Arts and Culture

OVERVIEW

In its second year, the Connect2Culture Environment Programme brought together cultural experts from Asia and Europe for two conferences that took place alongside the 15th Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Copenhagen, December 2009).

During the conferences, ASEF engaged a wider audience through its cultural web portal culture360.org. The two conferences were:

1. Culture | Futures: The Transition to an Ecological Age 2050 (7-9 December)

The event commenced with a symposium which was followed by a working seminar. It brought together experts from various sectors including environment, culture, engineering, and media to explore proactive and operational interconnections between arts and culture.

2. Arts, Culture and Sustainability: Building Synergies between Asia and Europe (10 December)

The second conference gathered together cultural leaders to discuss their personal and institutional visions for the cultural sector's engagement on environmental sustainability issues. This workshop contributed to a discussion paper on the subject, which will be published in October 2011.

THE ISSUES

• How can collaborations help within the cultural sector, as well as between the cultural sector and other stakeholders?
• What can be done within existing frameworks?
• Where can new arrangements bring added value?
• About 5% of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050: How can cities achieve a successful cultural transformation to an ecological age? 
• What will help city and cultural stakeholders and actors to collaborate?
• How can messages be transmitted worldwide?

ASEF's contribution is with the financial support of the European Commission.