''Unesco Chair in Cultural Policy and Cultural Diplomacy'' has opened

The Final Stage of a 20 years Continuum: UNESCO Chair

“UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy and Cultural Diplomacy that today we inaugurate all together represents the final stage of a process which has been developing for 20 years.” (Assoc. Prof. Serhan Ada, the Head of Bilgi University KPY and Chairholder of UNESCO Chair)

İstanbul Bilgi University UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy and Cultural Diplomacy was inaugurated on the 21st September 2018 in Bilgi University. The unit, which is the 12th UNESCO chair of Turkey and the 1st of Bilgi University, brought together with the opening event many valuable guests under the title of “pluralism”. The Deputy Rector of Bilgi University Prof. Ege Yazgan, the Head of Bilgi University KPY and UNESCO Chair Assoc. Prof. Serhan Ada, UNESCO Paris Cultural Diversity Department Program Specialist Laurence Mayer Robitaille, Heldesheim University the Head of UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy for the Arts in Development Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schneider and Presdent of University of Arts, Belgrade University and the Head of UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy and Management Milena Dragićević Šešić participated to the opening.

Emphasizing the importance of pluralism and respect for ideas in their speech, the guests mentioned the significance of the diversity of the cultural expressions and how they should develop, their effects on the future of humanity, the relationship between culture and politics, and the innovations in the research and implementation of cultural policy.

UNESCO, with more than seven hundred chairs in over twenty-eight countries, and BİLGİ known for its projects in the fields of art and culture since its foundation, have set out with the main objectives such as increasing the national and international cultural cooperation, preserving the diversity of cultural expressions and supporting the participatory cultural policies with this collaboration.