INTRODUCTION

"Cultural Heritage - a Bridge towards a Shared Future" is an international initiative coordinated by UNESCO and supported by the Italian government, with the aim of strengthening regional cooperation for the protection and promotion of cultural heritage in South-Eastern Europe. Its conceptual foundations lye in considering the heritage as a shared value: a bridge between cultures and communities, as well as from past, to present and to future times. A bridge over which a constructive cooperation shall be undertaken, in order to foster intercultural dialogue, to support human and economic development, and to further regional stabilisation.

The general objective of the initiative is contributing to political stability and sustainable development in South-Eastern Europe, through enhancing regional co-operation on culture and cultural heritage. Specific objectives are:

• Contribute to mainstreaming cultural affairs within political agendas of South-East European countries
• Enhance institutional capacities in the various fields of cultural heritage management
• Support cultural diversity as agent of social cohesion, dialogue, and mutual understanding
• Promote creativity and contemporary art, as integral components of human and economic development
• Promote a positive image of South-East European countries, based on the richness and diversity of their shared cultural heritage.

The political engine of the initiative consists of the annual Ministerial conferences on cultural heritage in South-Eastern Europe. The conferences are intended to build up a shared commitment to the safeguarding and promotion of regional cultural heritage. They also serve to set common objectives and guide-lines for concrete action, in the form of ministerial joint declarations.

Following up to the conferences' indications, the initiative operates through a wide set of activities coordinated by the Culture Section of the UNESCO Office in Venice - Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe (BRESCE). Activities are financed through the “Trust Fund for Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe”, created at the UNESCO BRESCE as a follow-up to the first Ministerial Conference (Mostar, 2004), and financed by the Italian government (Italian Development Cooperation - Ministry of Foreign Affairs).