NOTES FROM PANEL DISCUSSION, DECEMBER 14, ROME
by Anne Buttimer
Former President, International Geographical Union
Mongi Bousnini, Director General of Organisation Arabe pour l'Education, la Culture et les Sciences (ALESCO), Tunisia
Expresses great pleasure about the agreement reached between IGU and ALESCO and offers congratulations to the organisers of this workshop.
We have come a long way, he noted; we have moved beyond tolerance and dialogue and we are now ready to confront intolerance together. What we have in hand is a concretely based programme of work, addressing together some issues of landscape and culture. In a world characterised by identity crises, we have specific work to do. We need to fight against fundamentalism through education that will enable us all to go forward voluntarily. Let's consider "civilisation" as "contagion" - it's a question of building society together.
Much has been said about globalisation today. Remember that the global village needs a mayor: we need regulation to allow for inter-governmental action in the implementation of our programmes. The Millenium Goals are laudable, but they virtually ignore "culture"; educational goals do not include "civilisation". The UNESCO Proclamation on Cultural Diversity does pay attention to cultural questions, but our programme (IGU-ALESCO) includes more.
On a practical level, we need now to lobby, specifically:
* Within UNESCO itself, particularly among regional groupings of countries, e.g., Latin American, French speaking, etc.
* National committees of UNESCO and ALESCO
* Other international organisations such as UNDP, ICSU and internet
* Spaces - linguistic, economic, cultural - we need to visit these and be visible there
On the specific steps to be taken, ALESCO can help. The text of our agreement expresses this well. Geography is the ideal subject on which to build our collaboration.
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Antoine Bailly:
What is our specific goal? We need a clear definition of goals.
Asfar as a plan of action is concerned, might we not formulate our agenda in terms of a response to two recent invitations: that of Kofi Annan at the AAG meetings in New York 2001, and that of Nelson Mandela at the IGU Regional Conference in Durban 2002? In other words, instead of formulating the "Cultures and Civilizations for Human Development" as an independent venture, we announce it as response to these (external) invitations? We need associates from near and far. We need to respect the sovereignty of countries on one hand, and respect universal human rights on the other. The UN International Convention on Human Rights makes these principles clear.
Geography has much to offer in this endeavour. One of our great strengths lies in the networks now in place which link geographers all over the world.
Realistically now, how do we go about the management and funding of the project?
(Then he switched to English and I did not take any further notes)
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Ed de Mulder:
Congratulations to M. Vallega for this excellent plan and strategy. From his experience with the preparations for the International Year of Planet Earth, he has a few suggestions to offer on the Draft Proclamation and general strategy:
* On the conceptual level, perhaps there is not sufficient emphasis on geography's special strengths, particularly that of combining the human and natural sciences. This is the quality which enables geography to make a valuable contribution to questions of sustainable development and specific mention of this would be necessary if collaboration from from other "geo-unions" is anticipated. Without it, IUGS would not be well disposed toward partnership. In fact, this might also be necessary if the collaboration of physical geographers within IGU itself is expected.
* On the practical level, the question should be raised even now about what specific products - deliverables - are on offer. What will result from the effort which has not already been achieved through previous efforts by others?
* On the draft Proclamation: this is a good base, but nothing more than a base, for a Declaration of a special UN Year. Such a declaration is a political statement and its text must be agreed by groups of states/national delegations. All a scientific organisation can offer is the basis for such a text - an initial draft.
* What are the immediate steps which could be taken now? First, to identify a country, or groups of countries, that would be willing to bring this initiative to UNESCO. Secondly, from the start, it is important to constitute a Management Team, comprising IGU and members of all initial partner organisations, including UN bodies.
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Leszek Kosinski:
Congratulations to IGU on the initiative. As Secretary-General of ISSC he has had experience with several "UN Years" and knows how important it is to make early contact with the right people. For this reason he is grateful for the invitation to participate in this workshop and has a few recommendations. One needs to recognise that there are various stages in the process, many of them to proceed simultaneously. From the very beginning, the following aspects must be secured:
Partners: one needs a range of founding partner organisations,e.g., ISSC, CIPH, and networking arrangements with IGOs and NGOs.
Funding: this is vital in the building up of networks. Face-to-face interactions with potential partners are highly important and they cost money.
Personnel: It is important to designate competent individuals for each of the diverse tasks: a list of key persons should be drawn up at the beginning.
The document: The current draft could be useful as an initial approach to potential partners, presented as a "wish list" rather than a definitive text. You need, in fact, to think of two distinct documents: (1) a short, pithy list of objectives for "inter-partner" dialogue, and (2) the political protocol of a Declaration which will eventually be agreed upon in the context of a submission to UN/UNESCO.
The importance of political channels: It is important to identify the countries which hold particular weight within UN/UNESCO, e.g., those with representation within the Executive Board of these organisations. These include several countries from the "developing world".
Inter-disciplinarity: Be sure to include scientists and scholars from other fields beyond geography, e.g., other international scientific organisations.
Text of the Resolution: In its present form it is nothing more than an expression of intent which could serve as an opener for conversations with potential partner. On its re-formulation UNESCO has ressources which could be of help.
Results: The aims of the current programme are perhaps too high. Better to identify a few of these and then plan for their achievement in say, two years, three years or... It is also important to decide on the duration of particular projects ("sunset clause").
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Ali Tuomi:
My role is the most difficult of all. We are all exhausted after three days of intensive work, but I'll try anyhow.
Preamble: IGU is to be applauded for this workshop, again demonstrating that geographers are still concerned about the condition of humanity all over the world. Questions of human development are far more complex than environmental sciences sometimes acknowledge or even recognise. What is our central goal? It is quite simply to support - as far as possible - prospects for international dialogue toward mutual enrichment. After our discussions here I'm convinced that we have actually avoided the question of what could be constraints on such dialogue.
There are certain indispensable conditions for dialogue. We may be ignoring these at our peril. Take, for instance, the millions of people who are suffering all over the world: how can we engage these people in dialogue about cultures and civilisations? OK, it is no longer an issue of "clash of civilisations", but conflicts are there, in various forms, maybe not manifest in direct confrontations, but certainly brewing. A geographer today can easily recognise the intolerance which exists; the deficiencies in sharing - ours is not a sharing world - and the processes of exclusion which are in place on many levels.
Let's be realistic. Our world today does not facilitate inter-culturalism. Human geographers MUST make a statement about this issue:
The current strategy is politically correct, i.e., it will not upset national sensitivities. It's an approach which could trigger positive reactions even if no internal scientific considerations ensue.
On a practical level, what is the likelihood of success? All depends on whether people will become actively involved. At least it can show that university-level geographers are willing to step down from their ivory towers and engage themselves at the street level and in the schools.
Geographers will not be successful in this endeavour without the help of colleagues in other fields, so it is important that IGU collaborate with other international scientific organizations and political institutions and UNESCO. It is also essential that regional networks be encouraged so that the process can continue spontaneously.
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