QUÉBEC CITY, May 27, 2024
/CNW/ - The Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of
Canadian Heritage, Mathieu
Lacombe, Minister of Culture and Communications,
Minister responsible for Youth and Minister responsible for
the Outaouais region, as well as Martine
Biron, Minister of International Relations and La
Francophonie and Minister responsible for the Status of Women, are
proud to launch the activities for the first meeting of the UNESCO
Group of Experts on the diversity of cultural expression in the
digital environment.
This meeting of experts from around the world will be held in
Québec City from May 28 to 30, 2024. It will be
preceded on May 27 by a day of
conferences for Canadian, Quebec
and international cultural workers. These conferences will be
organized by the Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural
Expressions (CDCE), with the collaboration of the International
Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (IFCCD).
Over the past few months, Canada and the government of Quebec have supported the creation of this
international group of 18 independent experts within UNESCO. Until
the 18th session of the Intergovernmental Committee in
February 2025, this group will
conduct a reflection and make recommendations to the Parties to the
UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity
of Cultural Expressions ("2005 Convention") on four themes: the
linguistic diversity of cultural content online, the
discoverability of local and national cultural content online, the
greater transparency of digital platforms, and the impact of
artificial intelligence on cultural and creative industries.
As co-organizers of the UNESCO Group of Experts meeting,
Canada and Quebec will use this work on the 2005
Convention to advance the priorities of Canadian and Quebec artists, organizations and cultural and
creative industries, as they relate to the implementation of this
Convention in the digital environment. The 2005 Convention, which
now has 153 signatories, is an essential instrument for ensuring
the diversity of cultural expressions in all environments,
including the digital environment.
The May 27 conferences, organized
by the CDCE, with the collaboration of the IFCCD, will be held
under the theme Promoting our cultures in the digital age –
Conversations among cultural workers from here and abroad.
These conferences will focus on the priority themes listed in
UNESCO's mandate to this group of international experts. The
Canadian Commission for UNESCO is also involved in the activity and
will present an Indigenous cultural segment as part of the United
Nations International Decade of Indigenous Languages.
Cultural workers from Quebec
and Canada are invited to visit
the CDCE website for program information on the May 27 conferences.
Quotes
"UNESCO is dedicated to strengthening the diversity of cultural
expressions in the context of innovative digital technologies,
particularly generative artificial intelligence. We are delighted
to be working with our longstanding partners, Canada and Quebec, to bring together, for the first time,
experts who can enlighten Member States on the opportunities and
challenges of the digital environment."
Ernesto Ottone R., Assistant
Director-General for Culture, UNESCO
"Our priority is to promote the growth and influence of our
creative industries in a context of profound change, especially in
the digital sphere. This is why the discussions taking place in the
coming days are crucial in helping governments identify the
solutions and collaborative solutions that should be adopted to
reach these goals. As a government, it is important to take stock
of current challenges and act. This work has already started with
the adoption of the Online Streaming Act, which modernizes our
approach to taking account of issues like discoverability and to
ensuring that foreign platforms contribute to our cultural
ecosystems by promoting our creators, our stories and our
expertise."
The Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian
Heritage
"Today's digital environment is having a major impact on
people's access to their cultures and to diverse cultural content
in multiple languages. It is vital to find solutions to promote
diversified cultural content that reaches its audiences, especially
youth. We are working on these issues and hope that the work
carried out by the UNESCO Group of Experts will fuel Quebec's actions. This international
mobilization for linguistically diverse cultural content in the
digital world is tremendous."
Mathieu Lacombe, Minister of
Culture and Communications, Minister responsible for Youth and
Minister responsible for the Outaouais region
"The Quebec government's role
at UNESCO on the diversity of cultural expressions is a true
diplomatic success. In recent months, Quebec has reaffirmed its leadership in this
field, particularly on the issue of linguistically diverse online
cultural content. Hosting this international meeting in Québec
City, our national capital, will allow us to reaffirm our
commitment to the 2005 Convention in the digital environment and,
with the contribution of Quebec
civil society, to reflect on innovative solutions to better address
the issues we consider priorities for ensuring the continuity of
our culture and language."
Martine Biron, Minister of
International Relations and La Francophonie and Minister
responsible for the Status of Women
"It is heartening to note that, 25 years after an initial wave
of mobilization that gave rise to the very first Coalition for the
Diversity of Cultural Expressions (CDCE), and few years later, to
the International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity
(IFCCD), the Canadian and Quebec
cultural milieu remains strongly committed to preserving cultural
sovereignty in the context of digital commerce, a core element of
the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the
Diversity of Cultural Expressions."
Bill Skolnik, Co-Chair of the
CDCE and representative of the Screen Composers Guild of
Canada
"Amplifying the diversity of our cultural expressions through
technology is possible. If States firmly commit to updating their
implementation of the 2005 Convention in the digital context, this
could well be the stepping stone needed to achieve that
amplification."
Hélène Messier, Co-Chair of the CDCE and President and CEO of
the Association québécoise de la production médiatique
Highlights
- The creation of this group was approved by the 153 Parties at
the 9th session of the Conference of Parties to the 2005
Convention, held from June 6 to 8,
2023.
- The Intergovernmental Committee, which is responsible for
monitoring the decisions of the Conference of Parties, is the other
governing body of the 2005 Convention.
- The meeting will be held in Québec City, whose historic
district of Old Québec has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List
since 1985 in recognition of its rich history and heritage. Québec
City is part of UNESCO's global Creative Cities Network as a City
of Literature.
- A conference organized by the cultural community will take
place ahead of the meeting. The organizers are the CDCE and
the IFCCD. The CDCE brings together some 50 associations,
unions and management companies in the Quebec and Canadian cultural sectors,
representing over 350,000 creators and professionals, and 3,000
companies. The IFCCD brings together some 30 members, based in 30
countries, representing coalitions of creators and cultural
businesses.
Associated Links
- Government of Canada Web page: Online meeting of the UNESCO
group of experts on the diversity of cultural expressions –
May 27 to 30, 2024
- Gouvernment of Québec Web page (in french only): Première
rencontre du groupe de réflexion de l'UNESCO sur la diversité des
expressions culturelles dans l'environnement numérique
- Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of
Cultural Expressions
- Diversity of Cultural Expressions: Investing in Creativity.
Transforming Societies.
- Promoting Our Cultures in the Digital Age (CDCE)
- International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity
(IFCCD)
Québec.ca
Québec.ca/international
SOURCE Federal, provincial, and territorial ministers
responsible for culture and heritage