Panel
- Culture and cities
The
city in practice:thoughts on culture, the city and the citizen.
Keynote
speaker : Robert Palmer
Guest
speakers :
Lise Bissonnette, Dinu Bumbaru, Daniel Latouche
Moderator : Françoise Guénette
BIO NOTES
Robert Palmer
Over the past 15 years, my main work has been working with European cities in developing cultural strategies and policies which in certain cases have aimed to re-position the city in national and international terms, as well as to focus locally and regionally on issues such as the development of cultural industries, cultural tourism, creativity and social inclusion.
I have personally managed the processes of cultural regeneration in two cities, Glasgow (Scotland) and Brussels (Belgium) and have been an advisor and consultant to local authorities and cultural organisations in other cities which have included Lisbon, Antwerp, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Barcelona and Rotterdam. My past experience has included being director of a city cultural department (Glasgow), director of a national arts council (Scotland), the director of two major arts centres, three festivals and active participation in several European cultural networks.
Following the completion of a 4 year contract with Brussels (responsible to a Board which was chaired by the Mayor of Brussels and which comprised ministers and chairmen of private companies based in Belgium), I am now working as an independent consultant and advisor. Current projects include a major reconsideration of cultural policies in Belfast (Northern Ireland) and the re-positioning of Singapore as a multi-cultural creative centre in international terms.
I am a cultural adisor to the European Commission, the British Council and other bodies, and also sit on the Boards of two international festivals. I am the President of the Network of European Cultural Cities (30 cities).
Although I have lived in Europe for over 20 years, I was born in Toronto Canada, and I am a graduate of York University.
|
Lise Bissonnette Lise Bissonnette is President and Chief Executive Officer of La Grande bibliothèque du Québec. Prior to her appointment to this position in August 1998, she was publisher and editor of the Quebec daily, Le Devoir. |
 |
After completing graduate studies in education in Montreal, Strasbourg and Paris, Lise Bissonnette worked in higher education planning before launching her career in journalism with Le Devoir in 1974 and subsequently going on to become head of the newspaper in 1990. Outstanding political and cultural analyst and manager, she reformed this influential paper, thoroughly revising its editorial base, straightening out its finances and giving it a new design which earned it several international awards.
A writer, she is the author of five novels, two collections of essays and three works of fiction, all published by Éditions Boréales. The English translations of her works of fiction have been published by House of Anansi Press.
Recipient of several awards, including five honorary doctorates from universities in Quebec, Canada and the United States, Lise Bissonnette was also awarded a career medal from the Académie des lettres du Québec. She was inducted into the Canadian Journalism Hall of Fame, is a member of l’Ordre de la Pléiade (the Francophonie), an officer of l’Ordre du Québec and received the Legion of Honour from the French government.
The Grande bibliothèque du Québec, a national cultural institution is scheduled to open its doors at the end of 2003 in Montreal. It will network with all libraries in Quebec, and will promote books, reading as well as national and international literature throughout Quebec.
Daniel Latouche
Daniel Latouche is Research Professor at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique in Montréal where he heads the Culture and the City Research and Planning Group.
He was born in Montréal in 1945 and educated at the University of Montréal, the University of Chicago and the University of British Columbia where he received a Ph.D. in Political Science in 1973.From 1970 to 1987, he was a member of the Department of Political Science at McGill University and has held visiting appointments at the University of Bordeaux, the University of California at Berkeley and Princeton University. From 1978 to 1980, he served as Constitutional and Canadian Affairs Advisor in the Quebec Prime MinisterÍs Office.
In addition to a long-standing interest in Québec and Canadian political issues, he is currently involved in research on the evolution of technological and cultural policies at the local level, the role of cities in the global economy and the managing of culturally divided cities.
Since 1991, he serves as Secretary General of the Group of Lisbon, an international think-tank actively involved in a critical reexamination of some of the major issues associated with globalization. Since 1990, he acts as consultant for major international organization with a particular interest in issues of decentralization and urban development in West-Africa.
A frequent contributor to both the English and French media, Daniel Latouche has been a regular columnist for the Montréal daily Le Devoir and since 1987 has served as guest-commentator or Montréal-Matin and, more recently, for The Globe and Mail.
Culture and the City, INRS-Urbanisation
3465, rue Durocher, Montréal, Québec, H2X 2C6
Telephone : (514) 499-4005 Fax : (514) 499-4065 E-mail : daniel_latouche@inrs-urb.uquebec.ca
Françoise Guénette is a freelance journalist.
Over the past 25 years, she has been an interviewer on public affairs radio programs for Radio-Canada, deputy editor of the feminist monthly La Vie en rose and host of the Radio-Canada television program Les Temps modernes, as well as Option ƒducation and Droit de parole on the Télé-Québec television network.
From 1999 to 2001, she was writer-researcher for Extremis, an ambitious documentary series produced by Macumba International that will be broadcast beginning this fall domestically on Télé-Québec and internationally on TV-5. She lives in Quebec City, where she presents the press review on Radio-Canada's morning radio show. She also acts as moderator for public forums and meetings.
email : fguenette@videotron.ca
