Felix Meritis - Europees centrum voor kunst, cultuur en wetenschap

zaterdag 20 november 2010 / Internationalisering

The Berlin Conference 2010

Every two years the Berlin Conference brings together individuals from the cultural sector, politicians and representatives of the media, the business world and other areas of society. The Berlin Conference is as a civil society platform to define and initiate concrete common steps in order to strengthen the cultural component of the European development.

This conference is based on the conviction that Europe has to become a concern of its citizens, not only of its institutions. We are in need of an active European: A Europe of the citizens, not merely for the citizens. A new understanding of (cultural) citizenship is required to create Europe from the bottom up. How can citizens play a bigger role in creating Europe? How can they take a hand in Europe's political mechanisms? And how can culture, business and politics foster such a development?

The main topics of the Berlin Conference 2010 were

• The Role of the Citizen in Building Europe
• The Image of Europe
• New Forms of Cooperation between Culture, Business and Politics

In debate with Wim Wenders, Volker Schlöndorff, Paul Scheffer, Arend Oetker, Stepan Grigoryan, Martin Hirsch, EU-Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou, members of the European Parliament Doris Pack, Hans-Gert Pöttering, Jo Leinen, Elmar Brok, Sandra Kalniete, members of the A Soul for Europe Strategy Group and others, we explored what responsibility of the citizen truly means. Concrete ideas were developed and with the support of our Parliamentarian Working Group transferred into European decision-making.

The Berlin Conference followed up the results from the Istanbul Forum in October 2010 on ‘Global Challenges - Cultural Visions'. As a centre for global cultural dialogue, Istanbul's geographical position is unique. Outcomes from the Istanbul Forum were integrated into the Berlin Conference.
The combination of the two events 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.

Please visit the media library of A Soul for Europe's media-partner ALEX Offener Kanal for a documentation on Berlin Conference 2010 (30 minutes)!

Conference languages were German and English; simultaneous translation were provided.

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