In 2002/2003, the Ministry of Culture in the Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Parliament Committee on Culture, and the non-governmental Information and Analytical Centre "Democracy through Culture" (now the Development Centre "Democracy through Culture") began participating in Council of Europe programmes.

From May to September 2004, three international workshops, within the framework of the Council of Europe Project "Creating Cultural Capital" (CCC), were held in the Ukraine (Kyiv). These workshops were organised jointly by the Council of Europe and the Centre "Democracy through Culture", with assistance from central national agencies and international foundations. Seminar experts and participants were from the UK, the Netherlands, Canada, Russia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Azerbaijan and Belgium, including representatives from 15 Ukrainian pilot cities and rayon's (counties).

Ukrainian projects were discussed at the 3^rd Meeting of the Steering Committee for Culture (CDCULT) in Strasbourg, from 11-13 October 2004. The 5th (Enlarged) Ministerial Colloquium under the STAGE Project of the Council of Europe was held on 15-16 September 2005 in Kyiv. The key organizers of the Colloquium were the Council of Europe and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The major goal of the colloquium was to help the participating countries to develop a new dynamic cultural policy and strategy in the context of transitional conditions of development, to promote the development of cultural exchange and cooperation with other European countries, and to enhance the level of tolerance and reconciliation through intercultural dialogue. The Concluding Declaration of the Colloquium includes the "Kyiv Initiative" of 5 states: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.

Ukraine became a member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on 12 May 1954. Ukraine's Permanent mission to UNESCO has operated since December 1962, with its headquarters in Paris.

Recent years have shown active engagement of Ukrainian institutions and experts in the work of UNESCO's global projects in the fields of: development of the information society, protection of the world information and digital heritage, democratization of cyberspace, guaranteed sustainability of the world's development, and securing tangible and intangible cultural heritage in the era of globalization.

One of the main aspects that determines Ukraine's role in UNESCO's activities is the country's participation in the work of this institution's leading initiatives. The 50th anniversary of Ukraine's membership in UNESCO was celebrated in May 2004. The jubilee stamp and 5 hryvnia metal coins were issued on that special occasion.

An exhibition of modern Ukrainian Decorative Art was organized at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. One of the vivid examples of Ukraine-UNESCO cooperation is the International Ukraine Scientific and Educational Centre of Information Technologies and Systems that operates in Kyiv.

One of the new projects deals with establishing a model for a virtual university that will share scientific, technical and engineering knowledge developed by the institutes and universities of Central and Eastern Europe; it will be monitored Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.

Ukraine takes an active part on an official and non-official level in all cultural activities of the Black Sea countries, including festivals, meetings and joint activities such as Slavic Bazar in Vitebsk (Byelorussia) and Vilnius' Intellectuals Forum.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine are entrusted with the responsibility for implementing and monitoring the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. However, there is no special programme related to these issues, only an intention in one line of The Roadmap to the Programme for Enrichment and Development of Culture and Spiritual Heritage of the Ukrainian Society.