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Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Publishes new Programming Plan

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  • Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Publishes new Programming Plan

    FUNDAÇÃO CALOUSTE GULBENKIAN
    Armenian Communities Department - Service des Communautés Arméniennes
    Av. de Berna, 45 A, PT-1067-001, Lisboa, Portugal
    Tel: +351 21 782 3658
    E-mail: [email protected]

    Oscar O'Sullivan
    Gestor de Projetos Junior
    Serviço das Comunidades Arménias
    FUNDAÇÃO CALOUSTE GULBENKIAN


    Publication of a New Five-Year Programming Plan
    for the Armenian Communities Department of the
    Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

    The new Programming Plan of the Armenian Communities Department (ACD)
    of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation lays out the key components of
    its funding priorities and activities for the next five years
    (2014-2018). Launching in December 2013, it is based on the
    Department's mission "to create a viable future for the Armenian
    people in which its culture and language are preserved and valued."
    The Plan is structured around the four priority areas which are
    crucial in fulfilling that mission: promoting the preservation of
    Armenian language and culture through education, supporting Armenia by
    investing in its youth and civil society, helping to improve
    Armenian-Turkish relations and preserving Armenian literary heritage.
    A consultative process was undertaken that affirmed these needs. The
    most important issue arising is the rapid loss of the language
    Calouste Gulbenkian spoke: Western Armenian. For this reason much of
    the funding will go towards safeguarding and developing the language
    and culture, particularly in the diaspora. A strategic approach is
    being adopted as the Department begins to provide larger sums to fewer
    initiatives, so that greater impact is assured.
    What follows is a presentation of the programmes, grouped around four
    priority areas. In addition to these, two further initiatives will be
    introduced: turning the Department into a hub of connections and
    strategic thinking for the Armenian world, and humanitarian support in
    unforeseen circumstances (e.g. the Armenian community in
    Syria). Programmes will be implemented throughout the world by trusted
    partners.

    1. Preservation of the Armenian language and culture, and the
    development of the diaspora by linking its different parts and
    investing in education

    i) Loss of the Western Armenian Language
    Western Armenian is an "Endangered Language" according to UNESCO,
    under the threat of disappearing if serious initiatives are not
    undertaken to reinforce it. This generation is probably the last
    generation that can halt or possibly reverse this process of
    not-so-gradual loss of a language that was a vibrant source of
    Armenian culture only half a century ago. The ACD will focus on the
    following four areas to reinforce and develop the language:

    A. Support to Armenian Schools and Other Educational Initiatives in
    the Diaspora
    Armenian schools will continue to receive funding. There will be a
    focus on less developed countries where the Armenian community faces
    significant material limitations, and where there also is a critical
    mass of Armenian speakers (or the potential of having such a critical
    mass). Where there is demographic growth in a community, support for
    the set-up of new schools or the strengthening of existing ones will
    be considered.
    Student-related initiatives that preserve the language will also be
    financed. Innovative youth initiatives that encourage Armenians in the
    diaspora to speak the language and to produce culture in it will be
    backed, particularly in Western countries. Emphasis will be put on
    extra-curricular activities related to culture and initiatives that
    are led by young people speaking to their interests as defined by them
    rather than defined by traditional community leaders.

    B. Support the Creation of a Teacher Training Centre for Western
    Armenian The Department aims to foster an intellectual community that
    can teach the language in schools, edit the newspapers and websites of
    tomorrow, produce culture and manage community affairs in Armenian. To
    this end, it will provide a significant grant over the next two years
    to establish somewhere in the diaspora an Armenian Teacher Training
    Centre or Programme. It will also support the establishment of an
    International Western Armenian Teachers Association.

    C. Academic Centres and University-Based Initiatives that Teach
    Western Armenian and Culture, Research the Use of Western Armenian or
    Contribute to Armenian Studies Support will be available for academic
    centres and initiatives where Western Armenian is taught to students
    who specialise in Armenian studies or are learning the language for
    personal reasons, as well as innovative projects on the use and
    reinforcement of Western Armenian. Additionally, some support will be
    given to conferences and lectures focused on Armenian studies.

