The Committee on Culture of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) is happy to release a new Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) on Culture and Climate Resilient Development.

Hosted on the UCLG Learning platform known as #LearningWithUCLG, our MOOC explores the fundamental role of Culture in Climate Resilient Development, and focuses on the perspective of local and regional governments, as well as cultural actors and institutions from all continents. It is based on the report on 'The Role of Culture in Climate Resilient Development' coordinated by Andrew Potts, coordinator of the Climate Heritage Network (CHN) and published in late 2021.

The MOOC showcases a wide variety of case studies from all over the world drawn from an open call for contributions for the elaboration of the report, a good practice from UCLG Learning peer-learning notes, and audio-visual resources within the modules, as well as complementary in-depth materials, which you will find at the end of the course. Moreover, it offers the opportunity to test your own knowledge in the field.

What will you learn in this MOOC?

• How to make arts, culture and heritage take part as key factors for imagining new resilient futures; desirable ways of living neither wedded to the carbon economy nor dependent on unsustainable narratives.
• How to engage with climate change profiles and vulnerability scenarios.
• How cultural actors are and should be further involved in the emissions of their communities.
• How to further engage with interdisciplinary work towards tackling climate change, intertwining cultural actors with a wide range of different sectors.
• How to identify potential tensions or synergies that may arise between climate action and culture, thus reconciling trade-offs and maximising synergies.
• How to address the challenges of climate change through a cultural lens and from a perspective of equity and justice.

The MOOC is open to anyone interested in learning on the relation between culture, local public policies and climate resilient development. It is free of charge, available in English, and it includes a completion certificate.

You can access the MOOC at: https://learningwith.uclg.org/p/culture-and-climate

From 16 to 19 November 2022, the City of Barcelona hosted the Conference Culturopolis: International Days on Cultural Rights.

During three days and a half, the City was the theatre of international debates, knowledge sharing and workshops on a wide range of issues revolving around the question of cultural rights, including cultural work and sustainability, diversities, participation and communities, and digital environments.

The Conference gathered participants from all corners of the world, including cultural practitioners and stakeholders, experts, academics, activists, journalists, local and international cultural networks and local and regional leaders and decision-makers. It was freely opened to everyone interested in participating. The meeting served as a meeting space for reflecting on and discussing cultural rights, for thinking about how they are defined and for imagining and finding mechanisms that promote and guarantee that they are respected.

The meeting was coorganised by the City of Barcelona, represented in the inaugural ceremony by Ada Colau, Mayor of the City, and Daniel Granados, Barcelona City Council Delegate for Cultural Rights; Culture Action Europe, represented by Tere Badia, Secretary General; and the Committee on Culture of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), represented by Jordi Pascual, coordinator of the Committee. The opening also included a keynote speech by Alexandra Xanthaki, UN Special Reporter on Cultural Rights.

Several cities and local or regional governments from the UCLG Committee on Culture took part into the event, including the cities of Izmir and Malmö physically, and the cities of Bogotá, Dakar and Mexico City virtually.

The programme of Culturopolis included experts and partners such as Nicolás Barbieri, researcher in the field of cultural rights and writer of UCLG Gold VI piece on “The right to participate in urban cultural life: from inequalities to equity”; Luca Bergamo, former Vice-Mayor and Deputy Mayor for Cultural Development of Rome and co-writer of the UCLG Pact for the Future of Humanity; John Crowley, consultant and author of the #Culture2030Goal proposal of a dedicated goal on culture in the SDGs; Laurence Cuny, Human rights lawyer and researcher; Lucina Jiménez, expert of the UCLG Committee on Culture; Ricardo Klein, University of Valencia; Paola Leoncini Bartoli, Director of Cultural Policies and Development at UNESCO; Alfons Martinell Sempere, Professor Emeritus of University of Girona, Co-Director of the Pau Casals Chair (Music and defence of peace and human rights); and Patrice Meyer-Bisch, President of the Diversity and Cultural Rights Observatory and winner of the 2018 edition of the International Award UCLG – Mexico City – Culture 21.

The event also included a diverse and outstanding cultural and artistic programme open to all, which included theatre performances, music concerts, and participatory workshops.

