In focus Archive - 2014
©Darij & Ana - Crnojevića bridge
The Rijeka Crnojevića Bridge Speaks
UNESCO is supporting the organization by the Balkanika Foundation, in cooperation with the Municipality of Cetinje and other partners from the region, of a new regional encounter on 18-19 July 2014. This fourth edition of ‘Balkan Bridges Speak’ in Cetinje, Montenegro will be conducted within the framework of its global initiative “Culture: a Bridge to Development”, which aims to build on the power of culture as a dynamic force for co-operation and innovation for inclusive economic development, social cohesion, and peace.
Education for Sustainable Development in Protected Areas and Biosphere Reserves
The summer school promotes Designated Areas and especially Biosphere Reserves as "learning laboratories" ideal for applying education for sustainable development.The content and methods of the school are based, to a large extend on the UNESCO publication entitled "Education for Sustainable Development in Biosphere Reserves and other Designated Areas: A Resource Book for Educators in South-Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean" that has been developed in 2013 as a training material for ESD experts and trainers.
Deep concern about the impact of the floods in South-East Europe
The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, wrote to the Presidents of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, to express deep concern over the devastating impact of floods in the region. Hundreds of thousands of people have been affected in what is one of the region’s worst natural disasters in modern history. Many remain in need of immediate of life saving support.Together with UN partners, UNESCO is supporting the national authorities to assess the impact of the disaster on the education system, cultural heritage and media.
'Imagining the Balkans' travels to The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
The exhibit is part of UNESCO’s global initiative “Culture: a Bridge to Development” and it seeks to enhance cooperation and dialogue among national history museums. It focuses on the constitution and evolution of modern nations in South-East Europe during the “long 19th century. The exhibit will be on display at the National Museum of The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia until 15 October 2014 before traveling to other countries from South-East Europe in 2014-2015.
South-East European countries to approve new ministerial cooperation platform
On 27-28 June, the ministers of culture of South-East European countries will meet in Ohrid (The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), in the presence of the UNESCO Director General, Irina Bokova, as part of the “Council of Ministers of Culture of South-East Europe – Enhancing Culture for Sustainable Development” initiative. This meeting marks the 10th anniversary of the regional cooperation process that began in Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina) in 2004, on the occasion of the opening of the reconstructed Old Bridge.
Expo 2015 - Best Sustainable Development Practices in Food Security Competition
The Best Sustainable Development Practices in Food Security competition is part of the Expo “Feeding Knowledge” program, launched in 2012 by Expo Milano 2015 with the objective of identifying priorities and key issues to reduce food insecurity. The Best Practices will be promoted through a technological platform, which will become part of the Expo 2015 legacy. Expo Milano 2015 is launching a call aimed at the recognition and promotion of “Best Sustainable Development Practices on Food Security”.
Award ceremony of the 2014 AFEX Grand Prix and Special Jury Prize
On 4 June 2014, UNESCO will host the 4th edition of the AFEX Grand Prix, to coincide with the opening of the 14th International Architecture Exhibition - Architecture Biennale 2014. The award ceremony will be followed by the inauguration of ‘Ailleurs/Outwards’, an exhibition displaying the projects selected in the ‘Palmarès’ for the AFEX Grand Prix 2014. The AFEX Grand Prix aims at encouraging and promoting French architects around the world and exploring architecture’s relationship with other art forms.
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- Photo Galleries : Award Ceremony | Exhibit
UNESCO Venice Office’s Scientific Council to welcome a new member
The 14th Ordinary Session of the Scientific Council of the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, Venice (Italy), will be held on 20 June 2014 at the Office’s premises in Palazzo Zorzi. Lorenc Bejko, Professor of Cultural Heritage Management from Tirana, Albania, will be joining for the first time as its newest member. The Office is one of 65 field offices of the Organization spread around the world. It is one of the few regional offices with a mandate in more than just one of the Organization’s five sectors.
2014 edition of Art Night Venezia
On the night of 21 June, Venetian museums and cultural institutions, both public and private, will open their doors to the public to mark the 4th edition of ‘Art Night Venezia’, a celebration of art and culture in all its forms. Throughout the city and the Lagoon, visitors will have the opportunity to attend a broad range of events, from concerts to lectures to guided tours, which capture Venice at its best and most culturally lively. This year’s edition, ‘Tangible/Intangible’, will center on 3 expressions of tangible and intangible heritage and explore the distinctive ways in which they are able to speak to us about history, identity and creativity.
