secretary general, European Cultural Parliament
The European Cultural Parliament (ECP) is the only Pan-European forum for cultural personalities of all sectors of arts, which Karl-Erik co-founded in 2002. It has 160 members from 43 European countries and initiates projects and workshops, meets in plenary session in different European cities each year and discusses broad European themes, such as democracy, intercultural dialogue and, European cohesion.
As a Swedish diplomat for 30 years Karl served in Moscow, Peking, Geneva and Rome, dealing mainly with foreign policy, trade negotiations, cultural affairs, development cooperation and the United Nations. As Ambassador since 1989 he was posted in Spain and was the Swedish commissioner general at EXPO 92 in Seville.
Karl-Erik has also been an opera soloist and is the author of more than 30 books, covering subjects such as democracy, world population, Germany, China, India, UN, theatre, opera, design, food, European identities and football, and currently lectures at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy Berlin. He participates in public debates in Swedish, German, British, Scandinavian and other international media and is a member of several International boards in London, Cambridge, Berlin, Sofia, Stockholm, and Biella. He is married to German opera singer Doris Soffel, has two children and lives in Stockholm and Berlin.