Arts, Culture and Climate
An old saying goes: ”Everyone talks about the weather.....but nobody does anything to change it”.
That indeed is no longer the case. As the world's focus is drawn to the COP15 climate meeting in Copenhagen this month, protesters are gathering to voice their concern that not enough is being done, while also artists, festivals, and other players in the cultural field make headways with their contribution to saving the climate.
What the cultural sector can contribute to the debate became the focus of a conference in the European counsil in September 2009. Reports from the meeting are now available online, including Peter Gingold's ”TippingPoint: energising the creative response to climate change”, ”Culture and Climate Change”by Robert Palmer, and ”At as a Characteristic and Indicator of Change”, a conversation with George Steinmann.
For more information and download, click here.
Festivals & Tourism
Quite notably, EDEN – the European Destinations of Excellence – is selecting a number of tourist destination spots each year, as they meet the criteria of the annual theme.
In 2008, the theme was “intangible heritage” (in line with the UNESCO focus), which brought the world's attention to no less than eight east-central European cities (out of 20 chosen). The cities were Belogradchik, ?ur?evac, Horezu, Hortobágy, Plateliai, R?zekne, So?a, Viljandi.
Recently, 10 east-central European cities were chosen for their environmental beauty and efforts to offer natural protection, fitting into the 2009 theme of EDEN. The European Commission ask past winners to propose future themes, thus making the theme for 2010 “Aquatic tourism”.
IFEA Europe and other cultural enterprises back the idea of making the 2011 theme “European destinations of cultural excellence”? It could be places that inspired great works, where legacy of great author or performer is alive, or indeed vibrant communities that keep their heritage alive with outstanding cultural festivals.
