Culture and heritage for sustainability

ICOMOS works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places. It is the only global non-government organisation of this kind, which is dedicated to promoting the application of theory, methodology, and scientific techniques to the conservation of the architectural and archaeological heritage. ICOMOS is a network of experts that benefits from the interdisciplinary exchange of its members, among which are architects, historians, archaeologists, art historians, geographers, anthropologists, engineers and town planners

ICOMOS and the UCLG Culture Committee are partners in the #culture2030goal campaign.

Heritage at the HLPF 2018

ICOMOS, together with UNESCO, Un-Habitat, IUCN, GEN, the Government of Ireland and UCLG, will organise on next 11 July 2018 (6:30pm - 9:30pm) at Japan Society an exchange of knowledge and celebration focusing on ‘Implementing SDG 11.4 through Local Voices and Global Agendas for Cultural & Natural Heritage’ a special event to be held in parallel to the UN-HLPF. The event will bring together both local (United-States) and international stakeholders active in the protection of the world’s natural and cultural heritage, illustrating the vital connections between integrated heritage protection and sustainable development.

Declaration for the inclusion of Heritage in the Ministerial Declaration

ICOMOS, together with UCLG, the Global Planners Network (GPN), Europa Nostra and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), signed a Declaration for the acknowledgement and the inclusion of culture as well as cultural and natural heritage into the UN HLPF 2018 Ministerial Declaration. Join and support!

Culture at Work Africa - Promoting the Public Value of Culture for Social Cohesion and Urban Development in Africa is lookint to support innovative on-the-ground projects aiming at developing safe and neutral spaces for intercultural dialogue and at promoting active citizenship and intercommunity relations. Projects will seek sustainable outputs and will foster multi-stakeholder national and transnational cooperation, inclusive societies, cultural diversity and equal dignity for all.

Check out the call for proposals. Deadline: 21 September 2018, 12:00 GMT.

From 9-17 July 2018, the UN will organise its 2018 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), with the title "Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies" and focusing on the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 6, 7, 12, 15 including the Goal 11 (make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable) at the global level.

Local and Regional Governments at the HLPF

In this context, UCLG will be organizing and coorganizing various sessions from 15-17 July 2018:
         - 15 July 2018, 1.00pm - 5.00pm. Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments, UNACLA and Cities
           Alliance preparatory session.
         - 16 July 2018, 10.00am - 6.00pm. Local and Regional Governments' Forum.
         - 17 July 2018, 8.30am - 6.30pm. Local 2030: Local Actions for Global Commitments

The Committee on culture of UCLG took part in the 2018 edition of the European Development Days (5-6 June 2018, Brussels, Belgium). In the context of this important annual meeting, the Committee coorganised two sessions, together with 8 other International organisations and networks (Africalia, Arterial network, British Council, Culture et Développement, Territoires Associés, Interarts, International Music Council - IMC, and UNESCO), and the support of 5 partners (Bozar, ICOMOS, ACP, CECD, and CISAC):

- Brainstorming Lab session: "Culture for Development: Women as Agents of Change"
  5 June 2018
  9:30am - 10:45am
  Room B1

- Special event: "Cultural Heritage and Creativity through Women's Lens"
  6 June 2018
  10:45am-12:00pm
  Room D7

More details:

MUST READ

Check out "Artistic Freedom, a Moveable Feast", a very interesting article written by Mary Ann DeVlieg, independant consultant and evaluator of international cultural collaboration projects for the European Commission's culture and science programmes, projects and foundations, on what is freedom of artistic expression, both in theory and practice, and on the organisations supporting artists when their capacity to create is challenged.

Check out and share the call for Mural İzmir, to be organized by İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. Artists will be able to make their designs in any of the 5 different application areas in the districts of Alsancak and Konak (İzmir). The deadline for submitting projects is July 2nd, 2018.

In the context of the European Development Days celebrated in Brussels (Belgium), the Committee on culture of UCLG, together with 8 other International organisations and networks (Africalia, Arterial network, British Council, Culture et Développement, Territoires Associés, Interarts, International Music Council - IMC, and UNESCO) organized an important special event on 'Cultural Heritage and Creativity through Women's Lens', on last 6 June 2018 at 10:45am. A preparatory meeting also took place the day before the event, on 5 June 218, from 9:30-10.45am, with the title 'Culture for Development: Women as agents of Change'.

Save the date here:

The International Award UCLG - Mexico City - Culture 21, coorganized by Mexico City and the Committee on Culture of UCLG, recognises leading cities and individuals that have distinguished themselves through their contribution to culture and sustainable cities. The Award also recognises the leadership of Mexico City on culture, and local cultural policies, as a pilar of sustainable development. The Award has two categories: "City or Local/Regional Government" and "Individual".

The first edition of the Award took place in 2013-2014, and awarded the City of Belo Horizonte, as well as Manuel Castells and Farida Shaheed as for the 'Individual' category. The second one took place in 2015-2016 and awarded ex-aequo the Cities of Timbuktu and Vaudreuil-Dorion, and Jon Hawkes and Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui, as for the 'Individual' category.

We are proud and happy to announce that the third edition is currently on going. The call for this third edition (2017-2018) has been open from 2 November 2017 to 16 March 2018. The Secretariat of the Committee on Culture of UCLG received 99 applications from cities and local governments from across the world. A map, as well as the abstracts of each one of these 99 candidacies are now available on our dedicated website to the Award.

Our International Jury will now examine all the candidacies, in the course of April and May 2018.
The winners of the third edition of the International Award UCLG - Mexico City - Culture 21 will be announced at the UCLG Executive Bureau in Strasbourg (23-26 May 2018).

The Award Ceremony, as for the previous editions, will take place in Mexico City on 18-20 October 2018. This year, it will also be the occasion to celebrate an International Seminar on "Cultural Rights in the City", as well as the 15th annual meeting of the Committee on Culture of UCLG.

The SOAS World Languages Institute (UK), Mercator Research Centre, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Social and Language Documentation and the Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (ZAS) will organise the International Conference on “BIG Cities, Small LANGUAGES” in Berlin, Germany, on 14-16 November 2018, at the ZAS in Berlin, Germany. Check out the call for papers related to the event. Deadline for submissions: 15 July 2018.

The special edition of the Thomson Reuters Foundation on urban issues, known as place, recently released the article "Artists hope U.S. court ruling will help them defend street art", signed by Carey Biron and including very interesting insights towards the recognition and the protection of street art in cities.