Presentation Schedule


Education and Cultural Diplomacy as a Tool for Peace

Session Information:

Tuesday, 10 June 2025 15:30
Session: Plenary Session
Room: Auditorium (B1F)
Presentation Type: Featured Panel Presentation

All presentation times are UTC + 2 (Europe/Paris)

Cultural diplomats personally witness how education remains one of the most powerful instruments of diplomacy today. One such example is how the Italian model of cultural diplomacy, rooted in a centuries-old tradition of academic cooperation, language promotion, and artistic exchange, has consistently demonstrated its effectiveness in fostering peace and dialogue with cultural institutions across the globe.

This panel will explore how an approach to cultural diplomacy, particularly through education, can be a successful model for international cooperation. Drawing from decades of organising diplomatic initiatives, international conferences, and cultural diplomatic experience leading cultural institutions in Shanghai, Cairo, Prague, and Brussels, panellists will illustrate how culture education has historically used language programs, academic networks, and cultural institutes as pillars of global influence.

Special attention will be given to key strengths of cultural diplomacy, such as:

  • The Cultural Institutes as centres of intercultural dialogue,
  • The language as a vehicle for engagement,
  • Strategic partnerships with universities and cultural organisations,
  • The importance of heritage preservation as a diplomatic tool.
  • The increasing role of digital education in diplomacy, reflecting on how online platforms, virtual exchanges, and cultural programming can help overcome political and geographic barriers, will also be addressed. By bridging practical experience with theoretical analysis, panellists will demonstrate and lead through discussion why cultural diplomacy – when embedded in education, historical awareness, and strategic cultural engagement – remains an essential tool for global peacebuilding.

    Biographies

    Charlotte Faucher

    Charlotte Faucher, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
    Dr Charlotte Faucher is Senior Lecturer in Modern French History at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom. She is a specialist of European soft power in the contemporary period and has published on the topic of culture and international relations, including her monograph Propaganda, Gender, and Cultural Power (Oxford University Press, 2022) and the co-edited Soft Power Beyond the Nation (Georgetown University Press, 2024) and Histoire(s) de la diplomatie culturelle française (Editions de l'Attribut, 2024). The latter was published to mark the centenary of the creation of the Institut Français, France’s agency for cultural diplomacy, and was part of a series of events and publications supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Dr Faucher is currently a Research England Policy Fellow in partnership with the British Council, working on a project investigating UK soft power in Europe over the past 40 years. The project’s key output will contribute to the process of defining a shared vision and strategy for the United Kingdom’s soft power initiatives.

    Takehiro Kano

    Takehiro Kano, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), France
    Mr Takehiro Kano is a diplomat, scholar, and educator who serves as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Delegate of Japan to UNESCO. His diplomatic career began in 1989, when he joined Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) as part of its United Nations Bureau and has since spanned directorial appointments within the Asian Affairs Bureau, Economic Affairs Bureau, International Cooperation Bureau, and Foreign Policy Bureau, among others.
    He became Director of the International Cooperation Bureau’s Climate Change Division in 2010, and subsequently served as Director of the Foreign Policy Bureau’s National Security Policy Division in 2012. In 2014, he became Minister of the Permanent Mission of Japan to the International Organizations in Vienna, Austria, and Minister, Deputy Chief of Mission, of the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines in 2017. In 2021, Mr Kano returned to Japan as the Assistant Minister/Director General of the Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs Department in 2021, then moved into the position of Director General of International Peace Cooperation Headquarters in 2022.
    Mr Kano entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after earning a Bachelor of Law from the University of Tokyo, Japan in 1989 and completed a Master of Economics at Selwyn College in Cambridge University, United Kingdom in 1993. He returned to the University of Tokyo as a Visiting Professor from 2012 to 2014. He is the author of a number of publications in Japanese on diplomacy from various global perspectives, including Environmental Diplomacy: Climate Change Negotiations and Global Governance (Shinzansha Publisher Co., Ltd, 2013), Nuclear Diplomacy: A Perspective from Vienna, the City of IAEA (Shinzansha Publisher Co., Ltd, 2017), ‘Southeast Asian Diplomacy: Its Trajectory in Post-Cold War Period’ (Shinzansha Publisher Co., Ltd, 2020), and Japan’s International Peace Cooperation: Time to Mmove on (‘Diplomacy’ Vol 81, Sep-Oct. 2023).
    Now residing in France, Mr Kano is married with two daughters and one son.

    Frédéric Ramel

    Frédéric Ramel, Sciences Po, France
    Frédéric Ramel is Full Professor of Political Science at Sciences Po in Paris and Research Fellow at the Centre for International Studies (Centre d'études et de recherches internationales - CERI), France. He previously served as ther Head of the Political Science Department at Sciences Po from 2016 to 2022, and was the first Scientific Director of the Strategic Research Institute at the École Militaire from 2009 to 2013. He coordinates the CNRS Research Group on Multilateral Action (GRAM) and also the research programme DATAWAR, financed by the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) dedicated to the role of quantitative data in the interpretation of armed conflicts. Professor Ramel has published in several peer-reviewed journals, including Global Studies Quarterly, Journal of Political Science Education, International Studies Perspectives, and International Peacekeeping, as well as several manuscripts. His latest publications include Espace Mondial [World Space] (Presses de Sciences Po, 2024) and Benevolence in International Relations: A Political Essay (Bristol University Press, 2025), with a foreword from Chris Brown, Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom. His current research focuses on multilateralism, peace, and the planetary and sensitivity in international relations.

    Paolo Sabbatini

    Paolo Sabbatini, World Sinology Center, China
    Professor Paolo Sabbatini is currently Ambassador for Cultural Communications between Italy and China at the World Sinology Center, China. He is also an emeritus senior member of the Italian Foreign Service and an International Spokesperson for Public and Cultural Diplomacy, interacting with entities such as the European Union and the United Nations. As such, he teaches how to incorporate diplomacy and international relations in every field of culture and economics. Ambassador Sabbatini is a member of several academic institutions, among which the Academy of Fine Arts in Perugia, Italy; ECPD/UPeace University established by the United Nations in Belgrade, Serbia; and several Chinese universities.


    About the Presenter(s)
    -Dr Charlotte Faucher is Senior Lecturer in Modern French History at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom.
    -Mr Takehiro Kano is a diplomat, scholar, and educator who serves as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Delegate of Japan to UNESCO.
    -Frédéric Ramel is Full Professor of Political Science at Sciences Po in Paris and Research Fellow at the Centre for International Studies (Centre d'études et de recherches internationales - CERI), France.
    -Professor Paolo Sabbatini is currently Ambassador for Cultural Communications between Italy and China at the World Sinology Center, China.

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