RECOGNIZING THE OTHER

The participants in this meeting, focused on the topic “Recognizing the Other”, who met on the 17th and 18th June 2005 in Seville on the invitation of the Foundation of the Three Cultures – promoter of the event together with COPEAM and CICC – have drawn up a final document where they point out the importance of relaunching the Barcelona Process and, in particular, the necessity of carrying on the engagement for the defence of the “culture Chapter” as an essential element for the development of the EUROMED Partnership.
In particular, considering the new multiethnic and multicultural pattern of the societies that has been developing within the Mediterranean region during the last years, the signatories of this document
wish that the migratory phenomenon could be considered as a fundamental factor of social and cultural development.
Specifically, they ask the media to assume their responsibility in spreading out the knowledge of
the Other, through a free-of-stereotypes information able to represent, in an innovative way, the
new Mediterranean society; to privilege an open and pluralist TV programming that merges, basing
on cultural diversity, the variety and specificity of all the cultural patrimonies in a framework of mutual respect of the identities; to pay a special attention to the topics of intercultural dialogue and Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and to develop new genres of programmes favouring the training of the young people, mainly through technological tools that express properly the new generation.
In this respect, they ask for a new financial effort in favour of the Southern countries in order to remedy the deficit existing in the cultural industry and the weakness of the new communication technologies: specific target also of WEMF - World Summit on Information Society in Tunis (November 2005).
In addition to this, the Seville Group - as the whole of participants in the meeting decided to be named - commits itself into the support of the Charter of Seville presented by COPEAM in Seville (7th May 2005); into the setting up of an award for the best TV programming policy in favour of dialogue and peace; into the creation of a working group (made of representatives of CICT, UNESCO and COPEAM) aimed at conceiving a new approach to TV and cinema co-productions
in the Mediterranean; into favouring the establishment of a found supporting the audiovisual production in this area, with the sustain of PACA Region; into organising a specialization
seminary addressed to journalists (from all media) and focused on Mediterranean topics