Round Table Meeting for Experience Sharing between Africa and Turkey: Natural, Cultural and Intangible Heritage

The Round Table Meeting for Experience Sharing between Africa and Turkey: Natural, Cultural and Intangible Heritage was held on 21 April 2017 in Antalya, Turkey. The representative of 37 African National Commissions for UNESCO have participated to the aforementioned meeting.  

The opening speeches were made by Professor Nabi Avcı, Republic of Turkey Minister of Culture and Tourism; Ambassador Hüseyin Avni Botsalı, Vice-President of the Turkish National Commission for UNESCO and Professor M. Öcal Oğuz, The President of Turkish National Commission for UNESCO.  

Several topics were discussed during the Plenary Sessions: natural and cultural heritage on the concurrent resolution in spheres concerning UNESCO, Cooperation possibilities, implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda, International Decades for Rapprochement of Cultures (2013-2022) and capacity building.

 
Following the various inputs and common recommendations voiced during the Round Table meeting, we propose the following roadmap for furthering the intercultural and international cooperation.

Common Recommendations
 
1. To increase intercultural dialogue; cultural and biological diversity in order to have a sustainable and livable World.  
 
2. To increase common efforts in maintaining the Round Table meeting annually.  
 
3. To reinforce cooperation in the field of natural and cultural heritage protection.  
 
4. To support each other in the education and formation of National Commission’s experts.  
 
5. To intensify efforts especially in the field of State of Conservation Report and Site Management Plans by experience and knowledge sharing.  
 
6. To increase our safeguarding efforts by implementing the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 Agenda.  
 
7. To assess the feasibility of establishing a link with a Category 2 center and field offices that in turn would promote communication and cooperation between the
African continent and Turkey.To increase cooperation between National Commissions by organizing joint exhibitions and other cultural events.  
 
8. To increase the capacity building of National Commissions by supporting each other thanks to experience and knowledge sharing.  
 
9. To increase cooperation between universities via a more efficient use of the UNITWIN network.  
 
10. To facilitate the process of establishing an inventory of intangible cultural heritage while increasing cooperation between National Commissions.

In conclusion, this roadmap of recommendations will further strengthen the bond between Turkey and the African Continent. The main aim of the Round Table meeting was to assess the opportunities and challenges that each National Commission faces. The magnitude of diversity between each participant country has led us to understand the already existing potential that we could unlock thanks to increase communication and cooperation. For the next meeting a particular point of focus could be set by identifying the main theme that would enable an even more fruitful meeting with concrete results