Narrative report for ORACLE network activities

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Narrative report for ORACLE network activities
2009-2010
By Oracle Board Members Robert Alagjozovski ,
President Ljiljana Simic Deru, Board member Luc
Braconnier, Cashier Louise Allen, Board member
and Tamara Jokovic, Secretary
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Few words about Oracle Network
Launched by cultural managers, participants of
the European Diploma in Cultural Project
Management, in Athens, in September 1993, this
association has a juridical statue of
"International non profit association" registered
under the Belgian law. The network has more
than 255 members from 41 countries. Yet ORACLE
welcomes also other cultural managers being
interested in this network.. ORACLE is a tool of
communication, information and exchange.
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Seminars until now
1994 Krakow - PL 1997 Tatihou - FR 1999
Lille - FR 2000 Paris - FR 2001 Beograd -
SCG 2002 Oulu - FI 2005 Brussels - BE 2006
Ohrid - MK 2007 Vienna - AT 2008 Ljubljana -
SLO 2009 Seville - SP
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Summary of outcomes

• 2 consecutive meetings (Seville 2009 and
  Luxembourg 2010)
• 66 Oracle members and guests attended the
  meetings
• presentations of 2 countries and city scenes
• presentations of 33 Oracle members, hosts and
  guests profiles and works
• regular virtual board meetings and
  consultations
• 1 big EU funded project running (SUS.DiV.)
• extended collaboration over Network members (15
  universities, ECF, City mined, Yustat)
• dissemination of members information via
  web-site and circular letters (members running
  projects, UNESCO call, etc.- all on web page
  under title NEWS, http//oracleculturalnetwork.sit
  e40.net)

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summary of outcomes

• improved visibility of the network
• permanent collaboration with Marcel Hicter
  Foundation
• shared office premises
• 2 project initiatives (what after the SUS.DIV
  project?)
• preparation of 12th seminar in Luxembourg 2010
• positive financial balance
• many new ideas
• approved external audit.

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Annual meetings
Helped by the most enthusiastic members and based
on the support of local country members, we
organized two regular annual Network seminars
Seville in 2009 and this year 2010 in Luxembourg.
These seminars were real infusion in network
vitality. Behind the fairly serious agenda
comprising of debates, projects and members
presentations, thematic work, information on
local scenes, the annual seminar was an
opportunity for establishing contacts, deepening
of the friendships and plans for future
cooperation. During the seminar the board has
always been encouraging members to come up with
ideas, to cooperate beyond board capacities. The
real challenge for the Network is how to maintain
the energy over time after the end of the seminar.
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Seville Oracle Seminar, 11th meeting,
12-14 March 2009, Spain
Oracle Network and the Institute for Culture and
Arts of Seville held a joint Seminar - workshop
Leveraging Challenges of (Un)Learning with Art
and Sustainability Frameworks. The Seminar
was aimed at stimulating an interdisciplinary
discussion revolving around art sustainability,
and oriented at exploring the possibilities of
art in public space across Europe, and around
the way art is reacting to the different recent
threats just as the economic crisis.
Participants came from the Oracle Network, the
Task Group 'Art and Diversity' from the SUS.DIV
Network, and local and international policy
makers, artists, organizers, researchers.
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• Methodology
• Besides the key note speakers, who will made
  introductory speeches, the input was also in the
  form of picturesvery short texts or PPT (not
  more than 5 slides) which showed how Oracle
  members (artists, cultural practitioners and
  researcher)s see this phenomenon. It helped us to
  figure out how we might engage fully in the
  process of sustainability beyond political
  discourses and put all this into understandable
  forms and practice. This was a result of Oracle
  Cyprus seminar that took place in Cyprus, october
  2008.Questions-guidelines
• Sustainable futures need to be imagined, if we
  are to want them - and not just with words.
• For you, what does sustainability "sound" like?
• For you, what would a sustainable cultural
  project "look" like?
• If you find any, do propose "tools" to master
  what is at stake and launch fresh ideas.
• If you know any, write or steal texts, ideas,
  concept that you think could enable cultural
  managers, artists, citizens to enjoy daily life
  in a radically different and resourceful
  efficient way.

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Seville Seminar 2009 short content overview
The first day started with presentation of
Andalusian cultural scene and policy introduced
by Paula Rodriguez, Project and Program Director
of ICAS Institute for Arts and Culture of
Seville, www.proyectolunar.com. Than were
presented two reports from Seminars dedicated to
SUS.DIV project Report from 1st international
seminar Diversity through the Arts Policy and
Practice Perspectives held in December 2008 at
the Hague University, Netherlands, by Manuela
Sanchez Hernandez and outcomes from Oracle
Cyprus Seminar, held in september 2008, by Robert
Alagjozovski, Ana Mansilla, Nevenka Sivavec and
Catherine Charléty.Working sessions the same day
continued with short presentations of different
projects dealing with the multifaceted complex of
the topics sustainability/ cultural diversity,
like VANIA Project by Jean Pierre Deru, Peep
Show, by Manuela Sanchez Hernandez, E Pluribus
Unum Cultural diversity through the eyes of
Flemish journalism students, by Maja Wolny-Peirs
and MACC (Atlantic Market of Contemporary
Creation), by Manel Montañes, Director de
MACC,www.maccatlantic.org.

