Towards a Citizens’ Europe
The Berlin Conference 2010 starts from the premise that there is no struggle between cultures in Europe, but rather a struggle for Europe and its culture. Giving Europe a Soul implies that culture contains a fundamental potential for activating the European citizen. The Berlin Conference welcomes the domains of business, civil society, arts and politics to a dialogue on the conditions required for culture and arts to flourish as well as the process of European integration.
Europe has always been powerfully and imaginatively supported and inspired from abroad. Thus its multiplicity and affiliation to the rest of the world is at the same time Europe’s access to it. At a time when Europe is reassessing its global role, emphasizing the importance of the cultural base of Europe’s values and actions is essential. The conference proposes a Cultural Europe for Global Citizens.
The understanding of citizenship is undergoing a historic transformation in Europe. But Europe has yet to fully realize any new conceptions of citizenship or of culture to replace the old. The consequences are there for all to see: identity crises in many parts of Europe are bringing a return to nationalism, a closing of Europe’s borders, and increasingly hostile conditions for migrants and minority cultures.
With a participation of cultural and renowned political figures from the five continents, the conference approaches two key considerations for the cultural and political future of Europe and will formulate specific proposals in the following areas:
A Europe of Citizens: How can citizens play a bigger role in creating Europe? How can political decision-making be influenced? How should the cultural base of this action be understood and fostered? What is the role of civic education, of civil society, of the business sectors and of the institutions in bringing this about?
Cultural Europe for Global Citizens: How does culture inform the global action of Europe? How can culture increasingly become a beneficent factor in all fields of politics and society? In what ways could a transformed understanding of culture inside Europe provide the basis for transformative action in the world?
The Berlin Conference will follow from the Istanbul Forum in October 2010 on ‘Global Visions, Cultural Strategies’. As a centre for global cultural dialogue, Istanbul’s geographical position is unique. Outcomes from the Istanbul forum will be integrated into the Berlin Conference. The combination of the two events will lead to powerful outcomes for a new European cultural agenda to be carried forward by citizens, civil society and by the institutions, both inside and outside the EU’s current borders.
The Berlin Conference 2010 is scheduled for 20 November in the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin.
