CULTURE

📝 Our assessment

We are living in a transformative era where culture must be at the core of how humanity envisions development and distributes power. A marginal role for culture in the global conversation on development is no longer acceptable. Yet, despite its fundamental contribution to achieving sustainable development, culture remains effectively missing from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The contribution of culture, in the singular, and of cultures and civilizations, in the plural, to sustainable development, is also not merely sectoral. It is integrative and cross-cutting, enabling the dialogue between the other dimensions of sustainable development, and pointing to the necessary anchoring of the post-2030 Agenda in a broad perspective of transitions.

Recognising cultural rights as integral to sustainable development, and providing cities and territories around the world with the tools to monitor and integrate them into policy-making, are crucial steps towards a fair, caring and sustainable future. The Local Social Covenant presents a unique opportunity to advance this vision.

🤝 Our commitment

• The new guide: Culture 21 Plus: We are committed to adopting global reference frameworks so that cultural policies can be fully operational in sustainable development. In this line, UCLG builds on its 21 years of capacity-building, learning and networking, founded with Agenda 21 for culture (2004) and continued with the Culture 21 Actions (2015) and the Rome Charter (2020). The Committee on Culture has drafted an innovative tool for the next years, with the title of “Culture 21 Plus”. The tool provides a framework comprising a series of areas and actions that explore the connections between culture, cultural rights and other fields of local action, in order to ensure that culture becomes a driver of citizenship and sustainable development of a territory. Culture 21 Plus will be the general framework for a set of learning and implementation modules, addressing specific themes and adapted to diverse types of cities and communities. Indeed, Culture 21 Plus is a dual-purpose tool that allows to (1) conduct a self-assessment of the current state of local cultural policies from the perspective of sustainability, and (2) design local cultural strategies based on cultural rights and sustainability. The structure of the document is based on the pillars of the UCLG Pact for the Future (People, Planet and Government); six thematic fields (Rights, Communities, Prosperity, Territories, Nature, and Governance); and 30 thematic areas, each comprising several specific actions.

• A stand-alone Culture Goal: We are committed to taking part in the Culture 2030 Goal campaign, formed by several global cultural networks united to advocate for the role of culture in global agendas. It is the continuation of the #culture2015goal Campaign, created in 2013 to call for culture to be included in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (and the SDGs). The Culture 2030 Goal campaign’s zero draft of a Culture Goal, published in 2022, serves as a valuable cornerstone for discussions on the Local Social Covenant. The document outlines ten potential targets, ranging from cultural rights and a culture of peace to the preservation of heritage and the protection of diverse expressions. It also highlights the need to protect cultural workers’ rights and enhance legal frameworks, empower Indigenous peoples, and integrate culture into environmental protection and sustainable urbanisation, thus reinforcing the role of culture in building a more just, inclusive and care-based society. Since 2022, the campaign is primarily focused on engaging with the UN System and has especially strengthened connections with various stakeholders, advancing its advocacy for a stand-alone Culture Goal in the post-2030 Agenda. These efforts will culminate in the launch of Version 1 of a Culture Goal proposal at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) in July 2025, and the broader dissemination of this work in Mondiacult 2025 in Barcelona (to be held in September).

📢 Our call

• Implement Policies based on Cultural Rights, through Culture 21 Plus: Global challenges can only be effectively addressed by dealing with local challenges, as the two are deeply interconnected. Local and Regional governments are key drivers of this transformation. That is why global frameworks for local action like Culture 21 Plus, which we are committed to developing, are essential.

• Support the Adoption of a Culture Goal: We call for the unanimous support of UN member states, Ministers and policy-makers for the inclusion of a stand-alone Culture Goal in the post-2030 Agenda, placing culture at the heart of global sustainable development efforts.