The European Union is a political and economic union of 27 member states located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community. With almost 500 million citizens, the EU combined generates an estimated 30% share (US$18.4 trillion in 2008) of the nominal gross world product.

The Romanian Cultural Institute, a public body founded in 2003, is tasked with raising the profile of Romanian culture around the world. In order to achieve this, it spreads information and spearheads cultural projects involving Romanian artists and writers.
Furthermore, the Romanian Cultural Institute acts as means through which foreign audiences can experience the products of Romanian culture. Cultural exports from Romania are, for the most part, facilitated by the institute’s 16 foreign branches, located in Berlin, Brussels, Budapest (with a subsidiary in Szeged), Istanbul, Lisbon, London, Madrid, New York, Paris, Prague, Rome, Stockholm, Tel Aviv, Venice, Vienna and Warsaw. These are tasked with organising high-visibility cultural events adapted to suit the tastes of foreign audiences, while at the same time ensuring that a balance be maintained between their uniqueness and an international appeal.

EUNIC is a partnership of national institutions for culture, engaged beyond their national borders and operating with a degree of autonomy from their governments. The EUNIC membership currently includes organisations from 25 EU countries and it is intended that this will grow in time to include national institutes for culture from all the member states. The total operating budget of the current EUNIC membership is more than 2.2 billion Euro per annum.

The purpose of EUNIC is to create effective partnerships and networks between the participating organisations, to improve and promote cultural diversity and understanding between European societies, and to strengthen international dialogue and co-operation with countries outside Europe.

Who we are

The British Council is the UK's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.

What we do

The British Council builds engagement and trust for the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people worldwide, through our work in the following three areas: climate change, intercultural dialogue, and creativity and education. We work in 109 countries and territories across the world.

 In the Czech Republic we:

• run English language courses in Prague for all ages and levels

• organise internationally-recognised examinations

• collaborate on projects in the areas of climate change, intercultural dialogue and creative and knowledge economy.

• work with a wide network of partners, from government departments to schools, from think tanks to libraries

The Czech Centres’ mission is to advance the dialogue of cultures between the Czech Republic and the international public and to promote the Czech Republic’s culture, sciences and humanities, education, trade, and tourism. The Czech Centres operate 24 centres located in the world’s major capitals across 21 countries and 3 continents. The Czech Centres are funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.

The Austrian Cultural Forum Prague (ACF), an institution of the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, began its activities as early as 1993. Since 1996 it is located in the very centre of Prague, Praha 1, on Jungmannovo nám?stí 18. There a gallery, a library and a hall for an audience of almost 100 listeners are at the disposal of the public.

  The ACF intends conveying a contemporary image of Austria as well as spreading the knowledge of its treasures, its achievements and its potential. As to the specific field of presentation there is almost no limit: fine arts as well as modern and classic design, architecture, music and literature, theatre, film and other multi-media, but also scientific research, education, journalism; in short: the whole spectrum of life in its relevance for artistic creation and expression.

  The ACF initiates, supports and funds the cooperation of artists and scientists of both countries. It is working together with them in order to develop, prepare, organize and perform specific projects. But it perceives itself also as a service institution, informing and helping to get the suitable and fitting contacts in Austria and the Czech Republic.

  A well equipped library is open to the public daily from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. It contains reading on Austrian literature, history of music, fine arts and history, especially from the 20th century. Furthermore, seven “Austrian Libraries” in  Brno, ?eské Bud?jovice, Liberec, Olomouc, Opava, Plze? and Znojmo keep alive the close relationship of the Czechs to Austrian cultural and intellectual life.
Austria’s cultural policy abroad lays a special focus on the teaching of German as a foreign language. This is carried out by an institution called Österreich Institut. Its seat being in Vienna it does the language training in the Czech Republic in Brno (Tel.: 549241991, E-Mail: oei@oei.cz, www.oesterreichinstitut.cz) where one can achieve internationally recognized diploma of different level.

The Flemish Representation in the Czech Republic provides information on all competences of the Flemish Regional Government. Our activities in the Czech Republic are focused at present on educational, cultural and scientific exchange programmes. The office of the Flemish Representation cooperates closely on matters concerning investment and business with our trade agency FIT.

The Flemish Representation assists organizers in inviting the Flemish artists to the Czech Republic. We inform the Czech public and media through a bi-monthly electronic cultural calendar, published together with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Our office is situated on the premises of the Belgian Embassy in Prague.

For all information and further enquiries contact andrea.bednarova@flanders.cz

Acting on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany Goethe-Institut e.V. promotes various issues of foreign cultural and educational policy.

