We Introduce: Christmas Discussions on topic ‘Culture and Development’ Each year discussions take place on the 6th January on Christmas Eve according to the old Julian calendar. This year it took place at the University of Donja Gorica (UDG) from Podgorica. This, now traditional, event was first established in 1992. The host and the founder of this event is Professor Veselin Vukotic, and the topics of discussion are related to economy issues. The discussions are very popular with students as they are a good social event and also stimulate discussions about various topics. The main topic was ‘Culture and Development’; the importance of culture, seen as a basis for future development. The first Christmas Discussions was attended by only 12 people, while this year’s event - the 20th consecutive year hosted over 300 people! Participants in the Christmas Discussions were: Veselin Vukotic, Dean at the University of Donja Gorica, Dusan Janjic, the Forum for Ethnic Relations and the Institute of Social Sciences, Professor Branislav Micunovic, the Montenegrin Minister of Culture, Professor Branko Baletić, the director of the Montenegrin Cinematheque and Veselin Jevrosimovic, CEO of the software company ComTrade. The Professor Vukotić, gave the introductory speech and stated: “Some of the socalled opinions held by 'left-wing intellectuals' regarding free markets leading us to a crisis are about as true as saying that cyclists are to blame for traffic jams. It is evident that the market and even the whole world, have never been regulated to the extent they are today. In previous times our behavior was controlled through the 10 commandments, but today we are ruled by over 10 billion pieces of legislation. Instead of being surrounded by rainforests, we live in a jungle of bureaucratic regulations.” Later he added, “Today when we cross over from industrial capitalism to cultural capitalism, ideas will become the most convertible currency. That will mark a transition from material things being most highly valued to the importance of having ideas being of most value.” For the daily news “Vijesti”, Professor Vukotić stated that culture becomes an economic issue, and it slightly becomes the basics of modern society, similar as the power of politics and economic power. “Nowdays, industrial capitalism is increasingly evolving into a new type – which is more and more defined as a cultural capitalism… Market of ideas increasingly becomes important. There is increasingly demand for the people who have ideas and the power of creation, the power of research, not just the power of imitation and passive use of the already achieved knowledge.” Dušan Janjić stated: “This crisis represents the acceleration of globalization, and that globalization has brought about the spread of cultural values. However, at the same time he stressed the need to protect national values.” Branislav Mićunović stressed that it is "difficult to preserve cultural heritage within the environment of a restrictive budget". He explained that the preservation of culture should be seen as a general concern in Montenegro as it has great potential in the context of the development of tourism. Branko Baletić agreed with all of the above comments and concluded that Montenegro’s main problem is a lack of knowledge. Regardless of the crisis, the budget for culture in EU countries is presently increasing, because there is an understanding that new creativity is necessary in order to solve existing problems. "Culture is the foundation of all relationships in society, but in transition periods it has remained in ‘no man's land'," concluded Baletić. He also recalled that "the cultural identity is the basis of all identities." Veselin Jevrosimovic stressed that information technology, often referred to now as digital economy, is becoming an important and crucial activity within the infrastructure of all countries. He also announced the introduction of a new initiative, the Knowledge Factory which will be organized in Montenegro with the assistance of the University of Donja Gorica (UDG). These most recent Christmas Discussions were much better attended than were previous ones. The discussions finished late at night, concluding the formal part of the evening; the participants then continued with a party that was held in the student club.
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