9 December

• Ancestral games of the Towns Natives of Abya Yala. Paper by Stela Maris FERRARESE CAPETTINI. University of Comahue (Argentina)
  The project is begin with the objective of recovering ancestral games of the natives peoples from Abya Yala (baptized America for the Europeans) that during the invasion and the following centuries of dominance they were prohibited, lost, and of those games which to be lonely some few ones as daily practice with modifications of the cultural imposition that the same ones suffered like part of the suppression and cultural, social and economic imposition that it was given to these Towns from the invasion begun in 1492. To recover the games means to accompany the process of recovery of the own ethnic identity with the other cultural components of which the games form part.
  More information: http://universidadypatrimonio.net/doc/FUUH/200912_stela_en.pdf

1 December

• Governance of farming land in urban transformations - Report on rural vernacular heritage research
  By Stella Agostini - University of Milan (Italy)
  The growing trend towards urbanisation is over passing every prediction. Since the beginning of 2009, already more than 50 percent of the 8 billion of the world inhabitants live in urban areas. Farmland consumption is an emergency in many European countries and worldwide. As an example 10 hectares of farmland are erased every day in Lombardy (Northern Italy). During this globalisation period, the agricultural areas left under pressure of new intensive urbanization services, become frail. The loss of cultural landscape and environmental quality is just one of the results. Erasing farmland means deleting bio-cultural heritage and identity of life communities linked with agriculture.Stopping this heritage consumption trend and finding sustainable ways of preserving and conserving farming resources, is a common challenge for many countries in the world...
  More information: http://universidadypatrimonio.net/doc/FUUH/200912_stella.pdf

13 November

• The UNESCO Courrier number 9: Memory and History
  From the cruel dictatorships of Latin America and Cambodia, the destruction of the Burgundian kingdom, and the Korean enlightenment, to the splendour and intrigues of the Malagasy Empire, the saga of the Kalahari and the constructive failure of the League of Nations – memory and history wend their way through this issue, revealing the extraordinary wealth of the documented heritage of humanity.
  More information: http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=46267&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

• UNESCO General Conference: Irina Bokova sworn in as Director-General
  The 35th session of UNESCO’s General Conference, which ended on Friday, was marked by the election of Irina Bokova as Director-General of the Organization and the adoption of the new programme and budget for 2010 and 2011. Two ministerial round tables, focused respectively on education and the oceans, a ministerial Forum and the launch of the “World Report, Investing in Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Dialogue,” were among the highlights of the 35th session.
  More information: http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=46779&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

25 October

• Irina Bokova takes office as Director-General of UNESCO
  Irina Bokova issued a message on 15 November, her first day in office. "My goal is to lead the world to a new era of peace," she said. Ms Bokova begins her term with a visit to Doha (Qatar) on 16 November to address the first World Innovation Summit for Education.
  More information: http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=46872&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

22 September

• France confirms its cooperation with the world’s largest nature conservation network
  Biodiversity conservation projects, set up as early as this year, in Africa, the Mediterranean and in the EU overseas entities
  Alain Joyandet, French Secretary of State for Cooperation and Francophony, Chantal Jouanno, French Secretary of State for Ecology, Marie-Luce Penchard, French Secretary of State for Overseas Territories, and Jean-Michel Severino, Director General of the French Development Agency, signed a new agreement with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), represented by its Director General, Julia Marton-Lefèvre. The partnership agreement between France and IUCN, which began in 2005, has thus been renewed for another four years, thereby strengthening France’s commitment to biodiversity conservation.
  More information: http://iucn.org/?3907/1/France-confirms-its-cooperation-with-the-worlds-largest-nature-conservation-network

12 August

• CALL FOR INTEREST - Jean-Pierre Rossie - SANATOY PLAY (Belgium)
  The website http://www.sanatoyplay.org is about children’s play and toys in North Africa and the Sahara. It contains many articles, photographs and PowerPoint presentations. It is dedicated to research on play and toy making activities of children (3-15 years) in rural areas and popular quarters of towns. The period covered goes from the beginning of the twentieth century till today. This way the topics of tradition, continuity, change as well as globalisation are studied. Gender, socialization, interpersonal relations and creativity are important themes.
  More information: http://universityandheritage.net/doc/FUUH/200908_rossie.pdf

