The world’s largest gathering of cities for culture was held last May in Jeju, Republic of Korea, with the commitment to strengthen international collaboration to make culture a core area of approaches to sustainable development in cities.
Over three days, the second UCLG Culture Summit gathered over 700 participants, representing local governments, international organisations, national governments, non-governmental organisations and networks, artists, academics, and other professionals.
Enriched by three days of high-level debates, project presentations, and networking, UCLG strengthened its commitment to continue advocating for a stronger role of cultural aspects in global sustainable development agendas. In particular, the following steps are foreseen:
- Fostering policy innovation and peer-learning on culture and local sustainable development, through the strengthening of the Culture 21 Actions learning programmes, including Leading Cities, Pilot Cities, and Culture 21 Lab.
- Recognising excellent experiences and contributions to culture in sustainable cities, through the forthcoming launch of the third edition of the International Award UCLG – Mexico City – Culture 21. The Award acknowledges significant contributions made by cities and by leading personalities.
- Advocating for the place of culture in global agendas, including the monitoring frameworks of the UN 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and its local and national implementation, as well as the implementation of the New Urban Agenda adopted at the UN Habitat III conference, and the planning of other global agendas and frameworks on sustainable development.
- Enhance cross-sectoral networking on culture and sustainable development, through the reinforcement of collaboration among global cultural networks and with other civil society organisations active in the areas of human rights and sustainable development.
- Strengthen global debates and partnerships, including by broadening participation to more cities in lesser-represented regions, strengthening collaboration with UNESCO and with regional organisations and finding new opportunities at local, regional and global level.
Meeting at the end of the UCLG Culture Summit, the UCLG Committee on Culture discussed its work programme for 2017, which includes measures in these areas.
Know more about UCLG’s Culture Summit here
(Source: UCLG)