The EU member states, Russia, Norway and Iceland are to work more closely together on cultural issues after the joint International Forum for the establishment of new tools for cultural co-operation in Northern Europe. High-level officials from the countries will sign a Memorandum of Understanding in Saint Petersburg, 20-21 May.
The Forum in St. Petersburg brings together individuals involved in the cultural sphere, creative enterprises, cultural institutions and officials from 11 countries to look at ways of boosting the creative economy in the area covered by the Northern Dimension. All of the European countries are currently discussing how to adopt these concepts and develop the potential for a creative economy, a growth sector capable of creating jobs and prosperity but which lacks funding and investment tools.
The Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture (NDPC) is a new initiative for Northern Europe scheduled to be up and running in 2011. Its main objective is to facilitate access to funding for long-term projects and for enterprises capable of generating jobs and becoming self-sustainable. The NDPC will complement existing national and international organisations and institutions working on cultural co-operation and exchange, providing an extra platform to facilitate and promote dialogue and the exchange of best practices in the cultural sphere.
The NDPC will be the Northern Dimension´s fourth initiative, following in the footsteps of environmental, social and transport partnerships. The Nordic Council of Ministers has provided support for the preparatory work to establish the NDPC and has organised the Forum along with the City of Saint Petersburg and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.
The signing ceremony for the Memorandum on the establishment of the Partnership on Culture will be on 20 May 2010 at the Ambassador Hotel (10:00-12:00, Rimskogo-Korsakova pr., 5-7). Participants in the press conference (12:00-12:30, Premier hall) will be Andrey Busygin, Deputy Russian Minister of Culture, Michael Webb, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Russia and high-level representatives of the EU member states, Iceland and Norway.
Accreditation for the ceremony and press conference: by 17:00 on 19 May 2010,
Andrey Anisimov, Nordic Council of Ministers Information office in St. Petersburg,
tel. (+7 812) 336-75-80, mobile: +7-812-949-09-46; e-mail: aa@norden.ru
For further information: www.norden.ru
