Project
Forum Tbilisi
18 & 19 October 2007, Tbilisi Opera Theatre, Georgia
Forum Tbilisi took part in the framework of the Cultural Fair as a joint project of the Caucasus Foundation Tbilisi, the Felix Meritis Foundation (Amsterdam) and the initiative A Soul for Europe (Berlin). This Forum was the follow-up to a previous one held in Tbilisi in 2005, which was meant to introduce the initiative A Soul for Europe to a wider audience in the Caucasus region. This time the participants were invited to reflect more thoroughly on the role that culture and cultural initiatives could play in the fostering of civil society, both at home and abroad.
During the discussions, we were confronted with the day-to-day reality in Georgia. After the Rose Revolution in 2003, the NGO sector which had been developed during the 1990s partly vanished. For quite understandable reasons, too many persons who were active in civil society organisations were invited to join the brand-new administration. This of course not only weakened the NGO sector as a whole, but it also had a negative influence on the development of such a thing as a public space.
The participants underlined the need for spaces for debates and other citizen gatherings and activities. Especially the students and young professionals present at the forum stressed the need to involve the young generation in the creation of civil society through active involvement in debates, in advocacy actions and critical thinking about social, cultural and intellectual problems.
The participants stressed the importance of European values, which should not be hindered by geographical borders in as much as they constitute a mental and intellectual attitude that can only flourish through international cooperation and exchange. The participants therefore strongly supported the idea of creating a centre for debate and cultural activities of a European nature: an open public space for interactive meetings, debates, presentations and discussions to promote the values of civil society, divergent opinions, European citizenship, multiculturalism, etc. fully in line with the objectives of the initiative A Soul for Europe, which seeks the soul of Europe outside the boundaries of the European Union.
As one of the initiators of A Soul for Europe, and more in particular as a Permanent Fellow of Felix Meritis, it was not only heart-warming, but also very encouraging to be invited to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Caucasus Foundation. This foundation is one of the active and successful NGOs in the cultural field based in Tbilisi, but from the start it has worked internationally and - very important - with a special emphasis on the neighbouring countries and regions such as Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Report by Steve Austen
More info: The Caucasus Foundation
