One Exposition - One World
The
German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) provided
DM 100 million to enable poorer countries to participate in EXPO 2000 and to
make development policy a prominent theme at the world exposition in Hannover,
Germany. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH
(German Technical Cooperation) accepted the challenge of making this "development-policy
contribution" a reality. The trademark representing the development theme was
the One-World logo, which appeared throughout the exposition grounds.
Now EXPO 2000 is history. At the end of October, EXPO chief executive Birgit
Breuel was still in shock over a deficit approaching DM 2.4 billion. But the
One-World balance, at least, was positive. Never before have so many countries
taken part in a world exposition. Almost two-thirds of the participants were
developing or transition countries, and they were a major attraction at this
mega-event. Because of them, EXPO 2000 was, indeed, a true world exposition.
One undisputed highlight was the Africa Hall: for the first time, more than
40 African countries joined together in a single presentation under one roof
and gave rein to the full variety of the African continent. The concept worked
well: around four million visitors, including a dozen heads of state and about
40 ministers, took the time to get to know Africa better. The pavilions of Yemen,
Nepal and Bhutan were also major attractions, with around three million visitors
each. The Philippine, Moldavian, Egyptian and Albanian presentations also enjoyed
particular popularity.
This positive reaction shows that the effort and money was well worthwhile for
most countries. They could see for themselves that they interest the world's
people not only as holiday destinations but as centres of cultural diversity
and natural wealth. People's interest also extends to the problems that some
countries face and to the often impressive approaches they use to solve these
problems. Take Eritrea: Most people know this country on the Horn of Africa
only because of its war with Ethiopia, and this darker side was not ignored
at EXPO. But there was also comprehensive information about how Eritrea uses
sun energy and makes the most out of limited water resources, and about educational
projects for young people - topics that expanded many visitors' picture of Eritrea.
Like Eritrea, many countries took up the theme of sustainable development. By
doing so, they made an important contribution to increasing the significance
of EXPO in terms of content and gave life to the EXPO motto "humankind-nature-technology".
This is also true of the World Wide Projects, which demonstrated practical initiatives
proving that sustainable development can work everywhere on the planet. Many
of the nearly 500 international projects were to be seen all over the exposition
grounds - in the country presentations, in the thematic area and in Global House,
the actual centre for the World Wide Projects. These projects were a pillar
of EXPO 2000, and it looks as if they might become a permanent part of future
world expositions. Many of these projects also used the Global Dialogues to
present themselves. This series of three-day conferences was viewed as the EXPO
backbone in terms of content. The One-World initiative supported six of a total
of ten events, including the Global Dialogue "Fighting Poverty". More than 100
activists from Africa, Asia and Latin America took advantage of this event to
talk with representatives of government, industry and science. This form of
exchange was entirely new to world expositions and is also to be continued.
What would a world exposition be without an attractive cultural program? More
than 500 events in the Africa Hall and 200 on the One-World stage at Global
House drew millions of visitors. Concerts and street theatre, drum workshops
and fashion shows gave an insight into the fascinating variety of foreign cultures.
Music, dance and just having a good time brought people closer together. At
EXPO 2000 the One World vision could actually be felt - to the joy and benefit
of all who were a part of it. To measure EXPO's success in purely numerical
terms does not nearly do it justice - however little comfort this may be to
Birgit Breuel.
Marion Frank & Sabine Tonscheidt
German Technical Co-operation (GTZ)
www.gtz.de