CONFLUENCES HERITAGE FOR A CULTURE OF PEACE

 

editorial

summary

article 1

article 3

article 4

contact

Summary
edition 0

Summary
N° 2 vol. XV

Summary
N° 3 vol. XV

A project proposed to all the UNESCO Clubs
TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE
Cultural Heritage Sites
A monument, an archaeological
site, a religious building, etc.

Oral Traditions
A story, a legend, a genealogy,
proverbs, etc.

Historic Cities
A city, a village, a neighbourhood
full of history, etc.
Languages
A language, a dialect, a patois,
etc.
Cultural Landscapes
A rice field, a park, a garden,
a road, etc.
.
Les évènements festifs
Une fête, un festival, un carnaval,
une cérémonie, etc.
Natural Sacred Sites
A mountain, a forest, a road with a
religious or spiritual significance, etc.
Rites and Beliefs
A ritual, a liturgy, a prayer,
a cosmogony, etc.
The Underwater Cultural Heritage
Objects, shipwrecks or sites at sea,
in a lake, a river, etc.

Music and Song
A piece of folk or popular music, an
opera, a lullaby, a protest song, etc.

Museum
A public, private, community,
outdoor museum, etc.
The Performings Arts
A dance, a play, a theatre design,
etc
.
The movable Cultural Heritage
An object, a work of art, traditional or contemporary creativity, etc.
Traditional Medecine
Medicinal plants, recipes,
know-how, etc.
Handicrafts
Pottery, weaving, basketry,
creations and know-how, etc.
Literature
A poem, a novel, etc.
The Documentary and Digital Heritage
A book, a manuscript, an archive,
a library, text-, sound-, image-
databases, etc

Culinary Traditions
A dish, traditional preparations,
new recipes, etc.

The cinematographic Heritage
A documentary, fiction, short or feature film, on film or video, etc.
Traditional Sports and Games
A game of skill, of chance, sport,
etc.
0
CULTURAL HERITAGE AND CULTURE OF PEACE :
AN ENCOUNTER
0
 
 

The notion of cultural heritage has changed considerably in the recent decades to take better account of the universality of the human genius in its creations. Designating first the most monumental vestiges of cultures, the notion of heritage has gradually been enriched by new o categories such as those of a historical site or town, or a cultural landscape, thereby expressing the close relation between nature and culture. New words such as industrial heritage or subaquatic heritage have come into being concurrently with the notion of intangible heritage which covers acts of creation and representation (performing arts, rites, festive events, plastic arts), transmission processes (social practices, traditional knowledge and know-how, beliefs and practices about nature), as well as the non-perpetuated contents of creativity (languages and oral tradition).

Today, "heritage" is an open notion, one that can develop new objects and new meanings, because it reflects a living culture rather than a fixed image of the past.
The definition of the culture of peace given by the United Nations is based on "a set of values, attitudes, traditions and modes of behaviour and ways of life" that reject violence and endeavour to prevent conflicts by tackling the root causes through dialogue and negotiation between individuals, groups and States (UN resolutions A/RES/52/13 and A/53/243).

The analogies between the notion of heritage and culture are obvious. This makes it possible to qualify these expressions of the human spirit as dynamic (because they are constantly renewed), and it is the meaning we give them today.
A cultural heritage must not be used to exclude, to show the superiority of one culture over the other or to feed nationalistic extremisms as has been the case in recent years where the cultural heritage, as an identity symbol, has often been a target of war or the stake of political, ethnic and religious conflicts, from Bamiyan to Jerusalem via Sarajevo.

The protection of heritage, its development and transmission to future generations are therefore moral imperatives, inseparable from the respect of the dignity of the human person and a willingness to live together on the part of individuals and groups with multiple cultural identities. It is by accepting this heritage today as a place of sharing with and of opening to others that a real dialogue can be initiated between cultures and communities.

That is why it is essential to open up to others, to prevent violence and to solve conflicts through dialogue, to be rooted in ones culture and one's heritage; in other words, "one cannot be a citizen of the world without a village in one's heart".
o