21 July

• (in Spanish) Artículo de colaboración - 40 años de la llegada del hombre a la luna
  Celebrando los cuarenta años del alunizaje. “¿Pero y el mono dónde está... ?”. Cuenta en sus Memorias el astronauta norteamericano John Glenn que, encontrándose a bordo del avión presidencial camino a Washington luego de su triunfal vuelo alrededor de la tierra, sube la Primera Dama de los Estados Unidos de América, Jacqueline Kennedy, tomando de la mano a su joven hija, Caroline. “Caroline, este es el astronauta que dio vuelta a la Tierra en una nave espacial. Es el Coronel Glenn!” Caroline lo miro, recorrió inquisitivamente con su vista el avión para volver a detener su mirada en Glenn y preguntar con desencanto: “Pero ¿y el mono dónde está...?”
  More information in Spanish: http://universityandheritage.net/doc/FUUH/200908_pataro.pdf

15 July

• World Conference on Higher Education closes with an appeal for investment and cooperation
  The UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education closed on 8 July with a call to governments to increase investment in higher education, encourage diversity and strengthen regional cooperation to serve societal needs. "At no time in history has it been more important to invest in higher education as a major force in building an inclusive and diverse knowledge society and to advance research, innovation and creativity," says the final communiqué, adopted at the end of the World Conference on Higher Education that gathered over 1,000 participants from around 150 countries at UNESCO Headquarters over four days.

5 July

• UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education
  The 2009 World Conference on Higher Education will provide a global platform for forward-looking debate on one of the most rapidly changing fields within the global learning landscape. It will take stock of transformations in higher education since the 1998 World Conference on Higher Education and address the new dynamics likely to shape the strategic agenda for the development of higher education policies and institutions. Finally, the Conference will reaffirm the importance of higher education and research in meeting global challenges, as well as in building more inclusive, equitable and sustainable knowledge economies.

29 June

• 13 new sites have been added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List which lost one site while three were placed on the Danger List
  The World Heritage Committee holding its 33rd session chaired by María Jesús San Segundo, the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Spain to UNESCO, has inscribed two new natural sites and 11 cultural sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Since it also withdrew one site - from the List, Dresden Elbe Valley (Germany), the List now numbers a total of 890 properties. The Committee also inscribed three sites on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger to help raise international support for their preservation. One site was removed from the Danger List. More sites may be inscribed on the Danger List as the Committee continues examining state of conservation reports on Tuesday. During the session, which is scheduled to end on 30 June, three countries had their first World Heritage sites inscribed on UNESCO’s List of properties recognized as having outstanding universal value. They are, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde and Kyrgyzstan.

3 June

• Monaco Declaration
  The Monaco Declaration is based on the Research Priorities Report developed by participants at last October’s 2nd international symposium on The Ocean in a High-CO2 World, organized by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP), with the support of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and several other partners.

18 May

• International Day for Museums
  Each Year around the 18th May International Museum Day has been celebrated all over the world since 1977. Each year, a theme is decided on by the Advisory Committee. The event provides the opportunity for museum professionals to meet the public and alert them to the challenges that museums face if they are to be - as in the ICOM definition of museums - "an institution in the service of society and of its development". The chosen topic is also discussed in ICOM News, a review of the related activities is produced and made available to members of ICOM. It has been recommended that this celebration be held each year on 18 May (Given that each country has its own specific traditions and conditions, we recommend that members organise their events around 18 May), in the spirit of the motto: « Museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, co-operation and peace among peoples ».

17 April

• UNESCO, Library of Congress and partners launch World Digital Library
  UNESCO and 32 partner institutions will launch the World Digital Library, a Web site that features unique cultural materials from libraries and archives from around the world, at UNESCO Headquarters on 21 April. The site will include manuscripts, maps, rare books, films, sound recordings, and prints and photographs. It will provide unrestricted public access, free of charge, to this material.

