The European Commission has declared 2008 the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue at the proposal of the Slovak European Commissioner Ján Figeľ. Slovakia has prepared a document the Draft National Strategy of the Slovak Republic for the Implementation of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008. The document states the priorities of the Slovak Republic for the European year of intercultural dialogue 2008. The Ministry of Culture has published a call for projects to be supported in the EYID 2008 project and all information and methodological materials necessary for the submission of projects on its website http://www.mksr.sk. The Ministry of Culture, as the National Coordinating Body for the programme, will monitor projects and the progress of activities related to the implementation of the programme at the national and community level. The Ministry of Culture will ensure implementation of the set national priorities and monitoring of the effective use of funds through regular evaluation reports to be sent to the European Commission in Brussels.
Intercultural dialogue: actors, strategies, programmes
The Ministry of Culture is the national coordinating body for the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008 programme. In 2007, the Ministry elaborated the document Draft Slovak Republic National Strategy for the implementation of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008 (Návrh Národnej stratégie Slovenskej republiky na implementáciu Európskeho roka medzikultúrneho dialógu 2008). The document presents the priorities of the Slovak Republic, which are to.
- achieve an increase of the consciousness of all citizens of Slovakia, with emphasis on young people, to heighten awareness of the importance of intercultural dialogue for mutual coexistence of a multicultural society in the framework of everyday life;
- support education as part of intercultural dialogue at all degrees of schooling, as well as out-of-school and lifelong learning;
- support the media environment in the setting of the principles of intercultural dialogue, mutual familiarity and enrichment, on the basis of the principles of equality and mutual understanding;
- activate and support civic activities leading to the implementation of cultural dialogue, secure the continuity of these activities from the long-term standpoint;
- support all activities leading to the contribution of various cultures for the development of cultural diversity and lifestyle within SR;
- to appoint a known figure as SR ambassador for intercultural dialogue; and
- map out and assess “good practice” and good experience from past years, which supported intercultural dialogue, and prepare a complex study dedicated to the given area.
In the document, it is shown that the Slovak Republic continually creates the conditions for the support of cultural dialogue. From public sources, it secures broadcasting in the languages of minorities, supports minority press, and legislatively provides for the usage of the language of minorities in the cultural and social sector, including official relations.
The European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008 programme also includes, in its priorities, several bodies on the level of the self-administration regions, which have declared their support for the individual projects in the form of co-financing. The execution of the individual projects within the programme can lead to a more intensive perception of the concept of intercultural dialogue in the Slovak cultural and social context, and open up space for discussion of the contents of this concept in the context of cultural policy and culturological reflections.
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