20 April, 2016
Brussels, Belgium

EUNIC, the European Union National Institutes for Culture, and IFA, the Institute for External Relations in Culture, were the host organisations for an open public debate on a new role for culture in external relations. The official title of the debate, which was attended by the President of the Association EPEKA, Soc. Ent., Štefan Simončič, was The New Role for Culture in External Relations: Re-integrating Cultural Relations and Diplomacy.

The public debate The New Role for Culture in External Relations: Re-integrating Cultural Relations and Diplomacy took place on 20 April 2016 in Brussels.

The need for such a debate is reflected in the changing definition and understanding of cultural diplomacy, at a time when the European Commission is rethinking its external representation in cultural terms. The event, which coincided with the Brussels Cultural Forum in April 2016, brought together thinkers who contributed to the debate on what a closer integration of culture and diplomacy means in practice, what opportunities it offers, what the possible risks are and, above all, how we should view the potential scope of culture-based actions that can have an impact on problems that are traditionally perceived as political.