Rhodes Forum - World Public Forum "Dialogue of Civilizations"

The Seventh Annual Session of the World Public Forum (WPF) “Dialogue of Civilizations” will be held on the Island of Rhodes (Greece) from the 8th to the 12th of October 2009.

Among the persons who have confirmed their participation in the Rhodes Forum this year are: President of the “Russian Railways” JSC, Founding President of the WPF “Dialogue of Civilizations” Vladimir Yakunin; Former Chancellor of Austria Alfred Gusenbauer; His Majesty King Adamtey of Ghana; Prince Sixtus Henry of Bourbon-Parma (Spain); Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Alexander Saltanov; Former Secretary for Home Affairs, the Government of Hong Kong (China) Patrick Ho Chi-ping; Leading member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (India) Murli Manohar Joshi; President of the Brookings Institution (USA) Strobe Talbott; Ayatollah Mohammad-Ali Taskhiri (Iran); Co-Chairman, Association for International Mobility (USA) Brunson McKinley; Professor of Russian and European politics at the University of Kent (Great Britain) Richard Sakwa; Chairman, State Corporation “Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank)” (Russia) Vladimir Dmitriev; and others.

The World Public Forum “Dialogue of Civilizations” (Forum) is an international nongovernmental organization that unites into single network society various international and national organizations, representatives of regional public institutions and individuals who share the principles of mutual openness, accessibility and respect, which form the basis of the contemporary dialogue of civilizations. The main goal of the Forum is to organize space for constructive dialogue among the major civilizations of the modern world in various fields of human existence. The Forum develops the public understanding of current global agenda and is aimed at supporting the inclusion of different NGO’s and civil society representatives worldwide into the decision making processes at international level.

The Forum is supported by His Majesty King of Jordan Abdullah II, President of the Yemen Republic Ali Abdullah Saleh, Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin, former President of Iran Mohammad Khatami, Director-General of UNESCO Koichiro Matsuura, Chairwoman of the Indian National Congress Party Sonia Gandhi, President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas, His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Grand Mufti of Syria Dr. Badr al-Din Hassoun, former Chancellor of Austria Alfred Gusenbauer and former Prime Minister of France Dominique de Villepin. President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev told about his support of the World Public Forum “Dialogue of Civilizations” in June 2009 during his official visit to Egypt.

The Forum is supported by a network of NGOs, as well as the UN, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, OPEC, OIC, ISESCO, ALECSO, research institutes and many individual persons.

Discussions at the forthcoming Rhodes session of the Forum 2009 will be centered at the present global situation that demands to spell out conceptually sound foundation and requires special efforts in order to preserve the “structural integrity” of the global community. The themes of the Forum discussions include the following substantial aspects of the to day life: dialogue and alternative models of global politics; socio-economic conditions as manifestation of the leading values in financial and economic activities; establishment and reconstitution of civilization’s identity in the sphere of modern culture; assistance in the spreading of interconfessional dialogue; education and youth issues etc. Special attention at the Forum will be devoted to social practices and strategies, which could be most effectively implemented in the critical and unstable conditions of the modern world development.

The Forum participants are invited to voice their opinions and views on the most pressing present-day problems in format of plenary and panel sessions, round tables and presentations. For the first time, the Forum participants will be offered a special “Rhodes Report” – an interim summary of the work done by the “Possible Futures Research Group” that unites leading world specialists in economics, humanitarian and social sciences.

One of the Forum panel sessions is traditionally aimed at presentation of a world famous civilization Russian (2005), Indian (2006) and Chinese (2008). This year a presentation of the Persian civilization will be organized at this special panel. The participants will witness all the peculiarities of the Iranian traditional music, painting, crafts and writing system. The delegation from Iran to Rhodes will be consisted of prominent scholars, public figures and craftsmen.

As a part of the cultural program – the prominent Master of the duduk Djivan Gasparyan will perform his authentic and stunning music, and one of the best European string ensemble from Germany “Interface Quartett” will be performing for the pleasure of the audience as well.

The events of the Forum will be held at the Paradise Royal Mare Hotel (5*).

For more information and accreditation, please visit our web-site: www.wpfdc.org or contact our Headquarters.

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