UNESCO Club Monza

On May 21, 2009 UNESCO World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.

On the occasion of the celebrations of 2008, the UNESCO Director General Matsuura explained that the meaning of the Day: "Cultural diversity is not decreed: it is observed and practiced.

Today we must give greater recognition to the contribution of culture to the emergence of a truly sustainable development that respects people and the environment, and placed at the service of dialogue and peace.

In this way we can regain the sense of our collective commitment to promote the intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind ".

In light of these considerations, the Ministry of Heritage and Culture, together with the Italian National Commission for UNESCO, celebrating the Day of Cultural Diversity with a conference that brings together the top representatives of national and international institutions and civil society.

It will detail the role of Italy in the development and implementation of the Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, adopted by UNESCO in 2005 and ratified by Italy in 2007.

This Convention represents an innovative and forward looking, that for the first time recognizes the products of cultural industries a specific status that characterizes them in the double meaning of expressions of culture and economic development opportunities, local and sustainable.

Bring the implications of the actual implementation of the Convention pose urgent questions, against which the Italian government should and can be accredited as a qualified partner in the headquarters of the international debate, in close collaboration with local governments and civil society, with a new attention to the dynamics of world production.

All look to Italy as the emblem of the Cultural Heritage of Humanity and our country, far from contenting the primacy of cultural history, has the duty to return to being a benchmark for future challenges.