25th Edition of the CIAK JUNIOR international Film Festival
This year's edition of the Festival will take place in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, from 29-31 May 2014. Once a year, CIAK Junior calls upon youth from Europe and around the world to create an audio-visual product from start to finish. Young participants present films which clearly set out their concerns, the daily challenges they face, their hopes and their willingness to suggest changes which they think need to be addressed to bring about a more equitable, peaceful, stable world - in other words, a more liveable world.
Visualizing Venice: the City and the Lagoon
As part of their joint ‘Visualizing Venice’ project, Duke University, IUAV University of Venice and Venice International University, with the participation of the UNESCO Venice Office, are offering a 10-day Digital Visualization Workshop between 3 and 13 June 2014 to teach students about the use of Information and Communication Technologies in the field of cultural heritage. Participants will be provided with the technical skills necessary to map the changing urban landscape in Venice and its lagoon, using modern technological instruments to gain insight into the history of urban development.
Protecting Europe’s Cultural Heritage
The International Conference on Cultural Heritage Security (SIGArt 2014) will be held in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, Croatia, on 26-27 May 2014 under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture of Croatia and of the Croatian National Commission for UNESCO. It will bring together experts and organisations to discuss a broad range of issues relating to the protection of cultural heritage in different contexts. The issues surrounding cultural heritage security to be discussed in the course of the event relate closely to the content of several UNESCO Conventions.
Enhancing regional cooperation on intangible cultural heritage in South-East Europe
The Eighth Annual Meeting of the SEE Experts Network on Intangible Cultural Heritage (Limassol, Cyprus, 15-16 May 2014) is the latest in a series of meetings set up as a platform to reinforce cooperation among the countries of the region on the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage, and to share experiences on issues including: inventory policies, training and capacity-building, the role and involvement of the local communities, the transnational dimension of intangible cultural heritage, the management of sustainable cultural tourism, etc.
Ecosystems protection and introduction of green economy principles
The seminar on Biosphere Reserves of the Volga river basin (14-15 May 2014) will be the fifth event of the “Living Volga” UNESCO/Coca-Cola HBC Eurasia partnership programme devoted to UNESCO BRs of the Volga river basin traditionally held within the International scientific-industrial forum “Great Rivers” in Nizhniy Novgorod. The “Living Volga” partnership programme established by the UNESCO Moscow Office contributes to assisting the achievement of UNESCO’s goals focused on water and associated ecosystems.
IncREO project: Alpago area user case on review
IncREO has been launched in 2013 in support of emergency management and risk-preparedness with the aim to provide actors responsible for disaster management, civil protection and spatial planning with satellite data-based solutions and to contribute, particularly, to an improved preparedness and mitigation planning for territories highly vulnerable to natural disasters such as the Alpago area concerning landslide, earthquake and flood.
Achieving SUSTainability through an integrated approach to the management of CULTural heritage
Started in January 2011, SUSTCULT is a European Union 3-year-project co-funded by the South East Europe Transnational Cooperation Programme - Jointly for our common future. The project focused on integrated and innovative approaches and tools for improving cultural heritage site management throughout the South-East European region. The SUSTCULT Final Conference will take place on 8 April 2014 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Linking Biological and Cultural Diversity in Europe
In 2014, in the context of Joint Programme on the Links between Biological and Cultural Diversity (JP-BiCuD), a series of regional workshops and conferences are being organized in Europe and North America, Asia and the Pacific, Arab region, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean. The first conference will take place in Florence, Italy, to address the links between biological and cultural diversity from the European perspective.
Understanding and Appreciating Cultural Diversity – an Impetus for Cross-cultural Cooperation for and by Youth
On 3 April 2014, the National Commission for UNESCO is organizing a public meeting to kick-start a cross-border project to enhance intercultural dialogue and cultural cooperation among youth in The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania, through ICTs-based activities. The project especially aims at empowering youth and youth leaders from the two countries to share ideas, knowledge and experiences about understanding and appreciating the diversity of cultural expressions.
Balkan Bridges Speak. Third edition in Berat, Albania
The “Balkan Bridges Speak” project features round tables on some of the Organization’s priority areas of work in the field of Culture, artistic performances, public readings, and provides an opportunity for literary personalities, national and local authorities, experts, private partners and universities of the sub-region to share experiences. It aims to enhance creativity, dialogue and cultural exchanges, to inspire innovative and creative approaches to the safeguarding of heritage and culture sensitive development policies.
