English
Welcome to the web page of Unesco Platform Vlaanderen: the central source of information in Flanders (the Dutch speaking part of Belgium) for everything that concerns UNESCO: the Organization of the United Nations that aims at improving everybody’s future and promoting world peace by stimulating international cooperation in the fields of education, science, culture and communication.
Visitors of this website who do not master the Dutch language and wish to learn more about UNESCO, can visit UNESCO’s official web site or the web pages of several other UNESCO Centres around the world that can be found on our links page.
International family
Unesco Platform Vlaanderen was established with the support of the Flemish government to coordinate the various UNESCO initiatives in Flanders and to raise awareness for the ideals that UNESCO defends through its programmes. Unesco Platform Vlaanderen is part of an international family of UNESCO Centres: non governmental organizations that contribute to the realization of UNESCO’s ambitions.
UNESCO varies from other similar international organizations because of the close connection it maintains with different representatives of the civil society. The Organization cherishes this link because it ensures a good relation with the grass root level: people who are active in the field contribute to the preparation and implementation of UNESCO’s programmes.
Dissemination of information
Unesco Platform Vlaanderen focuses primarily on the dissemination of information about the different activities of UNESCO, since there is an obvious need in Flanders for a focal point to which people can turn with their questions and possible propositions for cooperation. The information that is directly available from UNESCO is usually in one, or the three, working languages of the Organization: English, French and Spanish. To lower the threshold as much as possible, Unesco Platform Vlaanderen concentrates on providing information in Dutch, so as to allow the Flemish people to learn more about the complex matters that UNESCO deals with in their mother tongue. This strategy explains why, apart from this small introductory section, this web site is entirely in Dutch.
One of the channels through which Unesco Platform Vlaanderen fulfils its task, is the three monthly magazine Unesco Info: the only periodical in Flanders to report regularly on UNESCO’s activities in Dutch. Unesco Platform Vlaanderen also publishes Dutch brochures on specific UNESCO programmes. These are often adapted translations of publications that are available from UNESCO, but Unesco Platform Vlaanderen does also autonomously develop publications about certain UNESCO themes that it wants to bring to the notice of the Flemish public.
Contacts with the public
Unesco Platform Vlaanderen runs a documentation centre, open to the public, where information is gathered that allows the organization to answer questions from the public. It disposes of a considerable collection of periodicals and other publications from UNESCO, such as books and cd-roms. Unesco Platform Vlaanderen maintains a close working relation with several of UNESCO’s information and communication services.
In addition to the information function it fulfils, Unesco Platform Vlaanderen is involved in other projects, often in cooperation with partner organizations. These projects often concern (international) meetings on a specific theme that is related to UNESCO’s programmes, where experts and witnesses are offered a forum to share and exchange ideas and experiences with each other and the attending participants.
