Training course on the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions launched

On July 14, under the order and support of the Ministry of Culture, in partnership with the Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Azerbaijan to UNESCO and Azerbaijan Creative Industries Federation, “Global Communications and Innovations” company launched the next, 3rd training course within the framework of the “Heritage Governance Skills Development” training program. The topic of the training course covered the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.

Vasif Eyvazzade, Chairman of the Board of Azerbaijan Creative Industries Federation, Head of the Training Program, opened the training course, welcomed the participants and informed about the previous two training courses within the framework of the “Heritage Governance Skills Development” training program. V. Eyvazzade said that this training course about the next important convention of UNESCO would be interesting for the participants and interesting topics be presented in the joint learning process with the participation of different trainers and guest speakers on four separate training modules. Later, Elman Abdullayev, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan to UNESCO, spoke about the history of UNESCO-Azerbaijan relations and the importance of UNESCO Conventions in the process of joint cooperation. He also shared his thoughts with the participants about international and Azerbaijani experiences related to multiculturalism and intercultural dialogue. He also talked about the important activities carried out in the direction of researching and international recognition of our national cultural heritage destroyed in Karabakh, as well as organizing lists of cultural heritage samples illegally removed from the country during the occupation.

Then, the head of the training program and the trainer of the first half-day, Vasif Eyvazzade, gave information about the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, the goals of the Convention, the universal definition and understanding of culture, the concept of cultural diversity and the categories of cultural diversity, cultural presented the concept of self-expression, cultural activities, goods and services in the form of a discussion with the participants. Vasif Eyvazzade also informed about the eligibility criteria for the projects supported by the Governing Bodies responsible for the implementation of the Convention, the Conference of the Main Parties, the Intergovernmental Committee, the International Fund for Cultural Diversity. Ravan Hasanov, executive director of the Baku International Center for Multiculturalism, who was invited to the training course as the next guest speaker, gave a speech about the experiences, traditions and trends of multiculturalism management in the global and historical context, compared and analyzed the successful models applied in management, and during this, he spoke extensively about the activities and goals of the Baku International Center for Multiculturalism. Questions of training participants were answered in detail.

On the second half day of the training course, the trainer, innovation and digitization expert, manager of the I2B project Rashad Azizov informed the training participants about the necessary ecosystem elements for the development of innovations and startups, innovative digital solutions and platforms in the fields of cultural activities. He also presented concrete examples of the development stages of startups, innovative products and solutions and spoke in detail about each of the development stages of startup building with specific cases in the examples of cultural enterprises. He shared interesting experiences with the participants about the “Idea to Business” (I2B) project, which was carried out by the “Regional Development” public association of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in cooperation with relevant institutions and led by him, and about local competition processes in the regions.

The training course was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan and its institutions, the State Tourism Agency, the State Urban Planning and Architecture Committee, the Special Delegation of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the liberated territories included in the Karabakh Economic Region, the State Reserve of “Shusha” City, “Icherisheher” State Historical-Architectural Reserve Administration, Heydar Aliyev Center, ANAS Presidium office and relevant institutions of the Academy, University of Culture and Arts, Baku International Center for Multiculturalism, Center for the Analysis of International Relations, creative unions and associations, Education HUB and “Light of Intelligence” public association.