More information on the Conference here: https://www.barcelona.cat/aqui-es-fa-cultura/en/culturopolis

On next 14 December 2022, from 15:00 to 17.30 CET, the Committee on Culture of UCLG will organise two followed online events:

• 15:00-16:30    Webinar on Buenos Aires’ “Abasto cultural neighbourhood: economic boost and urban regeneration” initiative.
• 16:30-17:30    19^th annual meeting of the Committee.

The agenda of the annual meeting is available here and will include:

• Presentation of the main elements of the Committee’s programme undertaken in 2022.
• Presentation of the Committee’s programme for 2023.

We invite you to save this date in your agendas, and to register here before 10 December 2022.

Please do not hesitate to contact the Secretariat of the UCLG Committee on Culture or contact culture@uclg.org should you need any additional information.    

From next 6 to 18 November 2022, the world’s focus will be on the city of Sharm el-Sheikh where the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt is hosting the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – also known as COP27.

In this context, and continuing the work of UCLG on issues that relate climate and culture, the Committee on Culture has been working in stretch collaboration with the Climate Heritage Network towards this important gathering. As part of the network and co-leader of the CHN Working Group 5, and among various other strategic activities aiming at amplifying arts, culture and heritage voices in and around COP27, we have co-elaborated, together with other partners, a Manifesto, in line with the Manifesto elaborated in the context of COP26 (Glasgow, 2021). 

The Manifesto, entitled "Imagining and Realising Climate Resilient Futures: The Power of Arts, Culture and Heritage to Accelerate Climate Action", is available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic. It provides key messages on culture and climate change aimed at the 2022 United Nations Climate Conference (COP27) and beyond. It seeks to activate those involved in arts, culture, and heritage to take climate action through communication and engagement, inspiring and assisting their constituents, members and audiences to increase ambition; to change their own behaviours; and to engage with climate change policy development at local and national government and intergovernmental level.

We invite you to sign the Manifesto!

On next 1 December 2022, from 9:30 to 10:45h AM GMT-4 (15.30-16.45 CET), the UCLG Committee on Culture will organise together with the city of Montreal a webinar on 'Cultural Leisure and Amateur Artistic Practice: A Look at Municipal Intervention Models.

The webinar will be based on the publication and research work led by Montréal in the last years.

The agenda of the meeting is available here. Registrations are open here.

A great partnership that emphasizes the role of culture and heritage professionals as important actors to create sustainable cities and territories.

One year after the signing the Memorandum of Understanding between the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the United Cites and Local Governments (UCLG), the partnership between the two international organizations remain strong. Two recent events have shown this good collaboration. The UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development, also known as Mondiacult 2022, was held in Mexico City from 28-30 September 2022, forty years after the first of its kind organised in Mexico City in 1982. The important gathering provided the opportunity for the two organizations to speak with ministers of culture and other local and regional leaders to explain the importance of advocating for Culture to have its own goal in future frameworks, and especially the post 2030 UN Agenda for sustainable development. As part of the many events organised by ICOMOS and UCLG, Jordi Pascual, coordinator of the UCLG Committee on Culture spoke at the m and shared UCLG’s perspective on the role of cultural heritage in democracy, citizen's participation and sustainable development. Gabriel Caballero, ICOMOS Focal Point for the UN SDGs, participated at the #Culture2030Goal campaign events and highlighted the importance of the Mondiacult 2022 Conference as a good starting point to push for more cultural actors to be part of the global initiative to elevate culture as a goal after 2030.

At the recently concluded 7th UCLG World Congress and Summit of Local and Regional Leaders – organised in Daejeon, Republic of Korea, from 10 to 14 October 2022 and which main outcome is the UCLG Pact for the Future of Humanity: for the People, for the Planet, for the Government-  ICOMOS was also present to this important event where South Korean colleagues, Se Hoon Park and Hae Un Rii were part of the discussions on Culture and Climate, the future of cultural rights to shape new sustainable development and Culture in the Sustainable Development Goals. Se Hoon Park, ICOMOS Korea representative on the ICOMOS Working Group on the Sustainable Development Goals, highlighted that climate action, the promotion of cultural pluralism and intercultural dialogue, governance and civil society cooperation for cultural policies and culture as the 4th pillar of development were among the priorities of ICOMOS. Hae Un Rii, President of ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Places of Religion and Ritual, presented various initiatives, included the rights-based approach working group ‘Our Common Dignity’ and the ICOMOS Declaration of Human Rights, which aims at building stronger relationships with communities and peoples to guarantee their inclusion in heritage decision-making.