Goethe-Institut sets internationally recognised standards in the teaching and learning of German as a foreign language. It runs language courses, compiles teaching materials, trains teachers, contributes to scientific research and participates in politico language initiatives.

Goethe-Institut monitors trends in Germany and encourages cultural collaboration across the globe by organising programmes of events and making contributions to various festivals and exhibitions in the fields of film, dance, theatre, literature and translation.

Libraries and information centres, forums for discussion, diverse print-, audio- and video-publications and our visitors’ service aim to paint a contemporary portrait of Germany, promoting international discourse on the key concerns of what is becoming an increasingly global society.

With a network of Goethe-Instituts, Goethe Centres, cultural societies, reading rooms and exam and language learning centres we have played a central role in the cultural and educational policies of Germany for over 50 years.

The Polish Institutes have the function of competent centers that promote knowledge about Poland by conducting information and education activities and by assuring the presence of in the cultural life of the countries of residence. Their main duties include introducing the Polish culture in the major centers of these countries, assuring a significant Polish presence in international actions, as well as establishing sustainable relations between Polish and international partners active in the field of international cultural exchanges. The activities undertaken by the Polish Institutes in the world are supported, from the Polish side, besides the Foreign Ministry, by national cultural institutions, as the Polish Cinema Institute, the Book Institute, the Theater Institute, the “Fryderyk Chopin” National Institute and the “Adam Mickiewicz”, which include international cooperation among their objectives. Polish Institutes are currently active in most European countries (Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, UK, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, and Hungary), as well as outside Europe (Israel, USA).

In 2004, the Polish Institute in Bucharest also extended its activities to the Republic of Moldova.
Mail: institutul.polonez@culturapoloneza.ro
Site: www.culturapoloneza.ro
Blog: www.getyourip.ro

The Open Society Archives (OSA) at Central European University is an archival laboratory. While actively collecting, preserving, and making openly accessible documents related to recent history and human rights, it continues to experiment with new ways to contextualize primary sources, developing innovative tools to explore, represent, or bridge traditional archival collections in a digital environment. Its approach
to acquisition is increasingly proactive and inclusive, and it actively seeks out non-traditional material, material previously marginalized based on its content, social origin, or form. At OSA Archivum, professional archival work is integrated with public programs, and its Galeria Centralis serves as the focal point of exhibitions, performances, film screenings, lectures, and seminars. Through all of
these endeavors, OSA advocates: open access and transparency in public administration; equal rights to information; the ethical use of private data; open formats and open standards; and broad access to cultural heritage.

Motivated by the will to debate about Europe in Bulgaria, Cafe Babel Sofia was born in February 2009 as the Bulgarian branch of the European magazine cafebabel.com. Cafe Babel was launched in 2001 as an Erasmus initiative and is the first multilingual European current affairs magazine designed for readers across borders. Cafebabel.com revolutionises European media through participatory journalism, providing a unique platform of expression for the eurogeneration, the first generation living Europe on a day-by-day basis thanks to the Erasmus programme, the internet and an increasing level of mobility.

Cafe Babel Sofia is promoting the European debate among the Young people in Bulgaria and is independant from political parties.

Cafe Babel Sofia's aims are:

    * to publish editorial electronic contents on the blog sofia.cafebabel.com (Bulgarian, English and French);
    * to organise and participate in national and international events;
    * sensibilize the young people among the civil society in Sofia on European issues.

The BMWF (Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft und Forschung/Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research) covers the fields of basic research and higher education. It develops and delivers policies encouraging world-class research in Austria and the conversion of science into wealth. It works with Universities and Colleges in order to developing them to competence centers aiming to share scientific expertise, resources and facilities through international scientific collaboration. The Ministry furthers the public understanding of science and aims to convey its relevance to society. It consists of three Departments (Universities and Colleges/Scientific research, International affairs – in the area of research/Budget, Personnel, Funding, Public Relations, IT-Coordination) and has about 450 employees.

The Hungarian Cultural Centre in Bucharest is an organization funded by the ministry of education and culture in Hungary and it was opened in 1992. Currently, there are 19 Hungarian Cultural Institutes in operation all over the world. There are considerable differences between the institutes, with some having facilities for providing scholars with fellowships, while others are promoting and branding the Hungarian culture abroad or they are just offices for cultural co-operation.
The Hungarian Cultural Centre in Bucharest takes an active role in the organization of such cultural events as fine arts exhibitions, concerts (classical, jazz, popular), film screenings, theater and dance performances. It also has a library with almost 7000 book titles, magazines and a video library with more than 500 titles. The Hungarian Cultural Centre organizes Hungarian language courses and examinations (ECL).

Délégation Wallonie-Bruxelles in Warsaw