Europe’s own culture is incredibly rich and, more than any other continent, has always been interested in understanding the complexities of culture elsewhere in the world. Europe has contributed to cultures around the world rediscovering the value of their own heritage and on their own terms. For instance, the 20th century French archaeologists such as Pelliot helped the people of Myamar (Burma) to rediscover the Kmer language and culture[1]. European archaeology, anthropology, ethnology and linguistics have contributed fundamentally to our understanding of cultural diversity in a world of over 6,500 languages.

In a world where Europe represents 5% of the world’s population, there is a new challenge: to develop models of culture which avoid the dangers of cultural imperialism and provide a realistic vision and understanding of contributions made by individuals and peoples all over the world. Here UNESCO has led the way with its lists of World Heritage sites. Other international networks are also evolving.

One of the goals of E--Culture Net is to work closely with these international networks to develop such multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic models. Hence, the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN, Hull) and the National Institute of Informatics (NII, Tokyo) are founding members of E-Culture Net. This links the European Network of Centres of Excellence with the Japanese Network of Centres of Excellence in Digital Silk Roads under the auspices of UNESCO. As a first step, the NII, in conjunction with four members of E-Culture Net, have recently submitted a request for funding by the Getty Trust. A formal accord was signed between UNESCO and NII on 12 March 2003.

In the past months, both the Information Sector of UNESCO (Paris) and the UNESCO Cluster Office (Almaty) have become members of E-Culture Net. Discussions are also underway with the Chinese Ministry of Culture (Beijing). In co-operation with such partners we hope to arrive at a new understanding of culture on a global scale.

[1] In the 17th century French ambassadors were so impressed with the dimensions of Angkor Wat that they persuaded Louis XIV to rethink the scale of Versailles.