The National History Museum of Romania is the third host of the travelling exhibit ‘Imagining the Balkans’
The exhibit is part of UNESCO’s global initiative “Culture: a Bridge to Development” and it seeks to enhance cooperation and dialogue among national history museums. It focuses on the constitution and evolution of modern nations in South-East Europe during the “long 19th century. It will be inaugurated at the National Museum of History of Romania on 28 November at 5 pm. The exhibit will be on display until 27 April 2014 and travel to other countries from South-East Europe in 2014-2015.
Management Plan of the World Heritage site of Stari Ras and Sopoćani
The aim of the capacity-building workshop in Novi Pazar, Serbia, is to define the roadmap and guidelines for the finalization of the management plan and the establishment of tightest relations among all relevant stakeholders in order to ensure synergy of all partners and, thus, guarantee an adequate implementation of the Management Plan. The establishment of a broad and inclusive participatory approach is a key priority for the definition of a shared and high-quality planning document, as well as for its future implementation.
Water in the Sava River Basin – H2Ooooh! Competition for secondary school students
The competition is addressed to school students from the ages of 4 to 8 and their teachers. Children are invited to draw a storyboard. Through their stories, kids should provide a creative contribution to raising awareness on the sustainable use of water and the importance of the development and the protection of the Sava River Basin. The competition is open to secondary schools from the 4 countries of the Sava River Basin: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. Deadline for submission of story boards is 24 April 2014.
UNESCO supports recovery of the Archives of Bosnia and Herzegovina
As an immediate response to the damages caused to these archives by a fire set on 7 February 2014, UNESCO launched an expert mission in cooperation with the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities (MiBAC) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This heritage is part of our collective knowledge and memory, which is important not just for the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but equally important for the history of South Eastern European countries and Europe, and that is why UNESCO will spare no effort to ensure its safeguard.
Sustainable Integrated Management of River Corridors in South East Europe
The SEE River project has entered the second half of its lifespan and its activities so far very intense and complex proved to be very successful. Most of the planned tasks were carried out in the Drava river pilot areas and the 5 SEE pilot rivers - Soča, Bodrog, Neretva, Prut, and Vjosa. Guided by the goals and targeted end results on individual pilot areas and rivers, processes were launched with stakeholders based on desktop analyses and field work by project experts and therefore gained very valuable feedback for the next steps.
Euro-Mediterranean Cooperation through ERANET joint activities and beyond
The ERANETMED inter-institutional and stakeholder workshop will be held in Athens, Greece, on 27 and 28 February 2014.Over 30 institutions participating in the event - including universities, research centres, associations and other governmental institutions from the European Union (EU) and Mediterranean countries - will discuss themes and actions to be addressed by the ERANETMED first joint call for proposals and orient its scope in relation to the main societal challenges in the region.
UNESCO and the European Union: working together to revitalize Novo Brdo Castle
On 29 January 2014, UNESCO and the European Union launched the implementation phase of the project entitled “Revitalization of Novobërdë/Novo Brdo fortress” that aims at revitalizing the Novo Brdo Castle through conservation and restoration efforts and, managing and valorizing the municipality’s cultural heritage asset through socio-economic development initiatives. The project in cooperation with UNMIK and relevant authorities, has been developed in line with, and as part of, the European Union umbrella mission “Balanced Regional Development”.
User Validation Workshop on Increasing Resilience through Earth Observation for the Shkodër area
Announced IncREO workshop on 25 February in Tirana, Albania. Increasing Resilience through Earth Observation has been devised in support of emergency response management and risk-preparedness. It aims to provide actors responsible for disaster management, risk prevention, civil protection and also spatial planning with Earth Observation (EO)-based solutions, to contribute to an improved preparedness and mitigation planning for areas highly vulnerable to natural disasters.
Towards the designation of Lake Shkodra/Skadar as Transboundary Biosphere Reserve
The specific goal of the project is to implement the entire nomination process of Lake Skadar as UNESCO's Transboundary Biosphere Reserve (TBR) under the established procedure. The project intends to assess the potentials and possibility in terms of plans and legal frame through participatory approach mainly by conducting interviews with relevant stakeholders on both sides of the border (Albania, Montenegro).
Holocaust education and intercultural understanding in South-East Europe
Four meetings on this subject already took place in Belgrade (June 2012), Sarajevo (December 2012), Skopje (April 2013) and Auschwitz-Birkenau (July 2013), under the auspices of UNESCO, within the framework of the global initiative “Culture: a Bridge to Development” and the Intersectoral Platform for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence. The fifth meeting of the international steering group is organized to continue discussions on the renovation of the Pavilion nr. 17 in the State Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau.