Dialogue and Heritage in the Cultural Strategy of unesco

Abstract unesco is a scientific, educational, and cultural branch – or specialized agency, to speak in technical terms – of the United Nations organization, which has for the latest seventy years been instrumental in setting standards, promoting scientific research and societal discussions, and supporting innovations, both nationally and internationally. Intercultural dialogue has invariably served as a focal point of its manifold activities. Tracing back some of the basic issues in the elaboration of intercultural dialogue as well as the most actual trends in its development forms the main objective of the present paper. This account comes from years of experience as head of one of the well-known and respected unesco research and educational chairs: Comparative Studies of Spiritual Traditions, their Specific Cultures and Interreligious Dialogue.1