The VIII World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples will take place in Tartu, Estonia
The VIII World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples will take place from the 17th to 19th in June 2020, in the recently opened Estonian National Museum. The main theme of the 8th Congress will be “Cultural landscapes – language and mind”.
See more on the congress website: tartu2021fu.ee
The participants of the Congress will be delegations from different parliaments and ministries of culture, education and of foreign affairs from a variety of Finno-Ugric countries, and others.
“The Estonian National Museum is a first-rate venue for organising such a high-profile gathering of Finno-Ugric peoples with its permanent exhibition on Finno-Ugric cultures, which also offers an opportunity for the participants to experience our common heritage,” acknowledged Tõnu Seilenthal, the Estonian representative of the Consultative Committee of Finno-Ugric peoples, an organising body of the Finno-Ugric World Congress, inviting everyone to Estonia in 2020.
The main theme of the Congress, which will take place in Tartu, will be “Cultural landscapes – language and mind”. Language preservation, language imparting and bilingual issues, as well as climate change and cultural innovation will be discussed at thematic sessions during the event. The opportunities of traditional and new media channels as well as the application of contemporary linguistic technologies within networks of Finno-Ugric peoples will also be discussed.
Furthermore, there will be an abundant side-programme concurrent to the official congress, engaging the wide public where all who are interested are welcome.
Also the Finnish and the Hungarian president are being expected. On a work visit to Russia Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid invited also the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, to the congress in Tartu during their first meeting on the 8th of April 2019. He has yet to respond.
Members of parliaments, also cultural, educational and foreign affairs officials and others who are interested from different countries across the globe are also warmly welcome to the congress.
According to its Statute, the World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples is the representative forum of Finno-Ugric and Samoyedic peoples, which is independent of governments and political parties and whose activities are based on the Declaration of Fundamental Principles, Aims and Objectives of Cooperation of Finno-Ugric Peoples of the World.
Through its executive arm – the Consultative Committee of Finno-Ugric Peoples – the Congress has been represented in the working groups on indigenous peoples at the United Nations Human Rights Committee.
The objectives of the Congress are to develop and protect the national identity, cultures and languages of Finno-Ugric peoples, to promote cooperation between Finno-Ugric peoples, to discuss topical issues and identify solutions, and to realise the right of Finno-Ugric peoples to self-determination in accordance with international norms and principles.
The 7th World Congress of the Finno-Ugric Peoples took place from the 15th to 17th of June 2016 in the Sibelius Hall in Lahti, Finland. The main theme of the Congress was “The Finno-Ugric peoples – towards sustainable development”.
The first World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples was organised in 1992 in Syktyvkar, a part of the Komi Republic in Russia. The second World Congress took place in 1996 in Budapest, Hungary; the third Congress occurred in 2000 in Helsinki; the fourth Congress in 2004 in Tallinn; the fifth Congress in 2008 in Khanty-Mansyisk in Russia; the sixth Congress in 2012 in Siófok, Hungary; and the seventh congress took place in 2016 in Lahti, Finland. The Congress occurs every four years in a different Finno-Ugric country.
The organiser of the 8th World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples is Estonian NGO Fenno-Ugria. Fenno-Ugria is an umbrella organisation dedicated to cooperating with Estonians’ kindred peoples – the Finno-Ugric and Samoyedic peoples. Fenno-Ugria was established in 1927 and re-established in 1991.
For more information on previous World Congresses please visit following sites: www.fennougria.ee; www.fucongress.org
