Official Poster for the Day (click to download in pdf)

In 2001, UNESCO adopted the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity and in December 2002, the UN General Assembly, in its resolution 57/249, declared May 21 to be the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.

The day provides us with an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the values of cultural diversity and to learn to live together better.

In 2011, a grassroots campaign ‘Do One Thing For Diversity and Inclusion’, celebrating the annual World Day for Cultural Diversity was launched by UNESCO and the UN Alliance of Civilizations.

The 2012 campaign, by encouraging people and organizations from around the world to take concrete action to support diversity, aims:

The campaign works through a dedicated Facebook page, serving as a platform for people around the world to share their experiences through posts and videos.

Join the celebration

 Parents, showcase the traditional stories from your culture and use them as bed-time stories to enchant your children!
 Learn a new language with a  native speaker of your community and practice it with him/her regularly!
 During your trip to a new country, go off the beaten track, mingle with the locals and discover things about their culture that the tour-guide is ignorant of!
 Propose your cities to organize festivals dedicated to their cultural minorities and featuring their gastronomy,  dances, music, literature, costumes.
 Invite music schools to give concerts with multicultural music that combine tradition with foreign influence.
 Invite artists who lived in a different country of their own to give interviews, explaining the positive influence their “hosting” culture has had on their work and artistic evolution.
 Teachers, encourage your students to become pen-pals with students from different geographic and religious backgrounds  or through social media to discuss their experiences, differences and things they have in common.
 Dedicate a class on how cultures have influenced one another : a Chinese proverb can also be found in the Arabic tradition; backgammon is also played in Iran and Greece and tattoos are used in South America and Africa.

+ Info: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/

Deadline for abstract submission is 28 May 2012
Official language: English

EuroMed2012: The EU Conference on Cultural Heritage
29 oct - 03 nov 2012. Limassol, Cyprus
Organizers: European Union, CIPA, ISPRS and ICOMOS
Contact: chairman@euromed2012.eu
+ info: http://www.euromed2012.eu/

Deadline for abstract submission is 30 May 2012
Official language: English

International Conference on Cultural Heritage Preservation
29 May - 1 June 2012. Split, Croatia
Organizers: University of Zagreb, University of Ljubljana and Croatian Conservation Institute
Contact: heritage@grad.hr
+ info: http://eu-chic.eu/index.php/news/entry/

Deadline for abstract submission is 30 May 2012
Official language: Spanish and English

V Congreso sobre Patrimonio Cultural. Criterios de calidad en intervenciones
18-20 April 2012. Madrid, Spain
Organizers: Grupo Español del International Institute for Conservation (GEIIC). Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Contact: 5congreso@ge-iic.com
+ info: http://www.vcongresogeiic.com/

Deadline for abstract submission is 30 May 2012
Official language: English

6th Young Cultural Policy Researchers' Forum
11-12 September 2012. London, UK
Organizers: European Cultural Foundation, Riksbankens Jubileumsfond and ENCATC
Contact: e.darley@encatc.org
+ info: http://www.encatc.org/pages/index.php?id=16

Deadline for abstract submission is 31 May 2012
Official language: Spanish, Euskera & French

VIII Congreso "El futuro de los proyectos patrimoniales y museísticos: innovaciones en tiempos de crisis"
18-19 October 2012. Donostia-San Sebastián (Gipuzkoa) Spain
Organizers: Universidad del País Vasco, Museo Romano OIASSO, Laboratoire d'histoire et de patrimoine de Montréal UQAM et l'Université Lumière Lyon 2
Contact: actividades.oiasso@irun.org
+ info: http://www.irun.org/oiasso/home.aspx?tabid=992

Deadline for abstract submission is 1 June 2012
Official language: English

2nd International Conference on Construction and Building Research
14-16 November 2012. Valencia, Spain
Organizers: Universitat Politècnica de València (Spain)
Contact: 2congreso-edif@upv.es
+ info: http://coinvedi.webs.upv.es/

Deadline for abstract submission is 1 June 2012
Official language: English

17th International Conference on Cultural Heritage and New Technologies (CHNT 2012) - "To Reach and Unveil the Hidden Spirit of the Town: Urban Archaeology and Excavations"
5-7 November 2012. Vienna, Austria
Organizers: The Urban Archaeology of Vienna
Contact: kongrarchae@stadtarchaeologie.at
+ info: http://www.stadtarchaeologie.at/

Deadline for abstract submission is 1 June 2012
Official language: English

66th Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians
10-14 April 2012. Buffalo, New York State. USA
Organizers: The Society of Architectural Historians (SAH)
Contact: info@sah.org
+ info: http://www.sah.org

Deadline for abstract submission is 8 June 2012
Official language: English, French, Spanish ans Italian

3rd Annual ENCATC (European Network of Cultural Administration Training Centres) Research Session
12-14 September 2012. London, UK
Organizers: ENCATC
Contact: e.darley@encatc.org
+ info: http://www.encatc.org/pages/index.php?id=202

Deadline for abstract submission is 12 June 2012
Official language: English

Conference - RECENT ADVANCES IN GLASS, STAINED GLASS, AND CERAMICS CONSERVATION
7-10 October 2012. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Organizers: ICOM-CC Glass and Ceramics Working Group and Corpus Vitrearum-ICOMOS
Contact: icomcorpus2013@gmail.com
+ info: http://www.icomcorpus2013.nu/

Deadline for abstract submission is 20 June 2012
Official language: English and Spanish

VII Simposio Universitario Iberoamericano sobre Medio Ambiente
26-30 November 2012. La Havana. Cuba
Organizers: El Instituto Superior Politécnico José Antonio Echeverría, ISPJAE
Contact: ccia16@tesla.cujae.edu.cu
+ info: http://ccia.cujae.edu.cu/index.php/suima2012

Deadline for abstract submission is 20 June 2012
Official language: English and Spanish

Congreso Internacional de Ingeniería y Arquitectura para la Reducción de Desastres
26-30 November 2012. La Havana. Cuba
Organizers: El Instituto Superior Politécnico José Antonio Echeverría, ISPJAE
Contact: ccia16@tesla.cujae.edu.cu
+ info: http://ccia.cujae.edu.cu/index.php/reddes2012

Deadline for abstract submission is 1 July 2012
Official language: Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian and French

14th INCUNA International Conference on Industrial Heritage
26-29 September 2012. Gijón, Asturias. España
Organizers: INCUNA, "Association Industrial Archeology, Patrimony Cultural and Natural. Máximo Fuertes Acevedo”
Contact: incuna@telecable.es
+ info: http://www.incuna.org/

Deadline for abstract submission is 30 August 2012
Official language: English

Conference "The Protection of Historic Load-bearing Structures and the Society"
20-22 September 2012. Cluj, Romania
Organizers: Transsylvania Nostra Foundation
Contact: hs@transsylvanianostra.eu
+ info: http://www.transsylvanianostra.eu/