Calendar 

Cultural Regenerations Events

The UU/NICEC Culture Regeneration Programme is working with a number of local and European wide networks in areas of cultural heritage and urban regeneration, contributing to the cultural policy debate in Northern Ireland and Europe and the development of creative industries sector in Northern Ireland. The calender of events below will allow a practical through its activity lines for public representatives, policy makers, academics and practitioners to engage in a period of learning and exchange of knowledge and skills within EU in the field of cultural policy and the development of creative industries. Further details of Culture Regeneration events are available from Ms Nollaig O'Fionghaile telephone 028 71375292 or Ms Miriam Crozier telephone 028 71375481.

March 2006

7th March: AThink Tank meeting will take place in Belfast to explore the issues in depth and the opportunities for a cultural observatory in Northern Ireland.

20th March: Creative Industries Seminer EUCLID UK, London. EUCLID UK, the UK's Cultural contact point will be hosting the seminar on the Creative Industries. Delegates from Northern Ireland will be invited to apply for attendance at the NICEC conference programme.

21st - 23rd March: Cultural Briefing in Vienna, Austria during EU presidency.

Delegates from Northern Ireland will be invited to apply for attendance on the the following conference programmes

June 2006

6th - 9th June: Creative Industries Study Visit; Reykjavik, Iceland. This study visit to Reykjavik, Iceland has been organised as Iceland has a track record of innovation in the cultural and creative industries that will be of interest in comparative terms for N. Ireland, and meetings will take place with a variety of government organisations, NGOs and practitioners. This visit will establish longer term contacts for practitioners in Northern Ireland, in particular as the creative industries environment in Iceland is beginning to develop rapidly and this offers significant opportunity for a learning exchange and to access to new ideas and learning from each others experience.

14th - 18th June: The World Summit on Arts and Culture; Newscastle, Gateshead, England. The summit, hosted by the Arts Council of England, is organized in partnership with the International Federation of Arts Councils and culture Agencies (IFACCA). It will focus on the theme of regeneration through arts and culture, 'Transforming places, transforming lives'. The event provides a unique opportunity to share global best practice and to discuss issues affecting arts and cultural regeneration. More information here. Ten places will be available.

19th - 22nd June: Creative Industries Study Visit; Turku and Helsinki, Finland. Finland is the home of innovative developments in the new technologies and a number of initiatives have been launched to foster the creative and cultural industries. There have been major research projects undertaken, organisations have been established to support this area and the traditional and newly-established support bodies have also been working to prioritise this area. The aim of this study visit is to provide information and an understanding of the work carried out in Finland by the key agencies working in this area.

September 2006

26th - 28th September: UU NICEC Conference on Europe & the Creative Industries, to be held in Northern Ireland. The Cultural Development Department at UU / NICEC Shared Learning Project are leading a delegation of sectoral experts of senior arts and creative industries representatives from Europe and Northern Ireland to engage in a unique exchange of ideas over a three day period in September. The programme will involve a number of different and innovative mechanisms to allow for a meaningful engagement for European and Northern Irish organisations to exchange their experiences with a view to influencing the development of Northern Ireland’s knowledge economy and creative industries.

The format includes:

1. Iceland - N. Ireland Meeting of Entrepreneurs; September 26th, 2006, Various Venues, Internal meetings between specialist creatives

2. EU Creative Industry Specialists Present Models of Best Practise: Conference, September 27th, Europa Hotel. Open to the Public

6th - 8th November: Annual Creative Clusters Conference, Newscastle, Gateshead, England. Hosted by Tyne Wear Partnership. Creative Industries examines the growth of the cultural industries and their role in economic development and regeneration. They provide a network and events for people engaged in the development of creative industries. More information here.  Ten places will be available.

Diversity and Conflict Management

March 2006

8-11 March: Study visit by Tony  McGonigle (Coleraine Borough Council) and Caroline Wilson (Belfast City Council) to Kosovo.  This will act as a follow-up from Kosovan politician Sazan Ibrahimi’s visit to Northern Ireland in 2005.  The participants will meet with members of the Association of Kosovo Municipalities (AKM) and representatives from the Kosovo Nansen Network.   

23rd - 24th March: NICEC Conference 'What Shared Futures? - Local and European Challenges in Diversity and Conflict Management' More information here.

June 2006

10th - 17th June: 6th Annual Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities and Nations, New Orleans. More information here

September 2006

6 September: Minority Communities in Action - Sharing Success & Looking Ahead.  A one-day good practice seminar in Derry/Londonderry.  More information here.

7 September: The abovementioned event repeated in Newry.  More information here.