I.P.O. Information Service

 

 

Second International Forum on "Globalization and Dialogue between Civilizations"

 

Tbilisi/Vienna, 29 May 2007

P/RE/20356c-is

 

The Second International Forum on "Globalization and Dialogue between Civilizations" concluded its deliberations in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, last Saturday with the adoption of the Second Tbilisi Appeal. In the unanimously adopted document the participants from Asia, Europe, the Arab world, and the United States emphasized "that dialogue does not necessarily mean coming to a consensus" and affirmed the importance of cultural diversity "as facilitator of dialogue, and not as source of intolerance and violence."

The Forum was held under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, and the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura. Opening addresses were delivered by the President of Georgia, the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, His Holiness Ilia II, the Director of the Division of Cultural Policies and Intercultural Dialogue of UNESCO, Katherine Stenou, the Georgian Minister of Education and Science, Alexander Lomaia, and the Vice-Rector of the International Black Sea University, Prof. Giuli Alasania. The meeting was jointly organized, among others, by the Dialogue Eurasia Platform, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, the Ministry of Education of Education and Science of Georgia; and the International Foundation for the Support of Education and Solidarity in Business Life (GIEV).

The President of the International Progress Organization, Dr. Hans Koechler, presided over the First Session devoted to the theme "Dialogue of Civilizations for Peaceful Coexistence" and delivered a paper on Civilizational Dialogue versus Civilizational Coercion: The Risks of Unilateralism and the Virtues of Co-existence. Other sessions dealt with "The Role of Education and Science in Establishing Universal Values," "The Role of Religion in Establishing Humane Principles and Ethical Norms," and "The Responsibility of the Mass Media in Democratic Societies for Disseminating Objective Information on Civilizations."

On 26 May, the President of the I.P.O. participated in the groundbreaking ceremony for the new campus of the International Black Sea University (IBSU), a joint undertaking between Turkey and Georgia, in Tbilisi. The foundation stone was laid by the President of Georgia.

  • Photo

  • Statement by Prof. Hans Köchler

  • First International Forum in Tbilisi (2004)

  • I.P.O. activities related to the dialogue among civilizations

END/Second International Forum on "Globalization and Dialogue between Civilizations"/2007-05-29/20356c-is