Opportunities for Cooperation between Estonia and ... - Valitsus

Venues and accommodation are always needed for cultural events and
activities in neighbouring countries. Although practical solutions have so far
been efficiently found in both countries, the existence of multi-purpose cultural
centres would be a significant improvement. They could function as the focal
points for cultural networks, following the example of the Swedish-Finnish
Cultural Centre in Hanasaari, the Centre Culturel Français and the Goethe-
Institut.
The new cultural centres would be the Eesti Maja in Finland and the Suomi Talo
in Estonia. In addition to promoting the culture of their respective countries
and promoting cultural ties, they could provide centralized facilities for certain
existing organizations and associations and also house information services of
their respective embassies. In addition to traditional cultural promotion, these
centres could also enable the organizing of lectures, exhibitions, seminars,
language courses, discussion groups and translators’ clubs.
In Estonia, the Finnish cultural centre could be partnered by the Finnish
Embassy; the City of Helsinki; the Finnish Institute in Estonia; the Finnish-
Estonian Chamber of Commerce (FECC); the Finnish expatriates’ club in
Estonia (Soome Ettevõtjate klubi Eestis, SEKE); the Estonia-Finland Society
(Eesti-Soome selts); Euregio; the Finnish Schools in Tallinn and Tartu and
so on. In Finland, the Estonian cultural centre could be partnered by the
Estonian Embassy; the City of Tallinn; the Estonian Tourist Board (EAS); the
Tuglas Society; the Estonian Institute in Finland; the Union of Finland-Estonia
societies; the Finnish-Estonian Trade Association; Euregio; the Helsinki-Tallinn
Society; Eesti Lastering and the Pro Estonia magazine.
Cooperation between arts education institutions, particularly student and
teacher exchange, should be supported in every way.
In order to understand the culture of a neighbouring country, one must know
its language sufficiently well. National governments should provide more
support for the teaching of their languages in neighbouring countries and the
training of teachers. Specifically, special schools and the training of teachers
of Estonian and Finnish should be supported. Schools should add material on
neighbouring countries and their cultures to their curricula, and interaction
between twinned schools should be encouraged.
Both countries should support the translating of Estonian literature into Finnish
and vice versa, and translator training. High-quality dictionaries are needed
both for everyday interaction and for cultural exchange purposes.
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