The State Institutefor Culture Took Part in the VIII General Assembly of the Global Public Diplomacy Network in Doha, Qatar
Between February 18 and 22, a team from the State Institute for Culture under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took part in the VIII General Assembly of the Global Public Diplomacy Network (GPDNet) in Doha, Qatar. We remind you that the State Institute for Culture was accepted as a full member of the network in 2021, after receiving an official invitation to submit its application for membership in 2020 through the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in the State of Qatar.
During the 8th General Assembly of the Global Public Diplomacy Network, topics regarding the criteria for accepting new members into the organization were discussed, the possibilities of formulating the activities of the network through the election of the Board of Directors and proposals for changing the organization's statutes were discussed. Within the framework of the assembly, implemented projects in recent years of some of the member countries were presented and proposals for future cooperation in the network were discussed. An important part of the event was the admission of two new members to the organization – Heritage Malta as a full member and the National Library of Moldova as an associate member.
The director of the State Institute for Culture, Ms. Snezhana Yoveva-Dimitrova, held fruitful working meetings with representatives from various organizations such as: the Yunus Emre Institute from Turkey, the Qatar Cultural Village, the Singapore International Foundation, the Korea Foundation, the Creative Georgia Institute, the International Center for Peace of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Hungarian Heritage House, the Center for Civil Society at the University of Tirana, the Ubumutu International Arts Festival in Rwanda, representatives from the Public Diplomacy Directorates of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Mexico and Cuba. The State Institute for Culture team had a special conversation with the newly admitted members in the network - Ms. Elena Pintilei, Director of the National Library of Moldova and Mr. Russell Mascot, Director of Heritage Malta, who received our support for membership.
Within the 8th Assembly of GPDNet, the International Conference "Public Diplomacy in the Gulf States: Policies and Practices" was also held, during which presentations were made on new directions in public diplomacy in the region and its media and digital expressions. A special focus in the conference was placed on education and youth, as well as on topics related to the provision of humanitarian aid and the role of cultural diplomacy for foreign policy. Speakers in the panels were distinguished professors, scholars and professionals in the field of public diplomacy from universities and institutions of different countries, such as: Prof. Nicolas Cull from the University of California, Prof. Nathalie Koch from the University of Heidelberg, Dr. Luciano Zaccara from the University of Qatar and many others. They presented diverse perspectives and perspectives on the future of public diplomacy in the region.
The majority of organizations and institutions that are members of the Global Public Diplomacy Network (GPDNet) are national cultural institutes or NGOs engaged in the promotion of national culture, language and cultural diversity and heritage, as well as non-governmental organizations and research institutes to universities or academies related to education and public diplomacy. The participation of the State Institute for Culture in the Global Network for Public Diplomacy is an important part of Bulgaria's presence in multicultural contexts outside the EU and the expansion of strategic partnerships, as well as the application of the toolkit of cultural diplomacy in public policies - for rapprochement and exchange of ideas between potential partners and for implementation of creative projects through which national cultures and their sustainability over time are popularized.