6 March

• News from EUCLID: Calling all Cultural Experts! Share your Cultural Expertise Internationally
  As someone with considerable expertise in the cultural field EUCLID would like to invite you to join an exciting online service recently launched: http://askanexpert.culture.info askanexpert.culture.info is an interactive service allowing people working or interested in arts and culture to directly engage with experts from across the globe in a particular cultural area or theme. It's the perfect opportunity for experts in heritage, media, performing arts, visual arts, literature or a professional area such as management, education, marketing, funding, creative industries, etc., to share their knowledge and expertise with those who need help. askanexpert.culture.info is a free service and as an expert you can answer as many questions as you wish at your leisure. It will also develop over time as an important resource and archive, providing questions and answers on a range of topics of interest to the arts and cultural sector. To register as an expert and to find out more about how this service works simply visit http://askanexpert.culture.info

11 February

• Ethics and Education - Bureau of Public Information, BPI
  Combating unethical practices at all levels of education is an essential task for UNESCO in its efforts to make the right to a quality education for all a reality. As stated in the Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development: unethical and corrupt practices constitute “a serious barrier to effective resource mobilization and allocation, and divert resources away from activities that are vital for poverty eradication and economic and sustainable development”. (Monterrey, 18-22 March 2002).

5 January

• Article: UNESCO World Heritage and a Culture of Peace
  In 2004, at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), a research team began to document communication activities at the UNESCO World Heritage sites, to see whether the approaches adopted are increasing understanding among the peoples of the earth, thereby fostering the growth of a culture of peace. In this context, communications about the heritage sites promote respect for cultural specificities while contributing, beyond these differences, to a growing sense of belonging to the human race – a corner stone for a culture of peace among the peoples of the planet.

17 December

Series of papers on the results of investigations on the orality and oral traditions by Ms Jeanne Razanamanana. Professor-researcher, MC of the DIFP/School of Letters and Human Sciences of the University of Antananarivo (Madagascar)

• Research results on oral traditions. These are later called successively “ORAL AND INTANGIBLE HERITAGE” and “CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS FOR a SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT” (see in Frech) ;
• Three papers inspired from this investigation entitled:
  • Data bank on the oral traditions for an impact study (communication presented in Florence but with publication) (see in French) ;
  • IHM: the case of the virtual community (see in French) ;
  • Collective memory: resurgence of the past, maintenance of the link present and future. (see in French)

15 December

20 November

7 November

24 October

17 October

6 October

16 September

7 July

19 June

9 June

16 May

“Cultures on my street" Competition. Deadline for entries: 30 June 2008
The pan-European photo initiative of the European Year 2008 “Cultures on my street” takes off at full speed. As Europe grows together in its diversity, the European Commission challenges YOU to capture your vision of intercultural dialogue and share it with the world in the competition “Cultures on my street”. All European residents, regardless of age or origins, are invited to participate. It’s as easy as grabbing your camera and stepping outside the front door. Inspiration for the theme could be found in the fields of education, religion, migration, science, culture, minority groups or youth. After the deadline, four winners will be selected. Three of the winners will be chosen by a jury of established artists and leading figures on intercultural issues. The fourth will be selected by online voting.

18 April

World Photography Contest: International Year of the POTATO - HIDDEN TREASURE
The IYP World Photography Contest, Focus on a global food, supports two key objectives of the International Year of the Potato: to increase awareness of the importance of potato as a food in developing nations, and to promote research and development of potato-based systems as a means of contributing to achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. See also: Rice 2004 - The IYP World Photography Contest follows the example of the photography competition held in 2004 for the International Year of Rice. Entries were received from 53 countries. See the winning photographs here...

14 March

Congo, Rwanda and Uganda united to save mountain gorillas
Borders will matter less to central Africa’s mountain gorillas, following the launch of a strategic conservation plan and an associated project which covers adjoining areas of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. There are only about 720 gorillas left in the tropical mountain forests shared by the three countries, the Central Albertine Rift Area Network. The gorillas’ natural habitat is threatened by the destruction of these forests and the great apes themselves are victims of poachers...

15 February

International Mother Language Day
“The first instrument of a people’s genius is its language,” said the French writer Stendhal. Literacy, learning, social integration….Everything transits through language, which embodies national, cultural and sometimes religious identity for each person. It constitutes one of the fundamental dimensions of a human being. Yet specialists estimate that within only a few generations, more than half of the 7,000 languages spoken in the world face extinction, because they are not represented in government, education and the media. For this reason, the United Nations had declared 2008 the International Year of Languages, to be launched by UNESCO on 21 February, International Mother Language Day.