It is evident that both organizations are committed to making cities and other urban areas more liveable, engaging and alive through local public policies on culture and heritage. Through shared activities and advocacy, UCLG and ICOMOS strengthen the role of culture and cultural policies as a key resource for communities, cities and territories of the future.

For more information on UCLG and ICOMOS', joined in the #culture2030goal campaign, shared advocacy, please see the following info:

Culture Goal: http://culture2030goal.net/resources

EN  http://culture2030goal.net/sites/default/files/2022-09/culture2030goal_Culture%20Goal%20-%20ENG.pdf
FR   http://culture2030goal.net/sites/default/files/2022-09/culture2030goal_Culture%20Goal%20-%20FRA.pdf
ES   http://culture2030goal.net/sites/default/files/2022-09/culture2030goal_Culture%20Goal%20-%20SPA.pdf

The UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights, Ms Alexandra Xanthaki, has issued a new report entitled "Development and cultural rights: the principle”. It is available in several languages in this website.

The report includes a contribution from the UCLG Committee on Culture, included the proposal for the inclusion of a Culture Goal in global development agendas and frameworks we have been advocating for together with the #culture2030goal campaign, as well as specific mentions to our work on culture and sustainable development of cities, communities and territories from all continents of the world. 

On next 10-14 October 2022, United Cities and Local Governments - UCLG will organise its triennal Congress and World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders in Daejeon, Republic of Korea. 

On the occasion, the UCLG Committee on Culture will have an active role and will organise different activities and sessions, including:

• Signing a Memorandum of Understanding between UCLG and the International Federation of Libraries and Library Associations (IFLA) 
  Tuesday 11 October 2022, 18:30 (GMT+9)
  Daejeon Convention Center - DCC 1 - Networking Hub
   
• Town Hall session "Culture and Climate"
  Thursday 13 October 2022, 10:00-11:30 (GMT+9)
  Daejeon Convention Center - DCC 1 - Agora
  More information on the session will be available soon.
   
• Local4Action session "The Future of Cultural Rights: Shaping New Sustainable Development"
  Thursday 13 October 2022, 12:00-13:30 (GMT+9)
  Daejeon Convention Center - DCC 1 - 103/104
  More information on the session will be available soon.
   
• Networking session "Culture in the Sustainable Development Goals"
  Thursday 13 October 2022, 14:00-15:00 (GMT+9)
  Daejeon Convention Center - DCC 1 - Networking Hub
  More information on the session will be available soon.

We will also take part in the Learning Forum -presenting our latest developments such as the MOOCs on Culture and Gender and Culture and Climate-, as well as in the Research Forum -with our reports on Cultural Actions Promoting Gender Equality in Cities and Territories, and on Culture and Climate Resilient Development- organised during the Congress. 

Finally, the Congress will provide a space to announce the host city of the next UCLG Culture Summit to be held in 2023. 

The detailed programme of the Congress is available here.

If you wish to register to the UCLG World Congress in Daejeon, please click here.

On  27 September, in the context of the Mondiacul 2022 Global Conference on Cultural Policies organised by UNESCO in Mexico City from 28 to 30 September 2022, the #Culture2030Goal campaign presented a zero-draft for a proposal of an explicit Goal dedicated on Culture in the future agendas and framework for sustainable development. 

This draft is based on a large consultation and a survey launched in last June 2022. 

The press-release of the launch event is available here.

Read the zero-draft here. 

On next 16-19 November 2022, the City of Barcelona will organise the Culturopolis Conference.

CULTUROPOLIS is a meeting space for reflecting on and discussing cultural rights, for thinking about how they are defined and for imagining and finding mechanisms that promote and guarantee that they are respected. All of the activities that form part of the sessions are linked to at least one of the following lines of work:

• Cultural work and sustainability
• Diversities
• Participation and communities

• Digital environments

The full programme is available here. 

The sessions are open to everyone. Participation is free, although prior booking is required. Registration gives access to all the scheduled activities.

For more information, please consult the dedicated website of the event.