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UNESCO: GLOBAL ALLIANCE
website: http://portal.unesco.org/culture/
en/ev.php-URL_ID=2101&
URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&
URL_SECTION=201.html
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context: UNESCO has always emphasised the linkages between culture and the broader aims of human endeavour, a belief reflected in a short history of UNESCO’s culture and development agenda. Adopted by the UNESCO General Conference at the end of 2001, the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity provides a new anchor and entry point for approaching the issue of sustainability from the viewpoint of cultural diversity. The declaration is predicated on the consideration of culture as a full-fledged resource for development. Explicit in the declaration is the concept that cultural diversity is as important a factor for development as biological diversity.
Cultural diversity presupposes the existence of a process of exchanges, open to renewal and innovation but also committed to tradition, and does not aim at the preservation of a static set of behaviours, values and expressions. If creativity is essential in the search for sustainability, then memory is in turn vital to creativity. That holds true for individuals and for peoples, who find in their heritage – natural and cultural, tangible and intangible—the key to their identity and the source of their inspiration.
what: approved by the General Conference at its 31st session and launched in January 2002 by UNESCO's Arts and Cultural Enterprise Division, the Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity is a six-year project (2002-2007) with the purpose of safeguarding and promoting human creativity in all of its varied forms around the world.
why: creative industries have become the main vehicle by which countries express and export their creativity. Producing a range of products from music and design to arts, crafts and multimedia, these industries are now recognised as a driving force in the world economy and hold great potential for developing economies. Alliance projects are underway in developing countries and those in transition to unleash the potential of cultural industries and their positive impact on the growth of local economies.
activities: open and flexible, concrete yet evolving, the Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity is about collaborative action. It works at the local level to develop and strengthen the capacity of a wide range of cultural industries while creating opportunities to distribute products regionally and gain access to markets overseas. Active worldwide, the Alliance connects people in innovative partnerships which span the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. Committed to diversifying the display of creativity worldwide while boosting economic development, its strategic targets are knowledge sharing, copyright enforcement, and infrastructure adapted to the needs of cultural enterprises.
first results: by connecting public bodies, the private sector and civil society in developed and developing countries, the Alliance helps build the capacities of local cultural industries and finds new regional and international markets for their products. For example, the Alliance is encouraging respect for copyright in Colombia, in co-operation with the national Authors Rights Office, by producing a booklet for schoolchildren on the subject and running a public awareness campaign on Bogota’s city buses. In the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Alliance is working with St Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum to encourage a merchandising strategy for museum shops…
partners: in November 2003, the Global Alliance counted over 170 members from around the world, and the number continues to grow. Membership represents governments, corporations, researchers and professional associations, cultural enterprises and NGOs, among others.
By joining the Global Alliance, partners become part of a dynamic international network of organisations committed to cultural and economic development. Members will benefit from the increased access to resources and heightened visibility that accompany collaborative work at the international level.
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contacts
The Global Alliance
for Cultural Diversity
UNESCO Division of Arts
and Cultural Enterprise
1 rue Miollis 75732
Paris Cedex 15, France
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