The EuroArab-Forum discussed with the European Movement and MEDEA on a possible future cooperation in Brussels on topics related to Europe and the Arab World.
The next topics that are organised by MEDEA and the European Movement are:
- September 30, 2008 : Mr Hugues Mingarelli, Deputy Director-General for External Relations, European Commission will speak on the following theme : “Analysis of the 13th of July summit : Union for the Mediterranean : the Civil Society and the South-North Mediterranean Dialogue initiative“.
- October 17, 2008 : Mrs Wassyla Tamzali will present us her book “Une éducation algérienne, de la Révolution à la décennie noire” (“An Algerian education, from the Revolution to the balck decade”), ed. Gallimard, Price France Télévision Essai 2008.
Strategies, methods and contents of a meaningful dialogue are centred on multiple, dynamic and overlapping cultural identities. This book is an invitation to leave the beaten tracks of dialogue events entertained by “representatives” of cultural or religious organizations. The key concept is cultural diversity between and within societies. Cultural policies can support human development as “a process enlarging people’s choices”, following orientations provided by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UNESCO. To mark the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 2008, the author calls for renewed commitment to universal values as a “common standard to be achieved by all nations and peoples”, and not as “European values”, separating Europe from other regions.Traugott Schoefthaler, born 1949, was from 2004 to 2007 the first Executive Director of the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures, established in Alexandria, Egypt, by the EU Member States and their ten Mediterranean partners. He developed and tested the strategies and methods presented in this book in close cooperation with other institutions and organizations. He is theologian and sociologist and obtained his PhD for cross-cultural research. He started his career in the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Education and served more than 20 years the United Nations and UNESCO. From 1993 to 2004, he was Secretary-General of the German Commission for UNESCO.