CONTEXT
0
 1.The International Conference of NGOs maintaining official relations with UNESCO, held in Paris from 12 to 15 December 2001, adopted a resolution "For the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World" inviting the Liaison Committee "to draw up a list of Monuments Messengers of the Culture of Peace by the end of 2004."
 2.This initiative stems from the appeal launched by the Director General of UNESCO during the launch of the International Year of the Culture of Peace (2000) to identify or create "a square or historic monument... as a messenger of peace symbolising the political will and the will of the people to serve the cause of peace and nonviolence", so as to facilitate the appropriation of the notion of culture of peace by the local populations and the general public.
 3.Among the experiments that followed this appeal, that of the World Federation of UNESCO Clubs, Centres and Associations, (WFUCA) in Italy was particularly remarkable. To date, more than 20 sites and monuments have already been declared "Messengers of the Culture of Peace." The "Rocca di Tentennano" in Tuscany, for example, was chosen by the UNESCO Club of Siena with the Municipality of Castiglione d'Orcia as a symbolic place because, from this monument, Saint Catherine of Siena sent out her "Letters of peace" to the high and mighty of the age and the "Chanta libertatis", a charter of human rights before the letter, was promulgated in 1207. Public events were organised by the UNESCO Club and its partners round this monument in 2000/2001.
 4.

The dissemination of such project in the entire community of NGOs coincides also with the decision of the UN General Assembly to declare 2002 "United Nations Year for Cultural Heritage" and to designate UNESCO as lead agency. UNESCO wishes in particular to promote, throughout this UN year, the discovery of cultural heritage as a vector for dialogue, peace and reconciliation.
0

OBJECTIVE
0
 "Peace in our hands through local heritage": the objective of this project is to capitalise on local heritage as an awareness raising and action tool for a culture of peace..
0
DESCRIPTION
0
 This is a campaign that NGOs maintaining official relations with UNESCO will launch in October 2002 in their regional and national networks. National members of international NGOs are invited to choose a local element of their tangible or intangible cultural heritage and build a project around this element pursuant to the afore-stated objective and the steps described on the following page. All the projects stemming from this campaign will constitute a network called upon to interact at the international scale and will give rise to a particular event at the half-way point of the Decade (2005) that wilt feature the most remarkable initiatives to serve as "good practices."
2002
UNESCO / LIAISON COMMITTE
2005
- Design
- Launch of campaign
- Creation of media
- Advice / assistance to headquarters of website

- Maintenance of the Culture of Peace website
- Technical assistance on how to use the
website
- Intermediate stock-taking steps Organisation of a stock-taking event in 2005

 
HEADQUARTERS OF INTERNATIONAL NGOs
 

- Engagement in the campaign
- Adaptation of promotional materials/tools
- Dissemination among national structures
- Grant national structures access to the culture of peace website to register their contributions (attribution of personal Internet Account Numbers)
- Communication on the campaign in the network on the different media (bulletins, website, etc.)

- Monitoring and support through the steps of the projects
- Grant national structures access to the culture of peace website to register their contributions (attribution of personal Internet Account Numbers)
- Communication on the campaign in the network on the different media (bulletins, website, etc.)
 
NATIONAL FEDERATIONS OF UNESCO CLUBS
 

- Engagement in the campaign
- Adaptation / translation of materials
- Diffusion au niveau local
- Grant national structures access to the culture of peace website to register their contributions (attribution of personal Internet Account Numbers)
- Communication on the campaign in the network on the different media (bulletins, sites web, etc.)

- Selection of projects for attribution of the "Heritage for a Culture of Peace"
- Advice / orientation / monitoring / revival through the steps
- Soutien technique pour l'utilisation du
site web
- Grant national structures access to the culture of peace website to register their contributions (attribution of personal Internet Account Numbers)
- Communication on the campaign in the network on the different media (bulletins, website, etc.)
 
LOCAL GROUPES
 
 

    - Engagement
    - Implementation of the project
    - Development of the project

 
  
  
  
 
OTHER ACTORS OF THE CULTURE OF PEACE
 

IMPLEMENTATION OF YOUR PROJECT
jj
Define


1. Identify the elements of your local tangible and intangible cultural heritage

2

 

0Take stock of the elements of your heritage; these can include :

  - Existing cultural elements (a site, a work of art, an element of oral tradition, etc.)
0
  - New creations based on a type of tangible heritage (a natural site, a house, a neighbourhood, etc.) or on local knowledge and knowhow (music, dance, artistic expression, etc.)
0
 by relying on the following categories of tangible and intangible cultural heritage (see table in the top of the page):
   


-
Cultural Heritage Sites
- Historic Cities
- Cultural Landscapes
- Natural Sacred Sites
- The Underwater Cultural Heritage
- Museums
- The Movable Cultural Heritage
- Handicrafts
- The Documentary and Digital Heritage
- The Cinematographic Heritage


- Oral Traditions
- Languages
- Festive Events
- Rites and Beliefs
- Music and Song
- The Performing Arts
- Traditional Medicine
- Literature
- Culinary Traditions
- Traditional Sports and Games
  0State the meaning/ reasons for this choice. It could pertain to :
0
  -

