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PRESS RELEASE –SPAT-C - European Conference on ‘Combating and Preventing Social Exclusion through the use of Cultural Tools’

Sheffield is a host to an important conference on culture and its links with social exclusion and racism from 5th to 8th July 2001. Delegates from Holland, Germany, Denmark and Italy will engage with their local partner, the Sheffield Positive Action Training Consortium (SPAT-C) and the local communities to discuss these issues – There is no entry fee for participation at the conference.

Funded by Brussels and supported by the Council, the conference will look at how cultural differences feed into racial prejudice and create divisions in our communities. But more importantly, the conference will also explore the powerful way in which cultural activities can create communication and sharing between different races, cultures and communities, who do not sometimes even share each other’s language.

The conference, at the Centre for Popular Music, Paternoster Row, promises to be more than a mere talking shop. Practical examples of poetry, music, films and cultural happenings from across Europe, and which challenge racial stereo-types, will be presented - Cllr Steve Ayris, Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion in the City Council said “The SPAT-C conference is an important event for Sheffield and will help shape Council’s cultural policy to reflect cultural diversity and the role of ethnic minority art forms in promoting a multi-cultural society”.