Dr Hans-Martin Hinz Member of the Executive Council of ICOM Sustainability Conference, Vietnam January 9 – 12, 2006 Call for Papers (deadline October 15, 2005) To my very honored colleagues from ICOM, From the 9th to the 12th of January 2006 the second international Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability will take place in Hanoi and in Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. The first conference on the topic of sustainability, the decade theme of the United Nations, was held in February 2005 in Hawaii. Within the context of the conference in Vietnam the museums are to present the subject “Heritage Development - Cultural Diversity - Responsible Tourism” under the aspect of sustainability. The intention is above all that representatives of the regional organizations of ICOM, but also representatives of ICOM national committees with experiences in international activities as well as experts within our organization who have been involved with the topic, collaborate on this conference. This is also to be seen as a contribution to the 60th anniversary of ICOM. The conference is co-chaired by Dr. Dang Van Bai, Director of the National Department of Culture and Heritage and President of ICOM-Vietnam and Professor Amareswar Galla, PhD, Vice President of ICOM and Director, Sustainable Heritage Development Programs, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University. As the convener of the museums’ part of the meeting I’m calling for papers on the special theme of the conference mentioned above. Please keep in mind that the substance of the paper should make it clear how museum work achieves or should achieve sustainability within the field of education. The supporters of the conference in Hanoi and Ha Long Bay are the national Ministry of Culture and Information, the Province of Quang Ninh, the Hanoi office of UNESCO, ICOM-Vietnam and the Australian National University as well as the Globalism Institute, Melbourne. The conference organizer is the Australian company Common Ground. Information about the conference can also be found at www.sustainabilityconference.com. The background to the conference is: in December 2002 the United Nations General Assembly, based on the recommendation of the Johannesburg World Summit for Sustainable Development, declared a world decade for „Education for Sustainable Development” (ESD) for the years 2005 to 2014. For this purpose the UNESCO developed a framework for the draft International Implementation Scheme (IIS) and presented it to the UN General Assembly in 2004; it received formal confirmation from the UNESCO Executive Board in April of 2005. In many countries in the world, plans of action are being developed. The conference in Vietnam forms a part of this young tradition. Essentially what the education for sustainable development comes down to is helping people all over the world gain the skills to actively shape their future. Broad-mindedness, foresight, and the ability to work interdisciplinarily and orient oneself around a commitment to sustainability should ultimately lead to present and future generations attaining and creating a world worth living in. It comes down to imparting ways of acting that will let people develop more awareness and identify with their own living environment, from which political action should be derived. This ultimately affects all areas of life, from economy to ecology, from education to culture. Museums can play an important role in the education for sustainable development, in that with their exhibits and activities they present residents and visitors opportunities to come to terms not only with their own culture and history but also with foreign cultures. In this way the people ultimately improve their knowledge about their own living environment and that of others and reflect upon different positions and perspectives, which contributes to self-assurance, strengthens identities and ideally enables them to use what they’ve gained to understand the past and the future more consciously, thus putting them in a position to be able to shape the future. Thus the work of museums can contribute to the education for sustainable processes. For the conference in Hanoi and Ha Long Bay, 16 lecture periods of 30 minutes each are available to ICOM (20 minutes for presentation plus10 minutes for questions from the audience). I would ask you to please, 1) inform me relatively soon – by October 15, 2005 at the latest – of your interest in a presentation and to write which topic you would like to present on the complex of sustainability and in the fixed time period of 20 minutes. Please state the objective and give me a short summary of the contents. After the selection of topics I can assure you of an answer as soon as possible. My email address is: [log in to unmask] (this is my address at the German Historical Museum in Berlin). 2) also, parallel to notifying me of your interest, the conference organizer has requested that you also fill out the attached Presentation Proposal Form and email it as soon as possible to the Conference Administrator, Ms. Bronwen Robson ( [log in to unmask] ). This will ensure that your interest is visible for all involved and the conference is easier to plan. The costs of travel to Vietnam and accommodations cannot be carried by ICOM. The organizer is offering all-inclusive accommodations packages. More information can be found at: www.SustainabilityConference.com Due to the relatively short time left before the event and for organizing the presentations of papers, I would remind you once more of the deadline, October 15, 2005. I remain, with kind regards, yours sincerely, Hans-Martin Hinz September 8, 2005 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Change ICOM-L subscription options, unsubscribe, and search the archives at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/icom-l.html