Opening event of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (2008)

International conference Intercultural Dialogue as the Fundamental Value of the EU
Ljubljana, 7-8 January 2008

The year 2008 has been designated as the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (Decision No. 1983/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council). Slovenia will, as the first of the presiding states in 2008, prepare the opening event of the Year on the Community level in co-operation with the European Commission. In order to mark this important occasion, various events will be held on 7 and 8 January 2008 at Cankarjev dom, Cultural and Congress Centre in Ljubljana. The programme will include a conference on the intercultural dialogue with several programme events, as well as the evening ceremony with the participation of high representatives from the European Institutions and other international organizations.

The most important event on the level of formal discussion will be the Conference of representatives of European Civil Society from the fields of Culture and Art, Science and Education, Media and Sustainable Economic Development. The conference will be devoted entirely to issues regarding the Intercultural Dialogue within the European Union and along its borders, since these issues are some of the main priorities of the Union in 2008, and thus in the period of Slovene Presidency.
The international conference entitled Intercultural Dialogue as the Fundamental Value of the EU will be organised by the Faculty of Humanities (Koper), University of Primorska, under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and the European Commission.

Work at the conference will be organised into four sessions, with the opening and the conclusion held as plenary sessions. Within the sessions an intense and focused discussion will be encouraged among the representatives of the civil societies, which will result in the drafting of the report on each individual section, as well as in drawing of the final conclusions of the conference. In order to achieve the expected outcomes, work within the sessions will be organised as follows: the introduction given by the moderator (5 to 10 minutes) will provide a referential framework for the discussion, its main themes, topics, issues and views. The introduction will be followed by talks given by three invited speakers, each holding the floor for 15 minutes and discussing various aspects of the central theme. A moderated and focused discussion will ensue, providing the basis for the session reports and the final conference declaration.

The opening event will conclude with the Evening ceremony, held at the Gallus hall of Cankarjev dom, marking the official launch of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (2008) on the level of the Community.

Opening of the international conference “Intercultural Dialogue as the Fundamental Value of the EU”

Programme

Programme and Abstracts

 

Speeches:

Dr. Vasko Simoniti - Minister of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia

Ján Figel’ - European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture And Youth

Janez Potočnik - European Commissioner for Science and Research

Marko Peljhan - Ambassador of Intercultural Dialogue 

Closing of the International Conference “Intercultural Dialogue as the Fundamental Value of the EU”

Evening Ceremony, Gallus Hall CD.

Speeches:

Ján Figel’ - European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture And Youth

Prof. Hans-Gert Pöttering - President of the European Parliament

Opening Event EYID - highlights (divx - 7 min, 20MB)