fwd: Cukturelink Conference

[claudia westermann]

http://www.culturelink.hr/conf/clinkconf/index.html



Dynamics of Communication: New Ways and New Actors

Zagreb, Croatia, 9-12 June 2005, Mimara Museum


The First World Culturelink Conference on 
Dynamics of Communication and Cultural Change: 
The Role of Networks was held in Zagreb, Croatia, 
on 8-11 June 1995. Over one hundred cultural 
researchers and professionals and fifteen 
international organizations from all continents 
gathered for the conference, in spite of the 
wartime conditions in Croatia at the time. Since 
the First World Conference, the Culturelink 
Network has grown substantially, having developed 
further research activities, data bases and 
publishing activities, and having held a number 
of significant conferences (on e-culture, 
transitional processes, Mediterranean 
cooperation, etc.).

Ten years later, the Second World Culturelink 
Conference is organized with the aim to examine 
different aspects of new ways and actors of 
global communication and dialogue among cultures 
in the 21st century.

Ours is a time of ever faster changes, and we 
live in societies which are, or are increasingly 
becoming, multicultural and ready to participate 
in open and dynamic intercultural communication. 
The recognition of differences between cultures 
as the key constituent of their identity 
stimulates dialogue and cooperation. In a 
globalized world the full affirmation of 
multiculturalism/interculturalism is a challenge 
that requires new efforts in international 
cultural cooperation and intercultural 
competence. The benefits of globalization must be 
shared more equitably by people and by cultures, 
and must have an inclusive/networking effect. 
Innovative ways to promote intercultural dialogue 
and communication need to be examined.

The Second World Culturelink Conference is part 
of Culturelink Network's efforts to promote 
cooperation and dialogue among cultures, in line 
with the Global Agenda for Dialogue among 
Civilizations adopted by the United Nations in 
2001.

Objectives

The Second World Culturelink Conference is 
organized with the principal objective to search 
for and analyse new ways, new instruments and new 
actors in cultural communication, and research 
the role of networks in creating and 
strengthening a global context for sustainable 
development and dialogue among cultures.

The second objective is to discuss the new public 
cultural policies, and particularly their role in 
creating partnerships among public sectors and 
civil society. Public policy, developed in 
partnership with civil society and the private 
sector, is of vital importance to ensuring 
democratic access to the means of cultural 
communication. Investing in public cultural 
policy research is becoming a sine qua non of 
global cultural development.

The conference also aims to examine aspects of 
international mobility, primarily based on 
networking and information exchange. New actors 
(e.g. regions, local communities) have appeared 
in this area. The networking of heterogeneous 
actors offers a multiplicity of new types and 
areas of cooperation and initiatives in the 
globalized world.

Within such a framework, it is central to 
redefine the role of all actors, including states 
and national cultures, as well as local 
communities, civil society, professional 
organisations and individuals participating in 
the processes of globalization. The 
transformation processes initiated by 
globalization have brought to the fore the 
establishment of new cultural identities, 
particularly presented through virtual 
communication technologies. Cultures appear to be 
both actors and mediators of these changes.

***



The conference is expected to bring to Zagreb 
cultural researchers and professionals dealing 
with processes of cultural communication, with 
cultural policy and cultural development. As they 
will be coming from different continents and many 
different cultural backgrounds, this diversity of 
views on issues related to the dynamics of 
communication will give the participants a 
broader perspective on cultural trends and 
changes under way throughout the world, and 
provide ample opportunity for the establishment 
of collaboration and new projects.

The official languages of the conference are 
English, French, Spanish and Croatian.

The conference venue is the Mimara Museum.



Contact: Conference Secretariat, Culturelink/IMO, 
P.O. Box 303, Vukotinoviçeva 2, 10000 Zagreb, 
Croatia; tel.: +385-1-4877490;
fax: +385-1-4828361; e-mail: clinkconf at irmo.hr; 
http://www.culturelink.org/clinkconf.html