CUMEDIAE has joined other European cultural organisations in a statement expressing the importance of the role of culture in building constructive relations between Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and also in fostering human development. The statement was signed in the framework of the forthcoming EU-CELAC Summit which will take place on 26 & 27 October 2017, in San Salvador.
The statement supports the principles and objectives of the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions, the 2006 Ibero-American Cultural Charter, and the 2017 Council of the EU Conclusions on an EU Strategy for International Cultural Relations. It also draws upon the positive results obtained in recent cultural exchange projects between the EU and CELAC countries.
The coalition draws the attention of the above-mentioned EU-CELAC Summit to endorse the role of culture, as follows:
-The cultural and creative sectors should be taken into account in future EU-CELAC relations;
– Equitable cultural exchanges and cooperation between the two regions are essential to enhance mobility, artistic and technical exchange, mutual learning and understanding;
-Partnerships, networks, co-productions and projects involving culture in urban and rural contexts between the two regions should be supported;
– A structured and inclusive urban planning and the exchange of cultural and societal values can have significant impact on social cohesion, as well as on the development of local economies and societies in both regions;
– A long-term strategy for cultural cooperation between EU and CELAC countries should be designed and established through a participative, collaborative and inclusive approach, taking into account collective and specific memories, identities and cultures, as well as the shared-values and singularities of the different stakeholders.
The aim is therefore, to call on decision makers of the EU and LAC regions to uphold the role of culture in the relations between the two regions in the Conclusions of the EU-CELAC Summit in October 2017.
Download Joint Declaration EU-CELAC 2017
