The new season of the Feraru Conferences Online, our platform of intellectual exchanges on ineluctable topics with transatlantic relevance, debuted with a dialogue with Sir Martin Davidson, celebrated cultural diplomat and public service reformer, who as CEO of the British Council between 2007-14 led the oldest, and biggest, cultural institute in the world through a period of strategic transformation and managerial renewal. Drawing from a successful career in both the public and the private sectors, we invited Sir Martin to reflect on change in international cultural relations in a time of major political and technological shifts accelerated by the global pandemic, on innovation and reform in cultural diplomacy as well as on the future of cultural relations between the UK, Europe and the United States after Brexit.
Sir Martin Davidson KCMG retired as Chief Executive of the British Council in 2014 after 30 years spent in building cultural and educational relationships for the United Kingdom around the world but especially in China and Hong Kong. He is one of the initiators of EUNIC, the European network of organizations engaging in cultural relations, in 2006. Since 2014 he has embarked on a much varied international career. He has chaired the Great Britain China Centre (GBCC), which works on developing legal and political links with China, since 2015. He is also Vice-Chairman of Leonard Cheshire Disability, a major UK and international disability charity. Between 2015-16 he was Chairman of International Inspiration, a sport for development charity that came out of London 2012. Sir Martin Davidson was knighted by the Queen in 2014 for his services to British cultural, scientific and educational interests worldwide.