Study guide on the Baltic - Nordic common identities and the cultural footprints
ENRecently, the political and economic interaction between the Baltic and Nordic countries is quite intensive, but in the field of cultural cooperation the action is less developed and more extensive. Traditionally, the cultural cooperation between the Baltic and Nordic, i.e. Scandinavian countries always faced the lack of common values and identities. Thus, the historical sources evidence the existence of common cultural values in the past, and the available social networks emphasize many different forms of cooperation. Meanwhile, the context of cultural action revealed in many joint actions between the Baltic and Nordic communities and organizations. Anyway, the models of the Baltic – Nordic cooperation involve not all the possible spheres of cultural interaction. Therefore, due to the cultural geographical proximity (like Lithuania – Norway, Estonia – Finland, Latvia – Sweden), the regions and communities had many things in common in the perspective of historical past, but today these elaborated historical, social and human artefacts are forgotten and are ceasing to be mentioned as important ones for cultural cooperation and action. This insufficiency of intercultural communication obviously is seen in many forms of interaction and cooperation between the Baltic and Nordic countries. The studies of the Cultural footprints lead towards elaboration of new cultural identities and their integration into the processes of education in order to increase the knowledge on the history of cultures within the Baltic and Nordic countries and their societies. The studies of biographies of noble persons, cultural relations, relations of ethnical communities, changes in art values, all these enable to revitalize the cultural past and the newly discovered cultural, social and human artefacts to provide in joint action for representation and common understanding. [...].Cultural tourism is an entertainment and educational experience that combines the arts with natural and social heritage and history (Cultural Tourism Industry Group, http://www.culturaltourismvictoria.com.au/). The cultural tourism product and cultural tourism itself is a very complex segment of the tourism industry. Both its demand and supply is diverse and versatile. Its future positions will most probably be strengthened directly and indirectly as well since with the change of the recreational needs of tourists and visitors the demand for cultural travels will rapidly grow as well. Certainly, classic mass tourism will never considerably loose its market positions but the new tourists will have a more and more diversified need to get to know the different cultures and customs of the remote (peripheral) places. [Extract, p. 71-72].
