Page 42 - DIVA_No.18_2005

The Universal Forum

opportunities

to learn

from each other

The event closed its doors last Forum Dialogues seeked to help means finding ways of increa-
September 26 after 50 different increase equity in the world, fos- sing equity between peoples and
international conferences, more ter sustainable human develop- countries, ensuring greater
than 2500 speakers and 70.000 ment, address universal issues, respect for the environment, and
registered delegates. Estelle and explore innovative ways of a greater degree of governance.
Gitta meets the Director of the managing cultural and ethnic Equity is meant to be unders-
Dialogues, Mireia Belil. conflicts. All those are pressing tood as a process of rebalance
issues of the XXI century. that allows all parties to advan-
Mireia Belil is a geographer that Currently, there are global issues ce and develop; greater respect
studied in Barcelona and in UC that require global solutions with for the environment because our
Berkeley. She was a consultant the cooperation of all states and present is also our future, and if
in urban development and inter- peoples. The new role of interna- the Earth's resources are not
national relations for 15 years, tional civil society and the unpre- protected and used in an appro-
when she was commissioned the cedented demands of groups and priate manner, it will be difficult
direction of the Dialogues of the individuals have set a new stage to maintain population growth
Universal Forum of Cultures for global relationships. Since the and raise living standards; and a
Barcelona 2004. 1990s, agents operating on the greater degree of governance -
international scene have become in which all voices are heard—
more numerous and diverse. and in which legitimacy is as
Why this need to institutionali- Along with international organi- central as legality.
se dialogues in the XXI centu- zations, states and large corpora- Forum Dialogues has centered
ry? What do they respond to? tions, we now find a variety of its debates in those objectives
non-profit organizations, net- and in four key elements for the
works, groups and even indivi- development of this new world:
At the outset of the 21St century, duals able to influence the inter-
the need for dialogue is more more politics, understood as the
national agenda. There are now
pressing than ever. Conflict is art of dialogue, negotiation and
on the rise, and the trend toward many voices that wish to be heard provision of a vision for the
and that succeed in making them-
homogenization is increasingly future; more creativity—the
selves heard. Forum Barcelona
set against the renaissance and capacity to see things in diffe-
2004 has brought together oppo- rent ways and question the sta-
consolidation of religious, eth- sed and varied points of view,
nic and cultural identities. It has including people and groups that tus quo; more commitment, as
been stated in several reports: citizens take the steps needed to
do not normally meet except in
Trends towards globalization create a better world; and more
and interaction coexist with pro- circumstances of open confronta- knowledge based on the sharing
tion. Forum Dialogues aimed to
cesses of localization and the allow different voices to be of technological and scientific
reinforcement of traditions and heard, to provide opportunities to advances, and on understanding
identities. Globalization, along and celebration of different cul-
learn the unknown, and to open
with a certain degree of homo- up new points of view that enable tures. In short, we see culture
genization, has also brought dif- us to reassess our positions. and creativity as an essential
ference, differentiation, seg- Cultural diversity is as necessary part of development.
mentation, discrimination and The Universal Forum of
as biodiversity for the survival of
discord. Diversity is the essen- Cultures has aimed to establish
the planet and of humanity.
tial element to ensure that glo- an environment for dialogue
balization is not just hegemony, What can we expect? What that contributes to the difficult
and common values and areas of process of building a global
concern are to be found if diffe- are their goals? ethics. This emerging ethics
rence and localization are not to must be based on certain mini-
result in exclusion. Making our world a better place mal common values. To achieve