Ancient Olympia Meet to Explore Intercultural Dialogue

Ancient Olympia. Photo © Wikimedia Commons

Achieving intercultural dialogue will be the subject of an international conference to be held at Ancient Olympia on September 1-6 under the title: “The Need for a Constructive Dialogue Between Peoples and Cultures and the Olympic Idea”, e-typos reports.

A joint initiative of the International Olympic Academy (IOA) and the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO), the meeting will focus on four key areas: Politics and Economics, Art and Culture, Olympism and Culture, and Research and the Universe: A Challenge for the Future.

In a written message on the occasion of the event, President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, says the symposium’s subject is very timely and touches on many of the pressing issues facing the European and international community today.

The Irish president adds that it is particularly important that the conference is taking place in Greece, not only due to its spiritual and cultural heritage but also for its central role in the history of democracy.

Meanwhile, Spyros Mercouris, the president of NGO Orizontes and brother of the late culture minister and actress Melina Mercouri, stressed that tourism and culture should be seen as a single entity: “two intertwined rings symbolizing the free movement of people, ideas and values from one country to another, contributing to a constructive dialogue of peoples and cultures”.