Decentralised cooperation is key to make cultural issues more explicit in #SDG11!

“Culture in the SDGs: towards 2030” is one of the themes tackled at the 3rd UCLG Culture Summit that is taking place in Buenos Aires (Argentina) on 3-5 April 2019. PLATFORMA is represented there.

City-to-city and region-to-region development cooperation is often based on cultural exchanges, with the reservation and economic valuation of the cultural heritage, intercultural dialogue or the mobility of works and artists. That is what Frédéric Vallier, Secretary General of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), will explain on behalf of PLATFORMA at UCLG Culture Summit, by presenting the REFORMIL project between the Region Sud Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur in France and the Kasserine Governorate in Tunisia.

The aim of this project is to restore a Tunisian national treasure of Mediterranean interest (open mosaics in the Governorate of Kasserine), by associating several municipalities and institutions of the two countries.

Frédéric Vallier will speak in the session “Towards the ‘Culture2030Goal’: Strategies of Global Networks”, during which panelists will discuss what the strategies of cultural actors should be in implementing the SDGs and in establishing a #Culture2030Goal platform that strives to make cultural issues more explicit in international agendas.

Indeed, local governments have a big role to play in including culture in the SDGs. In SDG 11, which sets out the territorial dimension for the SDGs, a specific point is devoted to culture: “11.4: Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage”.

Frédéric Vallier will remind that although culture does not occupy a prominent place in the 2030 Agenda, it was not present at all in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Between 2013 and 2015, the #culture2015goal campaign fought to include cultural issues in the UN 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

He will also make reference to the UNESCO Re|Shaping Cultural Policies 2018 report, which sets 4 objectives, all linked to the 2030 Agenda. Placing culture at the heart of development policies is the only way to ensure a human-centred, inclusive and equitable development.

For more information:

• Follow the conversation on Twitter #CultureSummit
• Discover the programme of UCLG Culture Summit