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short content overview
The second day, after the general assembly
meeting, Milica Pesic, Executive Director of
Media Diversity Institute, London, UK,
www.media-diversity.org, gave a presentation
named Inter-communal mistrusts the role of news
media. Then, Paul Raether from Berlin, Germany,
http//www.werkstatt-der-kulturen.de, talked
about Culture a fiction? and Maja Wolny-Peirs
read a part of her intercultural novel KARA. The
working part of the seminar was ended with Oracle
member, Vincent Dumesnil intervention about
project named Artistic residencies in several
rural regions in Europe with open invitation for
partnership.
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Network objectives are continue to be the same

Having in mind the Network potentials, board
concentrated onto three objectives objective
1 to inaugurate and maintain the administrative
structure within the board and to secure the
administrative management of the
Network objective 2 to run up ideas, actions,
projects and activities in and with the
Oracle objective 3 to keep the members informed
and involved in the Network
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Administrative management
The first thing to do for this aim was to really
insist on the formal duties among board members
as described above. Thanks to a great engagement
and effort of Board member, Luc Braconnier who
prepared and organized 12th seminar in Luxembourg
2010 we succeeded to hold this year
seminar. Jean-Pierre helped Luc Braconnier, as a
treasurer, to keep the financial book and
accounting accurate and lawful. Robert
Alagjozovski, as president, presented Oracle
Network during 1st Antenna Meeting with new
members and debate DIVERSITY THROUGH THE ARTS
POLICY AND PRACTICE PERSPECTIVES9-20 MAY 2009
Dublin, Ireland and 2nd Antenna Meeting with new
members and debate as part of the Oracle SUS.DIV.
project Cultural diversity based projects and
its effects on sustainable development, 17-18
OCTOBER 2009, Toledo and Cuenca, Spain. Also, he
prepared two project proposals for June-October
2009, searching the partners and developing ideas
for future Oracle projects.
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administrative management
Ljiljana Simic Deru, has been and still is in
charge for the overall success of the unique
project Oracle Network has SUS.DIV. She
participated in SUS.DIV. Task Group work on
several articles and join research on two up
coming books about Sustainable development and
cultural diversity 1. publication of the book
Diversity management in practice a
cross-cultural multi -disciplinary annotated
bibliography addressing policy and well-being
- Publisher Sussex Academic Press - Publication
date October 2009. This is a cross-cultural and
multi-disciplinary initiative that reflects the
variety of professional and personal experiences
of all SUSDIV members and institutions, working
in disciplines as diverse as anthropology,
psychology, economics, sociology, political
sciences, art and economic history, architecture,
law, urban and regional studies, geography, and
linguistics.  2. - Cultural diversity based
projects and its effects on sustainable
development by Milena Dragicevic Šešic, Ljiljana
Simic and Jean Pierre Deru Publisher Edward
Elgar -Expected publication date 2010. 3.
-webography of Oracle articles and newsletter on
SUSDIV. org 4. - active participation in regular
SUS.DIV. activities 5. - moderation/participation
of the workshop in the  European Forum for
Culture 2009 -  different workshops
(neighbourhoodintercultural dialoque)
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administrative management
Louise Allen, as Spiritus Movens developed and
provide information about new concept, as part of
slight change of our methodology of the work
during this year seminar according to
http//www.pecha-kucha.org, and contribution to
the roundtable discussion re poverty and social
exclusion Tamara Jokovic, as secretary,
continues to communicate and inform via the
circulars and web page in both directions
Board-members-Board. She maintains Network
administration work, web site and the mailing
list of all Oracle members and she was involved
in organization of Seville seminar 2009. The
board initiated regular mail correspondence on
the current issues and activities. At list twice
a year it held continuous board sessions via
messenger. The traditional Oracle seminars were
used to have at least two more meetings during
the seminar, always including the present Oracle
members.
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Oracle project - SUS.DIV
Up until now, Oracle network has been running an
important large scale five years long project on
Sustainable diversity, together with 14 partners,
most of it universities throughout Europe. This
project seriously helped the condition of the
Network and succeeded to seriously involve
several of its members in the realization of
it. Oracle Network continues to give its input
in SUS.DIV's primary objective which is to
integrate European research capabilities across
disciplines and countries in order to provide our
society instruments and tools for managing
cultural diversity as a key element of a new
strategy for sustainable development. We fully
participate in Action task 4.2 "Cultural dialogue
through art diversity in the cultural arena"
investigates art as a means to favor a
non-hierarchical expression of diversity and
cultural dialogue leading to social cohesion,
social capital and knowledge creation. More on
our Oracle Network contribution and up date on
future activities on - http//www.ebos.com.cy/susd
iv/
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What after SUS.DIV Project NEW Project ideas
1. From diaspora to diversites
2. Beyond Europe Euromediterian and African
project
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ORACLE web site
The new version of ORACLE website was developed
and active since 2009. It is simple Site
presenting the Network with its most important
information. All about Network activities, Board
and Network members, meetings, projects and
documents done and running can be find inside
this renewed web page. Also, there is interactive
forum active as BLOG inside the web site.... The
actual web page title is http//www.oraclecultural
network.site40.net/ and to make it up it pithier
our proposal is to change the title in
www.oraclenetwork.org
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Preparation of Oracle 12th Seminar, Luxembourg
2010
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One year financial report
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conclusion for objective 1 We can assume that the
administrative management of the Oracle network
is good. Its weak point - the scarce financial
capacities is overcome by the modern
technologies and enthusiasm of the board
members. conclusion for objective 2 Do not ask
what the Oracle network (or its board) can do for
you, make a creative use of Network capacities
and spread the name of it -)) conclusion for
objective 3 Up until now, the best results in
keeping the members alive is when scheduling a
task. Working more upon concrete goals proved
much better than when only discussing the
metatextual body of the Network and the things.