A recognised symbol of peace, dialogue and tolerance. The underlying reason would be historical events that characterise this cultural heritage element.
0

  -

Transforming the historical meaning of a venue of violence and war by an activity of culture of peace. In this regard, the restoration of the Mostar bridge in Bosnia or of Angkor in Cambodia is no mere architectural rehabilitation, but the re-establishment of a link and a space of dialogue between the communities (UNESCO Courier, May 2002, http://www.unesco.org). Just like preserving sites like Auschwitz, Gorée and Hiroshima to turn them into educational places is a way of transforming suffering and giving a new meaning to these sites.

 

0Choose a cultural heritage element representative of a community
0

  

The decision on the identified cultural heritage element must have the greatest support from the community (town, neighbourhood, etc.) and be a representative democratic choice of the community. For example, associations and organisations of the local civil society will be consulted The local authorities (municipality, region, etc.) and heritage institutions (for historical monuments, universities, etc.) could also be involved if it proved pertinent.
0

2. Define your Culture of Peace Project round this element
0

  0Define the objectives according to the 8 areas of action of the culture of peace (see UN Resolution A/53/243)
0
  - Culture of peace through education
- Sustainable economic and social development
- Respect for all human rights
- Equality between women and men
- Democratic participation
- Understanding, tolerance and solidarity
- Participatory communication and the free flow of information and knowledge
- International peace and security

0
  The reasons for the choice of cultural heritage will be bolstered and justified by the type of action proposed. The project must not be limited to a public ceremony affixing a plaque commemorating the historical event. It is very important to revive the symbol associated with this cultural heritage by an action in the longer term.
0
 0Plan the Programme of Action
0
  - Define the contents of the project and the activities to pursue: meetings, workshops, conferences, training programmes, initiatives in schools, concerts, shows, sporting events, educational materials and games, press conferences, youth events, festivals, parades, cruises, campaigns, competitions, exhibitions, publications, etc.
0
  - Plan the stages (planned duration, implementation stages, evaluation, etc.
  - Plan the geographic coverage
0
  - Identify actors, beneficiaries and partners (municipalities, companies, etc.)
0
  - Identify the means and resources (human, financial, material, etc. )
0
  -

Plan communication actions (media, planned events; planned use of Manifesto 2000 as'awareness raising toot for the general public)
0

  - Give your project a name
0

Act


1. Announce your commitment in the campaign
0
 0Register your participation
0
  - By informing the national structure of the NGO of which you are a member. The latter wilt give you a personal Internet Account Number enabling you to register your project on the UNESCO Culture of Peace web site, which will serve as a space of communication and meeting during the campaign;
0
  - By registering your project on the Culture of Peace website :
0
  
  • Go to the private site www.unesco.org/cptec
  • Access the site by entering your personal Internet Account Number
  • Go to the "Culture of Peace Projects and Resources", click on "Add" and complete the three sections:
      • Identity: so that contacts can be established
      • Activities: to understand the exact nature of your project
      • Exchange Market of Resources: to list the supply and demand of resources for your project for exchanges with other projects.
  
   For more details on how to use the "Culture of Peace" web site and other information you can register about your project, see the instructions ("Help" button on the private site)
0
  - If you have no access to the Internet, please contact the WFUCA Secretariat.
0
2. Develop your project
0
 0Set up a work group / assign roles ;
0
 0Implement the project and the programme of action defined above :
0
  - Develop specific actions and events to feed and adapt the project according to the targets and expected results
0
  -

Call on the local partners according to the needs of the project defined above
0

  - Update the information on the Culture of Peace web site as the project progresses, in particular the supply and demand of resources
0
  - Keep trace of all the operations of the project (photos, films, recordings, drawings, written traces of decisions, reports and evaluation results, minutes of meetings). All these items are to be placed in a file for the communication needs of the project and exchanges with other projects.
0
 

0Gauge the degree to which the objectives have been obtained. The evaluation objectives are:
0

  -During the action: direct the action and reactivate the activity regularly
  -At the end of the project: check that the initial objectives have been achieved and if necessary develop new actions to extend the project
  -Offline: measure compliance with schedule Exchange
00Exchange00


1. Promote your project

0

 0There are many reasons to promote it :
0
  - Stimulate / highlight your project
0
  - Provide media training to the actors of the project
0
  - Thank the engaged partners properly
0
  - Explore possibilities for future developments of the project and new partnerships
0
 

