Heritage experts give recommendations for ASEM culture ministers

[caption id="attachment_5972" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Participants discuss heritage at the historic VOC Room of the Dutch East India Company in Amsterdam "]

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Scholars, cultural professionals and heritage experts from 14 ASEM countries gathered in Amsterdam to discuss challenges in heritage management and prepare recommendations for the ASEM Culture Ministers who will gather in Poznan from 8-11 September 2010 to specifically discuss the topic of “Heritage and Challenges of the Present.”

At the Roundtable: The Cultural Heritages of Asia and Europe: Global Challenges and Local Initiatives held on 2nd and 3rd September 2010, participants highlighted key issues such as the need to recognise, explore and support the potential and actual contributions of cultural practitioners, micro-entrepreneurs, and activists in cultural transmission and change. They also stressed the need for platforms and networks for the interaction of different social actors as equals in the representation, transmission, governance and sharing of heritage.

The Roundtable participants emphasised the importance of heritage in education and pointed to the need to include critical perspectives on heritage at all levels (local, regional, national and transnational) including the notion of ‘shared heritage’ between Asia and Europe.

They also stressed the need to develop heritage-related programmes and planning on the basis of ethical principles and highlighted research and documentation that aids both the creation of shared knowledge and promotes collaboration among all interested groups.

The Roundtable was organised by the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) in collaboration with the International Institute for Asian Studies (based in Amsterdam and Leiden, The Netherlands).

For the full text of the Recommendations and the principal findings of the Roundtable, please refer to the attached Summary Report of the Roundtable: The Cultural Heritages of Asia and Europe: Global Challenges and Local Initiatives (2-3 September 2010, Amsterdam).

For more details about the Roundtable, including Programme and List of Participants, visit: ASEF

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