A UNESCO Chair in Cultural Management at HEC Montréal

MONTREAL, May 10, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - HEC Montréal and the Canadian Commission for UNESCO officially announced the creation of the UNESCO Chair in Cultural Management at the Leadership Nouveau event (staging.leadershipnouveau.com) held at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York today. Myriam Montrat, Secretary General of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, HEC Montréal Director Michel Patry, and François Colbert, holder of the new UNESCO Chair, were all on hand for the presentation of the new Chair's goals. It will be offering arts management programs for southern hemisphere countries.

"HEC Montréal has a worldwide reputation in the field of cultural management," explains François Colbert, who also holds the Carmelle and Rémi Marcoux Chair in Arts Management. "The School aims to train cultural managers in best practices in management and this new Chair will allow us to share our skills and knowledge even more widely around the globe."

Some twenty professors are associated with the UNESCO Chair in Cultural Management. Its objectives are:

• Set up a scientific network to promote the exchange of knowledge, and strengthen North-South academic collaboration;
• Facilitate the transfer, exchange and sharing of expertise by building capacity among practitioners in southern hemisphere countries;
• Educate trainers to promote the establishment of centres of excellence in cultural management in southern hemisphere countries;
• Align its operations with the Agenda 21 for Culture, a document with a worldwide mission that encourages cities and local governments to commit themselves to cultural development, by promoting the training of managers in an interdisciplinary and multicultural context.

UNESCO sees international Intellectual cooperation as a powerful force for lasting peace. Since its creation, UNESCO has encouraged opportunities for dialogue among academics who now belong to a multitude of international networks. The UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs program was conceived as a way to advance research, training and program development in all of UNESCO's fields of competence by building networks and encouraging international cooperation through the transfer of knowledge across borders.

"Managers in the arts and culture field come to HEC Montréal for advanced training, based on current practice and responding to their expectations," explains HEC Montréal Director Michel Patry. "We already have several students in our PhD in Administration program from Latin America, Asia and Europe who are particularly interested in the management of cultural organizations. I am pleased to say that the announcement of this new UNESCO Chair confirms the relevance of this kind of training."

The UNESCO Chair in Cultural Management plans to work with university institutions in various countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa: the School of Management at Los Andes University in Bogotá, Colombia, the Urban Research Plaza at Osaka City University, Japan, and the Instituto Universitario de Lisboa, ISCTE, in Lisbon, Portugal.

About HEC Montréal
HEC Montréal is a university institution with over 12,000 students enrolled in its many management programs, from the undergraduate to postgraduate level, and also trains more than 7,000 executives and managers every year. It is one of the most active Canadian business schools in research, thanks to some fifty research units, with 25 chairs including 7 Canada Research Chairs. HEC Montréal is a Francophone institution, with 270 professors, that offers a number of programs in more than one language. Since its founding in 1907, the School has trained more than 71,000 students in a wide variety of management fields.
hec.ca

About UNESCO
UNESCO (United Nations Educational Social and Cultural Organization) works to create the conditions for dialogue among civilizations, cultures and peoples, based upon respect for commonly shared values. It is through this dialogue that the world can achieve global visions of sustainable development encompassing observance of human rights, mutual respect and the alleviation of poverty, all of which are at the heart of UNESCO'S mission and activities.

The mandate of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO can be summarized as advisory and consultative, providing liaison and coordination with respect to UNESCO programme activities in Canada, and as Canada's contribution to UNESCO's worldwide work. The Commission is an independent division within the Canada Council for the Arts.

SOURCE: HEC MONTREAL

HEC Montréal :
Julie Lajoye
Public relations adviser, HEC Montréal
Telephone:  [phone]
[email protected]

Canadian Commission  for UNESCO :
Élisabeth Barot
Programme Officer, Education
Telephone: [phone]
[email protected]