To make progress on these and other complex international issues, it takes more than government to government diplomacy. The impact of individuals -- and communities -- plays a monumental role in shaping the perceptions of our country, whether through trade, art, music, food, or sports. In this endeavor we are making real progress. We have been hard at work building more flexible, rapid response elements to support foreign policy priorities.

This year, Vietnam organized cultural exchanges, art exhibitions and Vietnamese cultural heritage days in many countries. Preparations for promoting Vietnamese culture at the APEC Summit 2017 in Vietnam were made. Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga is Senior Consultant to the Secretariat of APEC 2017: “As the host of APEC 2017, Vietnam aims to promote the image and culture of Vietnam, its soft power, tradition of humanity, and cultural values. 

When the Islamic State was about to be driven out of the ancient city of Palmyra in March [...] An architect by training, Ubelmann, 36, had worked in Syria before the country was engulfed by war. But now there was special urgency for the kind of work his youthful team of architects, mathematicians and designers did from their cramped offices in Paris: producing digital copies of threatened historical sites.

A 6-day international training workshop will start from December 12 to inscribe rich Intangible Cultural Heritage on UNESCO'S Representative List of Humanity that will bring Pakistan on the cultural map of the world and would promote its soft image. National history and Literary Heritage Division (NH&LH), Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage in collaboration with CRIHAP and UNESCO, is organising the 6-day training workshop on community based inventorying under UNESCO 2003 Convention on safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Mangal Shobhajatra on Pahela Baishakh, a festival close to the hearts of Bangalis, has been inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The decision was made at the 11th session of the Inter-governmental Committee on Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia yesterday. 

At the time, the field of mosaic conservation and documentation was still very much in a nascent phase both at the University of Damascus and at Syria’s museums, and digital archiving [...] gradually replaced the antiquated system of index cards. It was an ambitious initiative that was moving apace until the sirens of war brought it all to a halt in 2011.

At a time when Islamic State militants around the world have sledgehammered antiquities, French President François Holland helped launch a cultural heritage initiative at the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting. [...] The French President announced the creation of a $100 million public/private fund, with the United Arab Emirates, to safeguard endangered cultural heritage sites. 

The embassy tours will take place this weekend on a first-come, first-served basis and are part of Heritage Open Days, England’s annual festival of history, which will see thousands of places open their doors. [...] As well as the embassy tours, the trust has launched Europe and Us in 99 Objects and on 17-18 September will hold a weekend of events at Mount Stewart [...] exploring the history and politics of British diplomacy.