non discrimination and expression of diversity as an ongoing angle of media coverage. (more...) [11/05/2012]

MARS National Media Encounter about Media Cross-Production

A MARS National Media Encounter about Media Cross-Production was held in Dublin (Ireland) from 25 to 28 April 2012. The aim of this encounter is to encourage, by organising national media encounters, pairings of media professionals with a view to co-produce and co-disseminate high-quality and professional written or audiovisual media reports on sports’ issues, even if not exclusively, including non-discrimination and expression of diversity as an angle of media coverage. (more...) [04/05/2012]

Bureau of the Bern Convention's Standing Committee

The Bureau of the Bern Convention's Standing Committee met in Strasbourg on 23rd April 2012 to review the implementation of the annual Programme of Activities, as well as to discuss the state of progress of the case-files and other complaints lodged, the strategic development of the Convention, and the results of the meeting of the Group of Specialists on the European Diploma of Protected Areas. [26/04/2012]

Special file

Discover the first outputs of the European Media Work Exchanges and exclusive interviews!

The MARS Media Work Exchanges are a unique opportunity for media professionals, and future ones, to widen the scope of their media practices and contact pools. [18/04/2012]

Watch the outputs

Learn more about the Work Exchanges

3rd meeting of the Spanish Intercultural Cities Network (RECI)

The third meeting of RECI-Spanish Intercultural Cities Network was held in Getxo (Bilbao) on 13 April. The meeting focused mainly on the implementation of intercultural strategies by local authorities, with contributions made by representatives of RECI member cities (Barcelona, Bilbao, Cartagena, Donostia, Fuenlabrada, Getxo, Jerez, Parla, Sabadell and Tenerife). [16/04/2012]

MARS Programme: National Media Encounter "Journalism and Media Training and Literacy"

The 2nd MARS National Media Encounter – Journalism & Media Training & Literacy co-organised by Media Animation and the CLEMI (Liaison centre of education and news media) was held in Paris from 11 to 13 April 2012. During these three days, around 35 journalism trainers and journalists joined by some media educators conceived and produced journalism training tools using media literacy resources and approaches in order to include diversity and non discrimination as standard angles of media coverage. (more...) [13/04/2012]

Cultural Policy Review of Turkey

In the framework of the Cultural Policy Review of Turkey, an experts visit took place from 30 March to 6 April 2012 and covered the cities of Diyarbakır, Mardin, Trabzon and Izmir. This is the 29th Council of Europe Cultural Policy Review, to be concluded in spring 2013 with a presentation of the findings at the Plenary Session of the Steering Committee for Culture, Heritage and Landscape (CDCPP). [10/04/2012]

Panel "The Cultural Turn and its Practice in the Humanities"

Climate and environment, both themes relevant to culture, are issues which were discussed by noteworthy representatives from science and politics on the panel "The Cultural Turn and its Practice in the Humanities" on March 29, in Karlsruhe (Germany). This was followed by a ZKM (Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie) premiere show of Andrea Molino’s scenic opera "Three Mile Island". The opera thematises the reactor disaster in Pennsylvania in 1979, specifically showing how cultural perspectives can shed light on a drastic event. This event is linked to the work done by working group inter-secretariat of the Council of Europe on climate change. (more...) [02/04/2012]

MARS Programme: National Media Encounter "Ethics and Editorial Management"

The National Media Encounter on "Ethics and Editorial Management" of the MARS programme (Media Network for Diversity) was held in Vilnius (Lithuania) from 30 to 31 March 2012. During these two days, more than 40 journalists, mainly from sport media coverage, exchanged on their professional practices and tried to find ways to better include diversity and non discrimination in the ethical principles and rules of journalism. (more...) [02/04/2012]

Intercultural cities Mayors' round table at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Mayors of cities members of the Intercultural Cities Joint Programme with the European Union held a a round table on 21st March on "Intercultural City: Building an inclusive Identity". The mayors of six European cities reported on their experience in developing local policies in this area and discussed ways of shaping an optimum model for dealing with cultural diversity in local communities and managing relations between different ethnic and cultural groups. (more...) [28/03/2012]

Video of the debate

Capacity building programme for sustainable tourism development along cultural routes

The Council of Europe held a capacity building programme for sustainable tourism development along cultural routes in Chisinau (Moldova) on 22-25 March 2012, supported by a host of important international partners. Moldova has played an important role in the development of the Council of Europe’s training of trainers for Sustainable Tourism Programme. The growing importance in the quality and variety of Moldovan wines and wine tourism, as well as the beauty of the country, make it a natural host for this 4th international programme on sustainable tourism. (more...) [26/03/2012]

