50 young cultural experts from 34 countries share their vision for cultural diversity in 2030 at the U40 World Forum

Fifty young professionals active in the field of cultural diversity hailing from 34 countries met in Paris from June 12-18, 2009 to explore their vision for realizing true cultural diversity between now and 2030. The gathering, called the “U40 World Forum”, took place on the margins of the Second Conference of the Parties for the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, which took place June 15 and 16.

U40 World Forum brought together participants from various walks of life, including cultural professionals, civil society activists, government officials, members of national commissions for UNESCO, university professors and doctoral candidates. The range of their experience gave rise to stimulating exchanges.

The Forum was launched with two-days of workshops held on various themes related to the implementation of the UNESCO Convention: how to enhance Convention’s visibility, concrete actions for putting into practice the Convention’s provisions in support of international cooperation in the cultural sphere, and how to increase funding for the International Fund for Cultural Diversity. The outcome of these discussions were consolidated into a text called "Proposals For Cultural Diversity in 2030", a two-page document distributed to the State delegations attending the Conference of the Parties.

In the text, the U40 participants set out their "Vision for 2030" for the Convention in which they affirm that cultural diversity is an instrument to advance human progress and urge States that have ratified the Convention to adopt and implement cultural policies that address their specific needs. The significance of the active involvement of civil society in achieving this vision is underscored in this document. The document goes on to propose examples of actions and initiatives to achieve the goals of the Convention focused on three main themes, namely: "Visibility, Raising Awareness and Participation", "International Cooperation" and "The International Fund for Cultural Diversity".

By virtue of being integrated into delegations of States Parties to the Convention or NGO delegations, the U40 participants were able to observe the entire proceedings of the Conference of the Parties.

Their proposals were also presented verbally to representatives of the States Parties to the Convention immediately following the closing of the Conference on the afternoon of June 16 as part of an exchange conducted using Chatham House-rules (both informal and without attribution) to encourage open dialogue.

At the conclusion of the U40 World Forum, participants identified several follow-up activities, including continuing information exchanges as part of an online discussion group, the compilation of best practices relating to cultural policies, the translation of the U40 proposals into the six official languages of UNESCO, work to identify possible private and public partners to bring resources of the Fund, and the possible creation of a delegation of U40 representatives to attend the next meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee.

The U40 initiative was warmly welcomed by the Director-General of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura, during his opening address at the Conference of the Parties: "[TRANSLATION] this Forum provided young specialists from the world over with the opportunity, at a timely moment, to participate in international deliberations on the diversity of cultural expressions and on the implementation of the Convention."

The U40 meeting was organized by the National German Commission for UNESCO in conjunction with the International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (IFCCD).

Click here to read the executive summary report of the U40-World Forum.

To consult the complete issue of Coalition Currents Vol. 7 No. 2 click here.