News

On May 20 throiugh 21, 2010, the inauguration conference of the Northern Dimension Partnership in the area of culture was held in St.Petersburg, with the assistance of the Committee for External Relations and the Committee for Culture.

The conference was attended by about 170 people, including about 80 persons who were the representatives of the countries of Northern Europe. The conference brought together the partners in the areas of culture and creative industries, as well as the representatives of authorities from 11 countries, which provided the ground to discuss the possibility of development of the creative economy of the Northern Dimension region.
A.E. Busygin, Deputy Minister for Culture of Russian Federation, and A.N. Gubankov, Chairman of St.Petersburg Committee for Culture welcomed the participants of the event from the Russian side.

The program of the event included "round tables" that addressed topical issues of contemporary culture, such as "Creative Economy, Industries of Culture, and Financing", "Culture and Innovations".

The most important event in the conference was signing the agreement that established the Northern Dimension Partnership in the cultural sphere by the representatives of the European Union, Norway, Iceland, and Russia.

"It is important to note that the agreement for the first time creates the basis and new provisions for the growth of creative economy in Northern Europe. The rest is the definition of specific projects and initiatives that may come from different sides. The agreement is a political decision to promote the new forms of cooperation", said Michael Webb, Deputy Head of the EU Representative Office in Russia.

The Northern Dimension Partnership in the area of culture should begin its work in 2011, and its main purpose is to facilitate access to financing the long-term and sustainable projects and organizations in the cultural sphere, able to create the new jobs around them.

News source: Committee for External Relations of St.Petersburg