HIGH-LEVEL EVENT ON CULTURE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
“BUILDING BACK BETTER: TOWARDS A MORE RESILIENT AND IMPACTFUL CULTURE SECTOR, THROUGHOUT COVID-19 AND THE DECADE OF ACTION”
21 May 2021
Culture is an essential component of human development, representing a source of identity, connection, innovation and creativity. Tangible and intangible cultural expressions have the demonstrated ability to drive social inclusion, poverty eradication, responsible environmental stewardship, sustainable economic growth and ownership of development processes. In recognition of culture and creativity’s crucial contribution to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development across its 17 Goals, the United Nations General Assembly designated 2021 as the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development.
At the heart of the creative economy are the cultural and creative industries (CCIs), standing at the crossroad of arts, culture, commerce and technology. CCIs encompass numerous industries including visual and performing arts, music, film, television, radio, publishing, architecture and advertising among others. These sectors are some of the most rapidly growing in the world , contributing to 3% of global GDP and 30 million jobs worldwide. The cultural and creative industries also employ more young people aged 15-29 than any other sector.
The current global crisis has also brought to light the critical contribution of culture to collective well-being and the shift of societal mindsets towards sustainable consumption patterns and living in harmony with nature. This heightened appreciation for the arts and CCIs presents an opportunity to escalate multilateral partnerships and amplify culture’s contributions to sustainable development in the consciousness of both policymakers and the public.
The high-level event on Culture and Sustainable Development will highlight the best practices and policy adaptations needed to ensure the cultural and creative industries’ contributions to COVID-19 relief and recovery strategies, and to fully realize culture’s transformational potential as an underutilized accelerator for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals.
Mandate
In accordance with the General Assembly Resolution 74/230, the President of the General Assembly will convene a one-day high-level event on Culture and Sustainable Development in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This event, which will be held on Friday 21 May 2021, the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, will highlight the resilient and transformative role of culture as an accelerator of SDG implementation, as well as the challenges within the cultural and creative industries and the broader cultural ecosystem that were exposed and exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis.
Its overall theme shall be “Building back better: towards a more resilient and impactful culture sector throughout COVID-19 and The Decade of Action”. It will, inter alia, provide the opportunity for Member States to share experiences on crisis-response measures to support the creative economy during the pandemic; identify implementation gaps and solutions; and call for strengthening strategic cross-sectoral partnerships to unlock the transformative potential of culture in the recovery context and throughout the Decade of Action.
Objectives
- Promote the mainstreaming of culture into SDGs implementation plans across the UN system and at national and regional levels, including within COVID-19 recovery strategies, in order to accelerate the attainment of the SDGs social, economic and environmental pillars.
- Support innovative national policies and best practices in creative economy development, including by identifying bottlenecks to progress and highlighting solutions.
- Highlight the role played by artists and cultural professionals and organisations in the creative and cultural industries, and consider means to improve their status marked by precarious social and economic conditions, taking into account the impact, opportunities and challenges of the digital environment.
- Increase the overall support for the creative and cultural industries as drivers of sustainable development, as well as engage artists and cultural professionals as change makers through partnerships and consultations across the UN system.
Key documents
Further Information:
UNESCO’s Roadmap for the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development
UNCTAD’s Creative Economy Roadmap of events
UNESCO Member State Policy Action Guide for the International Creative Economy Year
UNESCO Guide for Civil Society and Cultural Institutions for the International Creative Economy Year
