INTERACCIÓ’06 Community cultural policies Cultural Studies and Resource Centre (CERC) Barcelona Provincial Council Barcelona, 24 – 27 October 2006 DOCUMENTATION 2. Biographic review and reading of the speakers´ recent work Documentation Centre of Cultural Studies and Resource Centre Barcelona Provincial Council October 2006 Contents Carlos Alberdi Alonso 2 Franco Bianchini 6 Texeira Coelho 10 Carles Feixa 14 Enrique Gil Calvo 17 Jon Hawkes 24 Jaime Lerner 27 Eduard Miralles 33 Antanas Mockus 39 Marta Porto 48 AbdouMaliq Simone 51 Alain Touraine 56 George Yúdice 63 Carlos Alberdi Alonso Carlos Alberdi Alonso started in cultural management at the Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid from 1986 to 1990 and was later Director of the Centro Cultural de España in Buenos Aires during 1991 and 1992. During 1993 and 1994 he was Director of Culture at the Instituto Cervantes and from 1996 to 2002 he was Technical Advisor for Cultural Promotion at the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation, coordinating the network of Spanish cultural centres in Latin America. From 2002 to 2004 he was Coordinator of the Culture Department at La Casa Encendida in Madrid. Since May 2004 he has been Director General of Cultural Cooperation and Communications at the Spanish Ministry of Culture. Next we present a Report on the General Conference sessions «Europe for Intercultural Dialogue» celebrated in Granada on 27 and 28 of April 2006. To find the conference, go to the following link: http://www.mcu.es/cooperacion/dialogoIntercul/ Original language:spanish Introduction The meeting «Europe for intercultural dialogue» is integrated in a series of meetings about the cultural aspects in the European construction that was started in Berlin in November 2004 and it continued in Paris and Budapest in May and November 2005. The choice of intercultural dialogue as the subject in the fourth meeting is in accordance with the arrangements for the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue which will be celebrated in 2008. This event has been organized by the Ministry for Culture of Spain and has consisted of two parallel meetings: on one side, the meeting of representations from the Ministries for Culture of EU members; on the other side, a General Conference with the attendance of about 200 representatives of the civil society and cultural institutions and organizations from Europe and other regions. The General Conference has consisted of four plenary sessions, which have tackled successively the intercultural dialogue in the Euromediterranean scope; the intercultural dialogue in the field of the relationships between the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean; the role of the foundations, cultural associations and civil society in the intercultural dialogue; and the role of the regions and local corporations in the development of the intercultural dialogue. This document presents a summary of the main ideas and proposals formulated during the General Conference. Intercultural dialogue: concepts The notion of «intercultural dialogue», as well as the ideas of «dialogue between civilizations» and «dialogue between religions» which are often interrelated in the public debate, demands a deep exploration. [email protected] 2 The dominant discourse in the public sphere suggests that cultures are closed and monolithic blocks. However, globalization is multiplying the fracture lines as it changes the interaction conditions between societies and their cultural practices. This can, in turn, generate tensions and give strength to the most extremist views. Within intercultural dialogue there are simultaneous feelings of acceptance and feelings of refusal. Many phenomena and challenges to which Europe is facing nowadays, from immigration to foreign relationships or security policies, have progressively tended to explain themselves under the cultural or religious code, ignoring their fundamental economic and political dimension and the need for taking measures in regard to them. The respect to the State’s rule of law and to international law must be in the basis of all the approaches to these issues. Apart from the view of culture as a place for conflict and confrontation, there are proofs all over the world of its positive contribution to the fight against poverty, social exclusion and ostracism, the generation of social capital and its relation with the elements of cohabitation, human rights and development. History also offers continuous examples of cultural interaction, through which artistic creation and thought have been configured throughout centuries. The Mediterranean is a good example of this. In today’s context, interaction is even more dynamic, but it is affected by the unequal sharing of resources. Intercultural dialogue: context For Europe, intercultural dialogue is expressed today in a triple level: within the States, among the European States themselves and in the field of the relationships with the rest of the world. None of these cases can work having on their basis unequal or asymmetric relationships. Cities are the everyday stage of experiences in intercultural dialogue and they come to challenges with a strong cultural component. Regions also tackle intercultural dialogue in their own policies and in the interregional cooperation practices in Europe. Cultural policies in local and regional administrations have a key role in the context of cultural diversity, which must be expressed by setting them in a central position of the policies as a whole. The Agenda 21 of culture offers a guide for this and, given its universal scope, also promotes the dialogue about shared interests between regional and local administrations of different countries and regions. There have been significant advances with regard to the intercultural dimension of the European construction and the intercultural dialogue among the European States. The European Commission intends to make intercultural dialogue a horizontal priority in different political areas, specially in the new generation of programmes which support education, culture, youth and citizenship. In this sense, a significant initiative is the arrangement of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue in 2008. Numerous initiatives contribute to give contents to the notion of intercultural dialogue through new cultural cooperation ways between Europe and the rest of the world. We can mention as an example the «Ibermedia» programme, which supports Latin American cinematographic industry. The approval of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions shows the [email protected] 3 confluence of the international cultural challenges, and becomes a universal referent for the respect and cooperation between cultural expressions. In all the levels, civil society must be acknowledged for its role as a confluence space of differences and as a forge of new alliances and creative forms. The cultural civil society must be able to take part in the definition of the new European citizenship. Intercultural dialogue: proposals 1. The approaches to intercultural dialogue should assume in all the cases that the political, economic, social and cultural dimensions are complementary and it is necessary a co-operation among them, within the respect for democracy, the State’s rule of law, human rights and international law. 2. In all the levels, it has been observed the need of building platforms of conversation among the fields of culture, human rights, education, social cohesion and economic activity, which must be complemented with the promotion and deepening of intercultural dialogue. 3. It should be made sure the cooperation among the different government levels regarding the cultural and intercultural dialogue challenges in the heart of the States. Given the centrality that the local space has, it would seem specially significant to strengthen the role of the regional and local administrations and to guarantee all the necessary resources for it. 4. As a committed and independent actor, the cultural sector must assume an action directed to carry out a political and strategic contribution to the debate about intercultural dialogue and European identity. 5. There is a need for a bigger recognition of the cultural dimension in all the European Union policies, in application of the transversality clause in the 151.4 article of the EU Treaty. Following this line, it has been announced the presentation of the European Commission Communication in 2007 about the relationship between culture and the rest of the Community policies, something that confers some centrality to culture. 6. It has been suggested that the EU should promote periodical meetings related to the cultural aspects of the European construction, where representatives of three sectors (government, private sector and civil society) get together. They should agree on a long-term programme, avoiding reiteration and fragmentation, granting the continuity from one conference to the next and each sector assuming its respective responsibilities. 7. The programme of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue should inspire in the good practices generated and articulated by the cultural operators. Its success as a process will depend on the ability of the European institutions to promote alliances between the cultural sector and the public administrations that promote the event. 8. The European Year of Intercultural Dialogue should have continuity and should be useful to establish the basis for a European cultural strategy. 9. It has been remarked