Making Integration Work in Europe's Cities

The Integrating Cities Conference 2012 "Making Integration Work in Europe's Cities" took place in Amsterdam on 8-9 of March 2012. It was organised by the city of Amsterdam in cooperation with and EUROCITIES and the European Commission. During this conference, leading key experts, policy and decision-makers as well as city networks (ECCAR, EuroFund (CLIP), Cities of Migration, etc.) met to discuss how cities and their administrations can best contribute to developing a better understanding of local concerns in Europe and facilitating knowledge exchange to create more inclusive and better integration policies. (more...) [12/03/2012]

European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production

The Convention (entry into force 1994, 43 members) has reached its goal of strengthening European cinematographic co-production. Yet, the CDCULT agreed at its plenary session in May 2011 on the general interest of potential review of the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production in order to possibly update this legal instrument in view of recent developments in the sector. The Eurimages Secretariat has launched a tender, followed by commissioning a report in early 2012 to Mr Jonathan Olsberg (SPI, UK): "Evaluation and proposed revisions of the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production" An experts meeting took place in Paris on 29 February 2012 to study the findings and make concrete suggestions for possible changes to the Convention. A subsequent meeting (Paris, 13 March 2012) has produced a document for the CDCPP Meeting on 14 May 2012, in view of taking a decision on a possible revision of the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production. [09/03/2012]

European Academic Network on Romani Studies : newly elected Scientific Committee

A new Scientific Committee of the European Academic Network on Romani Studies has been recently elected. More than 80% of the full members of the network expressed their preferences during the period 28 February – 5 March 2012. Following 11 candidates received the highest number of votes and became members of the new Scientific Committee : Thomas Acton, Henriette Asseo, Victor Friedman, Jean-Pierre Liegeois, Elena Marushiakova, Yaron Matras, Michael Stewart, Eva Sobotka, Elisabeth Tauber, Peter Vermeersch and Enikő Vincze. [09/03/2012]

Results

Bosnia and Herzegovina: new member State of the EUR-OPA Major Hazards Agreement

On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the EUR-OPA Major Hazards Agreement, the Executive Secretariat has pleasure in announcing that Bosnia and Herzegovina is an official member State of the Agreement as of 20 February 2012. Thanks to this accession, the Agreement now counts amongst its members all the countries from south-east Europe. Bosnia and Herzegovina consequently becomes the 27th member State of this platform for cooperation in the field of major hazards between the countries of Europe and the south of the Mediterranean set up in 1987. Its field of competence is linked to major natural and technological hazards – knowledge, prevention, crisis management, post-crisis evaluation and rehabilitation. [07/03/2012]

Open Call of Interest for Compendium Experts successful

In order to maintain or further enhance the quality and the scope of the Compendium, an Open Call of Interest for "Lead" and "Contributing" Experts had been launched last year. A large number of qualified applications were received. The Compendium editors are currently examining the results - decisions are to be expected until early March. [29/02/2012]

Meeting of the Group of Specialists on the European Diploma of Protected Areas

The Group of Experts on the European Diploma of Protected Areas met in Strasbourg on 9-10 February 2012 for their annual meeting. The Group examined two new applications for the Diploma, to be presented by the Armenian Government for the Khosrov Forest State Reserve and the Irish authorities for the Burren region. Based on the expert visit reports carried out, the Group also discussed the Draft Resolutions concerning the renewal of the Diploma, to be then forwarded to the Committee of Ministers for final adoption. (more...) [15/02/2012]

Council of Europe Cultural Events Label (CECEL) – call for 2012 candidates

The label is awarded annually to a small number of exceptional and innovative cultural projects organised in Europe which convey a strong message relevant to the Council of Europe’s work and critical issues of European societies. The deadline for entries is the 30 June 2012. (more...) [30/01/2012]

Application form

Tokyo Declaration on a Partnership between Intercultural Cities

A symposium on Intercultural City Encounters Europe-Asia was organised in Tokyo on 18-19 January by the Council of Europe and the Japan Foundation. The 200 participants included nine Mayors from European, Japanese and Korean Cities, European, Japanese and Korean experts and Directors of specialist integration departments of invited cities. The symposium and associated events explored the potential of leveraging cultural diversity for community building in European, Japanese and Korean contexts, and compared intercultural policies, good practices and challenges. [03/02/2012]

Tokyo Declaration

CultureWatchEurope: Reflections on the crisis and renewal in European art and culture

A number of high-ranking policy makers, leading thinkers and practitioners in the cultural sector gathered for 1 ½ days in November in Bled, Slovenia, for reflections on responsible cultural policy making and modern cultural governance. [25/01/2012]

Conference statement

*All references to Kosovo, whether the territory, institutions or population, in this text shall be understood in full compliance with United Nation’s Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.