0Communicate on an international scale: by updating regularly the information published on the Culture of Peace web site, visited by thousands of surfers each day, including other "actors" of the culture of peace, potential partners for the development of your project, the promotion of your initiatives on the website is organised as follows :
0

  - The Logos of the United Nations Year for Cultural Heritage and the Decade for a Culture of Peace:
www.unesco.org/cp section "Toolbox"
and www.unesco.org/culture/unych/
0
  - A poster to be customised with a photo/illustration of your cultural heritage element and, if appropriate, the logos of your partners:
www.unesco.org/cp section "Toolbox"
0
 
 0 Communicate at local/national level: by developing specific communication actions round your project depending on the target groups and your context, there are tools at your disposal for this purpose:
  - Your project is visible in the section "Information exchange / projects and resources"
0
 
  - You can also register punctual eventsorganised round your project on the private web site "Events": they are then promoted in the "Information exchange / decade calendar" on the public site
0
   
  - You can register the signatures you have collected for the Manifesto 2000 in the heading of the same name of the private site; they will be added to the total number of signatures which now exceeds 75 million in the section "Who is involved / world" on the public site
  - All this information relative to your contribution to the culture of peace are grouped in your personal information board in the section "Who is involved" of the public site
0
   
  - For more details on how to use the Culture of Peace web site, see the instructions ("Help" button on the private web site)
0
   
 0Receive the label "Heritage for a Culture of Peace" issued by the National Structure of the International NGO of which you are a member. The criteria for the attribution of the label are :
0
  -Effective correspondence with one or more of the 20 cultural heritage elements
0
  -Method of choice and motivation
0
  -Correspondence with one or more of the 8 areas of action of the culture of peace
0
  -Programme of action / feasibility for a minimum project duration of one year.
0
  -Effective implementation of the project
0
2. Exchange resources with other projects
  

The highlighting of your cultural heritage and the know-how gained in the process of your project constitute a capital that can be extended: you can offer resources to other projects and ask for other resources from them in return for your development. To this end, the Culture of Peace web site places its "Planet Society/ Exchange Market of Resources" at your disposal, which is a place where the participants in the "Heritage for a culture of peace" campaign and more generally the actors of a culture of peace on an international scale can meet. Exchanges can take place between similar projects and organisations of the same NGO network or other networks by stimulating partnerships and twinning operations.

To participate, you must :

 

0 Identify resources to supply and to demand: information/experience, funding, products/services, patronage/institutional support, communication means, contacts/networks (see table next page)
0

 0 Update the information you have recorded on the Culture of Peace web site as often as possible, in particular the "Exchange Market of Resources," always through the private web site: www.unesco.org/cptec; this will enable visitors, who are potential partners, to gauge the progress of your initiative and to contact you if some resources interest them; for your project to remain visible on the site, you must update every six months at most;
0
 0 Consult the supply and demand of other projects on the public site (www.unesco.org/cp, under "Information exchange / projects and resources") by conducting customised searches according to your criteria and contact directly the projects with which partnerships seem feasible.
RESOURCE SUPPLY AND DEMAND
Information / Experience
Patronage / Institutional Support
 

- Ideas (projects, innovations, ...)
- Experience (knowledge, omethodology, ...)
- Field data (social, economic, ...)
- Documentation (statistics, ostudies, ...)

- Solidarity (acts, messages, ...)
- Lobbying(pressure groups, ...)
- Sponsorship (use of logo, ...)
- Letters of support

FundingOutils de communication

- Loans
- Donations
- Subsidies

- Press (articles, reports, ...)
- Radio (spots, interviews, ...)
- Television (documentaries, ads, ...)
- Multimedia (web sites, cd-roms...)
- Events (conferences, concerts...)

Products / Services

- Basic resources (wood, iron, ...)
- Manufactured products (paper, ofurniture,...)
- Equipment (computers, industrial oequipment, ...)
- Communication products (books, ocd-roms, ...)
- Technological development o(transfers, installations, ...)
- Logistics (means of transport, ostorage, ...)
- Work (employment opportunities, o...)
- Education / training (courses, osessions, ...)
- Creation / design (artistic, oarchitectural, ...)
- Marketing (market surveys, odistribution studies, ...)
- Management (audit, oorganisational advice, ...)
- Science / technology (biology, ojuridical advice ...)

Contact / Networks

- Local contacts (local resource people, organisations, ...)
- Networks (focal points, members, ...)
0

Volontary Services

- Internship
- Voluntary work camp
- Assistance on specific activities


top of the page

following article |
version française