Cooperation with UNESCO
Since the 1970s, the Center has been closely cooperating with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), both in terms of research that aims to establish facts important for the development of culture at the international level, and in terms of training programs for the systematic collection and organization of cultural development documentation and the implementation of documents created by this organization. Because of its experience and tradition, the Center became the National Point of Contact for the implementation of UNESCO’s Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (UNESCO, 2005). This Convention is an important international instrument for defining standards in the field of contemporary art.
The Center’s team, committed to implementing the Convention, provides various kinds of support to actors in Serbia, so they would direct their activities to the values of cultural diversity, which is reflected in the development of cultural and creative industries as an important factor for achieving economic development and the promotion of peace and tolerance in society.
The International Fund for Cultural Diversity was established under Article 18 of the Convention, from which each year, following a call, funds are set aside for co-financing projects that contribute to the promotion of cultural diversity. The Center as the contact point for the implementation of the Convention, together with the Ministry of Culture and Information, annually carries out a national-level pre-selection of projects within the call, which are then sent to the Fund’s expert panel, which makes the final decisions on the projects to be (co)financed. The Center’s team provides timely information and expert support to all actors interested in preparing a project proposal for the call. To help actors in Serbia to develop their ideas and design their project, fill in the forms, and gather relevant documents, the Center organizes presentations and consultative meetings in connection with the Fund’s calls.
May 21st is the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development. On this occasion, the Center organizes different events to protect and promote cultural diversity.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a series of challenges for culture, art, and creative industries. As part of the systemization of the challenges and responses of the cultural and creative sector to the crisis, on April 15th, 2020, UNESCO launched the initiative ResiliArt, to support artist and other cultural actors in emphasizing the importance of culture in society, making artist across the globe more visible and enabling their voices to be heard at the level of public policies, as well as helping decision-makers to come up new measures and mechanisms for the cultural and creative sector to overcome the current difficulties.
Monitoring the implementation of UNESCO’s Convention 2005 and the exchange of experience with global institutions and organizations is achieved by regular attendance of the representatives of the Center, as National Points of Contact for the Promotion and Implementation of the Convention, at meetings of members of the Convention for the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions: The Member Conference and the Intergovernmental Committee.