    D. Use of New Technologies
    Historically Armenians have been at the forefront of new technologies
    and have adapted these to the needs of Armenian culture. The ACD hopes
    to continue this tradition and encourage the use of modern
    technologies in teaching the language, producing culture and making
    Armenian part of the "technological world" of youth. As such, web
    courses and other electronic learning opportunities, innovative apps
    for culture and language, interactive electronic publications, online
    networks and other such initiatives will be considered for
    support. Emphasis will be put upon initiatives that reach out to
    Armenian youth around the world electronically, linking them, bringing
    Armenian culture to them and encouraging them to produce culture.

    ii) Scholarships
    Scholarships continue to be at the heart of the Department's
    funding. It has developed five principal categories for university
    student support. In general, fewer, larger, merit-based scholarships
    will be awarded in order to ensure greater impact. Full information on
    each grant and applicant eligibility will be available on the
    Department's website. The scholarship categories for the next five
    years are as follows: i) The Calouste Gulbenkian Global Excellence
    Scholarship for Armenian Students (four per year); ii) The Calouste
    Gulbenkian Armenian Studies Scholarship (six to ten); iii) Western
    Armenian Teacher Training Scholarships (six); iv) Short Term
    Conference and Travel Grants to Students in Armenia (approx. forty);
    v) The Calouste Gulbenkian Undergraduate Studies Scholarships
    (approx. forty). On an ad hoc basis, modest support to Armenian
    university students already studying in Portugal may be considered.
    Emergency scholarships will be provided to students caught up in
    conflict or other major crisis situations. Finally, the potential for
    a Calouste Gulbenkian Armenian Communities Department "Alumni
    Association" and the establishment of an "Internship Programme" for
    young Armenians will be explored.

    2. Development of a viable Armenia through investing in its youth and
    their commitment to civil society

    Grants will be provided to civil society organisations that encourage
    civic education, engagement and mobilisation among the youth,
    providing them employment opportunities while being socially active
    citizens. Projects that balance engagement in Yerevan with activities
    and initiatives outside of the capital city will be favoured. Another
    element of the Department's work in Armenia will be to link young
    intellectuals in the country with their peers in Europe, North America
    and other developed countries. A series of exchange programmes, study
    tours and intensive summer courses are planned to enhance the exposure
    of Armenia's scientific and cultural community to innovations and
    trends elsewhere, particularly in the social sciences and humanities.
    The ACD will collaborate with the Ministry of the Diaspora on certain
    initiatives, particularly to strengthen the Western Armenian language
    and culture. Within the Armenia "envelope" of funding, there is scope
    for initiatives from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

    3. Improve Armenian-Turkish relations by sponsoring projects that
    encourage a common understanding of their long shared history

    Turkey is in the process of undergoing a significant transformation
    which has enabled the discussion of subjects previously considered
    taboo, including the Armenian Genocide. The Department welcomes this
    and is keen to contribute to it. Two types of activities will be
    supported in Turkey: first, the reinforcement of Armenian community
    structures and institutions in the country, including schools,
    particularly if they contribute to the preservation of Western
    Armenian language, culture and traditions. Second, initiatives of
    civil society and academic dialogue between Armenians on the one hand,
    and Turks and Kurds on the other. This will include projects of
    translation from Armenian into Turkish and Kurdish (and vice versa),
    arts and cultural events, as well as research and training in Ottoman
    studies.

    4. Preserve and make available the Armenian literary heritage

    A signature programme of the Department has been its publication
    support for books, journals and newspapers, whether in Armenian or
    about Armenian issues. This work continues, but will be modernised it
    in two important respects.
    First, while maintaining some funding for the "classics", more
    emphasis will be put upon producing publications on modern and
    contemporary topics, including original research on current issues and
    problems facing Armenia and the diaspora, contemporary literature,
    social and cultural issues of interest to younger readers. Second,
    print publishing will be complemented by electronic
    publishing. Digital media will be privileged: funding will go towards
    supporting newspapers and journals to go online, and encouraging the
    production of interactive e-books, as well as Armenian-related
    smartphone applications, online dictionaries and lexicons. It is
    anticipated that online publications will receive the majority of this
    funding by 2020.
    Projects will be undertaken to digitise important ancient manuscripts,
    archival documents and other rare texts.
    A two-way translation programme will be developed: initiatives to make
    important Armenian texts available in other significant languages will
    be financed, along with translation into Armenian of important foreign
    language texts.
    Some funds will be set aside to explicitly encourage the creation of
    new literature and culture - be it in Western Armenian or in another
    language but concerning Armenians. To this end, the Department will
    sponsor initiatives such as creative writing workshops that encourage
    Armenians to engage in cultural production that is innovative and
    participatory.
    Plans are being made for an international prize for best new fiction
    and non-fiction, open to younger authors writing in Western Armenian.

