The Pécs Initiative – A city for peace and cultural diversity

The Pécs Initiative – A city for peace and cultural diversity

The city of Pécs

having regard to central intellectual role of Pécs in its region as a multicultural, multilingual and multi-religious city,

taking impetus from the humanist legacy emerging from a blend of western and eastern situations and varied cultural traditions and experiences,

upholding and cherishing the human and material values based on which Pécs – as one of the most liveable cities in the region of Central-European and the Balkans – was in 1998 awarded the UNESCO Cities for Peace Prize for treasuring minority cultures and for its receptive attitude towards refugees fleeing from the Balkan wars, and owing to which in 2000 the early Christian necropolis was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List,

drawing attention to the fact that in the area of the Western Balkans, the enhancement of the framework of dialogue is of vital importance, in support of which Pécs offers its experiences and efforts,

affirming its long-standing political commitment to act as a gateway and a bridge towards the Western Balkans,

keeping in mind the message of the European Cultural Capital – Pécs 2010 event, the mission set out in its application for the title along with the achievements of the program,

contributes via the preservation and propagation of the lessons and achievements of the “Pécs model” to the establishment of European cultural decentralization,

supports the equal opportunities of minority cultures and the maintenance of the identities of national communities within Europe,

Wishes to urge the inclusion of the cultural experiences and institutions of Pécs in international cultural networks as a versatile gateway to the Balkans,

Wishes to urge the development of interregional cooperation as a ways to promote the familiarization of the unique Central and South-Central European cultural diversity and the culture and works of art from the Western Balkans,

encourages the strengthening of the activity of international cultural organizations and institutions and the intensification of the international mobility of workers in the cultural sphere,

thus it

cooperates with any domestic or international, economic or societal organisation (especially non-governmental actors and representatives of arts and sciences) that recognizes the notion of “The Pécs Initiative - A city for peace and cultural diversity”,

explores and draws on all possibilities that support the notion and enable the realization of “The Pécs Initiative - A city for peace and cultural diversity”,

undertakes to annually host on the anniversary of the current tryst in Pécs an event facilitating public, scientific and cultural consultation on the European perspectives of the area to foster the fulfilment of the goals of “The Pécs Initiative - A city for peace and cultural diversity”.

(Drafted by Dr. habil. Erzsébet Sándor-Szalay (PTE Faculty of Law, Centre for European Research and Education, zsoka@ajk.pte.hu), and Dr. habil Norbert Pap (PTE Centre East-Mediterranean and Balkan Studies, pnorbert@gamma.ttk.pte.hu )