THE largest and most diverse Edinburgh international culture summit begins today with more than 40 ministerial delegations and over 60 speakers taking part.

Running over three days, the event will see some 42 countries represented, including America, Spain, Singapore, Rwanda, New Zealand, Italy, Bangladesh, Slovenia and Ukraine.

The theme of this year’s summit, the third, is “Culture: Building Resilient Communities” and has three distinct, interlinking strands; culture and heritage, economics and participation.

An impressive line-up of over 60 speakers from countries including Syria, Nigeria, Mexico, India, South Africa, Australia and the US will contribute to the main plenary sessions, policy discussions and workshops.

These will include contributions from: Francesco Bandarin, assistant director-general for culture at UNESCO; Prince Amyn Aga Khan of the Aga Khan development network; Professor Dr Maamoun Abdulkarim, head of antiquities and museums in Syria; Adam Wilkinson, director of Edinburgh World Heritage and Jude Kelly, artistic director of London’s Southbank centre.

Joining the summit for the first time will be a group of 40 young artists and artistic entrepreneurs from the four home nations, giving them the opportunity to engage directly with culture ministers in policy discussions, particularly focusing on the subjects of education, skills development and employment.

Fiona Hyslop, the Scottish cabinet secretary for culture, Europe and external affairs, said: “As the world’s eyes are firmly fixed on Scotland’s capital, the city provides the perfect backdrop for three days of exciting and engaging discussion.”

Matt Hancock, the UK Government’s culture minister, added: “Arts and culture are not confined to individual nations - they transcend international borders. With more countries attending than ever before, the 2016 Culture Summit is a unique opportunity for us to celebrate and collaborate on world cultural issues.”

The culture summit is a collaboration between the British Council, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Government and the UK Government and takes place on behalf of the partners by the Edinburgh International Culture Summit Foundation.