GIZ (former GTZ) and Goethe-Institut are organising a series of regional round tables on the subject of culture and development. Each is made up of 20 experts from a particular region, who meet for two days to discuss the relationship between culture and development in their geographic region and cultural sphere. The round tables are taking place in Germany, Latin America, Asia and Africa. The conferences delve into certain core issues in addition to discussing culture and development on the local and regional levels. Contextual guidelines are:

• The role that cultural factors play in the development and transition process, particularly in regard to sustainability and effectiveness.
• The question of how cultural change takes place and whether it can or ought to be influenced through deliberate intervention.
• The positioning of German development cooperation and of international cultural cooperation on the continuum between cultural relativism and universalism.

The round tables and a concluding conference are to produce concrete recommendations for action to the German development cooperation institutions and to the foreign cultural policy institutions.

• Goethe-Institut
  www.goethe.de