    5. Turning the Department into a hub of connections and strategic
    thinking, and collaborating with other Departments within the
    Foundation

    The ACD is changing from a traditional funder into a catalyst for
    change, and a facilitator of strategic thinking and long term
    planning. Its international and independent position is unique in the
    Armenian world, enabling it to act above partisan community
    politics. Organisations, experts and noted leaders will be invited to
    Lisbon on a yearly basis to discuss current issues of mutual concern
    and to strategise collectively to find solutions. The meetings will
    focus on common interests and concrete goals, linking components of
    the Armenian world that do not usually come together. The first
    meeting will take place in 2014 on a broad "inaugural" theme:
    Armenians in 2115. This will be a valuable chance for community
    leaders to ask: "Where is the Armenian nation heading after the
    commemoration of 2015?"
    In collaboration with other colleagues at the Foundation, Armenian
    cultural events will be staged in Portugal so that Armenian culture,
    music, art and history becomes known in the Foundation's home country.

    6. Unforeseen circumstances and humanitarian needs (Urgent Action
    fund)

    From time to time there are calls to intervene in a major
    humanitarian crisis (e.g. Syria). Some funds will be set aside in
    order to cope with such unforeseen circumstances. On occasions
    important opportunities related to the Department's mission but not
    necessarily programmed in its budget will be
    financed.

    Conclusion: Working through Partners

    To realise its objectives, the ACD needs to work with excellent
    partners around the world, be they organisations or individuals. The
    first group of partners are its grantees. The Department is eager to
    work much more closely with partners to ensure results. Funds will not
    simply be distributed to organisations and individuals. Collaborative
    work will continue on an ongoing basis. Second, further partnership
    opportunities will be explored between the Department and other
    organisations that have an interest in supporting Armenia and Armenian
    initiatives. Joint programmes will be sought with organisations
    whereby the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation will be one funder among
    several others.
    The ACD's vision of the Armenian world of the early
    2020s is a world in which Western Armenian is more secure as a living
    language, sustained through a network of young qualified teachers and
    intellectuals using innovative teaching and communication methods, as
    well as a youthful generation in diaspora that continues to speak it
    and create in it. It is hoped that in a few years Armenians will reap
    the rewards of the Foundation's scholarship programmes, as hundreds of
    university educated men and women assume leadership positions in their
    respective fields, and that Armenian Studies, as an academic field,
    gains a number of new graduates not only researching issues and
    problems currently facing the Armenian nation but also offering
    evidence-based solutions. The ACD hopes for a much stronger civil
    society in Armenia, with an engaged youth that contributes to the
    country's democratic development, and an academic community that is
    globally connected and participating in international debates using
    the latest research methods and approaches in the social sciences. It
    also hopes to see engagement between Armenians and Turks advance to
    such a degree that the dialogue between the two peoples - and the
    issues it deals with - becomes part of the mainstream of the two
    societies instead of being confined to the sidelines. Finally, it will
    be a source of pride for the Department to see at the end of the Five
    Year Plan a younger generation using scores of IT-based applications,
    books, journals, newspapers and other electronic initiatives that
    either use Western Armenian or enhance Armenian culture and learning
    in the digital world.
    In short, through the activities of this Plan, the Armenian
    Communities Department strives to create a more viable future for the
    Armenian people in which its culture and language are preserved and
    valued. That, after all, is its mission.


    The full plan is available in English, Armenian and French on our site:
    http://www.gulbenkian.pt/section24artId4359langId2.html#

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