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The Organisation The Unesco Platform UNESCO@vlaanderen functions as the focal point in Flanders for anyone seeking information in regards to the activities and programmes of UNESCO. The organisation also co-ordinates several UNESCO initiatives and, through co-operation and networking with partners, furthers the adoption of UNESCO's ideals by the civil society. Young people are one of the key target audiences of UNESCO@vlaanderen. The organisation tries to produce and disseminate as much as possible information in Dutch about the ideals, strategy, activities and programmes of UNESCO. These publications take topicality and the specific nature and interests of the target audience into account. When aimed at young people, they are usually disseminated in co-operation with such strategic partners as schools and youth organisations. UNESCO@vlaanderen also reaches young people as co-ordinator of the Associated Schools Project Network (ASPnet) in Flanders: a world-wide network of schools conducting research through pilot projects and co-operation on how the principles of UNESCO can best be introduced and promoted. For the development of such projects, that help broaden young people's view of the world and furthers their respect for cultural diversity, schools can count on the support of UNESCO@vlaanderen and make use of the organisation's know how. When organising other activities such as (international)
encounters on a certain theme that is relevant in the UNESCO field,
UNESCO@vlaanderen encourages the participation of young people and gives
them a chance to exchange ideas and experiences with people from different
backgrounds and cultures. By doing so, the organisation hopes to raise
their awareness for the ideals that UNESCO stands for so that they will
eventually put those ideals into practice in their daily lives and thus
help create a world that is a better place for us all to live in. PRINCIPAL PROJECTS OF THE ORGANISATION The activities that the Unesco Platform UNESCO@vlaanderen develops are kindred to the ideals and programmes of UNESCO and are aimed at raising the public's awareness concerning these issues and at furthering the participation of the civil society. 1.Information Function The information function of the organisation can be divided into two parts: active dissemination of information and passive dissemination. The former refers to the production and dissemination of publications to achieve the organisation's aims. The latter refers to the development of an information and documentation centre that can be contacted by the Flemish public for any question regarding UNESCO. 1a. Publications The ideals that UNESCO defends and the programmes it develops to further their universal acceptance, are generally rather complex and extensive matters. To raise the public's awareness and insight in these matters, it is of the utmost importance that the message is formulated in a clear manner and is presented in an attractive way. Experience shows that the message is best communicated in the mother tongue of the target audience, which is why the Unesco Platform UNESCO@vlaanderen pays a lot of attention and care to its publications and strives for the dissemination of as much as possible information in Dutch. The three-monthly magazine Unesco Info that UNESCO@vlaanderen publishes is unique in its kind: it is the only Dutch periodical to inform regularly on the activities of UNESCO all over the world, to pay attention to the initiatives developed by the international movement of UNESCO Clubs and Centres as privileged partners of the Organisation, to focus on central themes of UNESCO's programme and to present its publications. The magazine is distinguished by its fluent language, its fresh lay-out and the consistency of its contents. Unesco Info has a large reach in Flanders: an increasing number of people subscribes to the magazine and it is being disseminated to a number of important partners and target groups of UNESCO@vlaanderen such as the Flemish libraries, members of the press and the administration, associations active in one of UNESCO's domains, and a broad selection of schools that primarily features secondary schools but as well colleges and primary schools belonging to the Associated Schools Network. In its aspiration to promote the ideals and programmes of UNESCO and to raise the public's awareness for these issues, UNESCO@vlaanderen regularly produces certain other publications. These can be adapted translations of UNESCO editions or autonomously produced publications. Like the other activities of UNESCO@vlaanderen, its publications can be oriented towards the general public (trying to reach as many people as possible through different channels) or towards a specific target audience. Among the target groups of the organisation's activities and publications are libraries (that share an important information function with the organisation) and schools (education is the basis for everything and UNESCO contributes to a lot of issues that are included in the curricula). The organisation tries to co-operate as much as possible with strategic partners for the dissemination of its publications to assure an optimal reach of the intended target group. Since new media are becoming increasingly common and popular, UNESCO@vlaanderen reacts to this evolution by not only publishing brochures and such, but by also releasing CD-ROMs and developing a website. This website is a rich and practical source of information in Dutch that is systematically being developed and adopted and that in future will evolve into a useful tool that allows visitors to actively learn more about certain topics and issues. 1b. Information and Documentation Centre The documentation centre that the organisation has developed systematically is an important source of information for the production of publications and for answering the diverse questions from the public regarding the activities and programmes of UNESCO. The Centre's collection consists of books that UNESCO published on different topics in its field as well as of a broad selection of UNESCO periodicals and other publications. There is also a smaller collection of videos, CD-ROMs and slides available. The documentation centre allows the organisation to formulate answers to the numerous questions it gets asked by the Flemish public, often by students seeking certain UNESCO related information in the framework of their studies. 2. Co-ordination Function The Unesco Platform UNESCO@vlaanderen is the focal point in Flanders open to anyone seeking more information in regards to UNESCO or wishing to propose an initiative or project that can help further UNESCO's ideals or promote one or several UNESCO aspects. This co-ordination function is being developed continuously. In its framework, UNESCO@vlaanderen co-ordinates the Associated Schools Project Network (ASPnet) in Flanders: a world-wide network of schools conducting research through pilot projects and co-operation on how the principles of UNESCO can best be introduced and promoted. For the development of such projects, schools can count on the support of UNESCO@vlaanderen and make use of the organisation's know how. 3. Networking and co-operation The Unesco Platform UNESCO@vlaanderen maintains good relations with other UNESCO Centres abroad that follow a similar strategy. Regular exchanges of information on activities and projects allow the centres to learn from each others experiences. Furthermore, these relations inspire new projects, forge partnerships and/or create the possibility to seek for support for the development of initiatives. In accordance with it aims, UNESCO@vlaanderen also organises certain activities, often in co-operation with partners. These are usually (international) encounters that offer different specialists and witnesses a forum to share their ideas and experiences on a certain theme that is relevant in the UNESCO field with each other and the participants. On such occasions, UNESCO@vlaanderen encourages the participation of young people and ensures that those present learn more about the initiatives that UNESCO develops on the central theme of the encounter and that these are put in the context of the larger framework of the Organisation.
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