Kralendijk – Last Saturday, the Public Entity Bonaire organised the first focus group session with the theme ‘Culture, Standards and Values’ as input for the Masterplan 2030. The focus group sessions are a further deepening of several important themes in Bonaire society. The aim of the session was to gather concrete input for the Masterplan 2030 from stakeholders in the cultural sector.

This cultural session took place in the morning hours at the Mangazina di Rei and was visited by 23 organizations. The organizations that participated included Fundashon Akademia Papiamentu, Fundashon Deportivo Kultural, Museo Boneiru, Fundashon Skol di Músika Boneiru, Parokia San Ludovico Beltran, Trasame and several others. Delegate Nina den Heyer opened the morning and stressed to the participants how important our culture is and why we need to work together to set out a goal and a course for this sector in the Masterplan 2030. It was an interactive morning where participants were divided into different groups to discuss four cultural topics: material heritage, intangible heritage, cultural celebration and cultural expression, values and values.

As a first assignment, each group had to reflect and think about why the specific subject dealt with by them is necessary and which is the desired goal that they want to achieve. After this first assignment there followed a short break in which Lendon Æmilius, a talented young person who participated in the Arte di Palabra competitions and thus won several prizes, has nominated some of his winning poems. During the second part of the morning, each group had to delve into the subject and design some dreams, also scoring how to plan and implement them and also debate what can be done best to make the dream achieve and think about the resources needed for this.

At the end of the morning, each group presented and shared their ideas. Some of the ideas that the session has produced for the Masterplan 2030 include: respect for papiamentu through its good use, introduction of cultural education (from day care to secondary vocational education), encouraging interaction between different generations and among visitors/migrants on our island, establishing a cultural policy supported by the necessary resources, establishing a cultural centre (hadrei kultural), happier and seeing people connected to their bodies , spirit and soul, fortified families, creating more social engagement and appreciation for what we have.

The goal now is to identify and prioritize all points that have emerged during this morning. It also examines the points that have been raised most often by the various organisations to incorporate them into the Masterplan 2030. It is important that in the Masterplan 2030 all sectors are aligned to create a synergy with regard to the goals of each sector for the Bonaire that we want to see in 2030. The next session has renewable energy and technology as the subject and will take place on Friday 28 February next.