Agenda 21 for culture
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Culture 21, also known as Agenda 21 for culture, is a program for cultural governance developed in 2002–2004 and organized by
United Cities and Local Governments United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) is an umbrella international organisation for cities, local and regional governments, and municipal associations throughout the world that is concerned with representing and defending the interests of ...
. Part of the program's premise is to add culture as a fourth conceptual pillar of sustainable development in
governance Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, norms, power or language of an organized society over a social system ( family, tribe, formal or informal organization, a territory or across territories). It is done by the gove ...
, the historical three pillars of which are the environment,
social inclusion Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. It is used across discipline ...
, and
economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...
.


History

Agenda 21 Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development. It is a product of the Earth Summit (UN Conference on Environment and Development) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. It is an action age ...
is an agenda for sustainable development in the 21st century, approved by
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
members at the Rio de Janeiro
Earth Summit The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio Conference or the Earth Summit (Portuguese: ECO92), was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from June 3 to June 14, 1992. Earth Su ...
in 1992. The original Agenda 21 did not discuss culture in great depth. It did include a section (Chapter 28) known as "Local Agenda 21" which called for local governments to adopt action plans and to collaborate with international organizations; a deliberative process which itself would "increase household awareness of sustainable development issues". While the
ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
dimension of Local Agenda 21 was paramount at first, cities in the following years have incorporated cultural development into their outlook on sustainable development. In 1998, the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
and
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
jointly endorsed the inclusion of culture in the sustainable development strategy.Nancy Duxbury, Catherine Cullen, & Jordi Pascual, "Cities, Culture, and Sustainable Development"; in H.K. Anheier, Y.R. Isar & M. Hoelscher, eds., ''Cultural Policy and Governance in a New Metropolitan Age''; London: Sage, 2012. In September 2002, the first World Public Meeting on Culture, held in
Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fif ...
, resolved to create guidelines for local cultural policies. A final document was approved on 8 May 2004 in Barcelona, and on 15 September it was submitted to
UN-HABITAT The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the United Nations programme for human settlements and sustainable urban development. It was established in 1977 as an outcome of the first United Nations Conference on Human Settleme ...
and
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
. In October 2004 the
United Cities and Local Governments United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) is an umbrella international organisation for cities, local and regional governments, and municipal associations throughout the world that is concerned with representing and defending the interests of ...
World Council met in
Sao Paulo SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U ...
, and officially adopted the Agenda 21 for Culture as a reference document, to be managed and coordinated by the UCLG. By 2010, over 400 governments and organizations had jointed Agenda 21 for culture in some way.Nancy Duxbury & Sharon Jeannotte,
Global Cultural Governance Policy
; Chapter 21 in ''The Ashgate Research Companion to Planning and Culture''; London: Ashgate, 2013.
By 2015 membership exceeded 500.


Contents

The Agenda 21 for culture has 67 articles, divided into three sections: principles, undertakings, and recommendations. The "Principles" include core values such as
cultural diversity Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, the global monoculture, or a homogenization of cultures, akin to cultural evolution. The term "cultural diversity" can also refer to having different c ...
and
human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
, as well as perspectives on which actors will implement the agenda.
Cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
are envisioned as primary sites for cultural production and governance, as well as places where cultural policy is necessary for harmonious coexistence.
Culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...
itself is described as an essential part of constructing
citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
for people of all ages. Participation in culture takes place through channels including
internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
,
public space A public space is a place that is open and accessible to the general public. Roads (including the pavement), public squares, parks, and beaches are typically considered public space. To a limited extent, government buildings which are open to ...
s, and work.''Agenda 21 for culture'', adopted 8 May 2004
Culture 21
edited 31 January 2008.
The "Undertakings" section encourages policies which support cultural development and expand access to culture without prejudice. It specifically mentions books, internet, museums, and tourism as vectors for culture. It calls for decentralized but funded cultural policies; multilateral cooperation between cultural institutions, NGOs, and governments; and popularization of scientific technical culture. It advocates the right of freedom of speech, the
moral rights Moral rights are rights of creators of copyrighted works generally recognized in civil law jurisdictions and, to a lesser extent, in some common law jurisdictions. The moral rights include the right of attribution, the right to have a work ...
of authors and artists, and the development of legal systems for historic preservation. The recommendations section addresses local and national governments, regional blocs, and
international organization An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states a ...
s, offering advice for how each of them can implement this agenda.


Organization and initiatives

In the UCLG, the Agenda 21 for culture is managed by the Committee on culture of the world organization United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG). The Committee on culture is co-chaired by Buenos Aires and the City of Mexico and vice-chaired by Angers, Barcelona, Belo Horizonte, Bilbao, Bogotá, Jeju, Paris and Porto Alegre since 2016. Between 2012 and 2015, the UCLG Committee on Culture was chaired by th
Lille-Métropole
and co-chaired by Buenos Aires, México DF and Montreal, and the cities of Angers, Barcelona and Milan were Vice-Presidents and three other cities (one from Africa, one from Middle East/Asia and one from Asia/Pacific) to join the Board as Vice-Presidents. Before 2012, the Committee on culture was chaired b

an
StockholmLilleBuenos Aires
an
Montreal
councils are its vice presidents. Other organizations promoting Agenda 21 for culture include UNESCO and the
Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) ( es, link=no, Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo) is a Spanish autonomous agency responsible for the management of the Government internationa ...
(AECID). In 2009–2010, UCLG, with AECID and the Barcelona City Council, created the Fund for Local Cultural Governance, to advance the implementation of the Agenda 21 for culture in African, Mediterranean and Latin American cities. In 2009–2013 UNESCO and the AECID developed "Culture for Development Indicators" (CDIS), an "advocacy and policy" toll for assessing cultural development in 22 areas within 7 categories.Antonios Vlassis, "Culture in the post-2015 development agenda: the anatomy of an international mobilization"; ''Third World Quarterly'' 36(9), 2015; DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2015.1052064. Moreover, the UCLG Committee on Culture has worked to ensure that culture is explicitly integrated into the development programmes of the United Nations which aim to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millenn ...
. After some awareness-raising actions during the Millennium Development Goals Summit, the UN General Assembly approved the final document of the Summit that mentions culture as an important dimension of development.


Campaign for the Sustainable Development Goals

UNESCO and UCLG have advocated for inclusion of culture in the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and have continued to promote this outlook. Concretely, in the years before the adoption of the SDGs several global networks campaigned for the inclusion of one specific goal devoted to culture, or for the integration of cultural aspects across the SDGs. IFACCA, IFCCD, Agenda 21 for culture (UCLG), Culture Action Europe, Arterial Network, IMC - International Music Council, ICOMOS, IFLA and the Latin American Network of Arts for Social Transformation lead this campaign, which used the banner 'The Future We Want Includes Culture' and was also known as the #culture2015goal campaign. Between 2013 and 2015, when the SDGs were adopted, a manifesto, a declaration on the inclusion of culture in the 2030 Agenda, a proposal of possible indicators for measuring the cultural aspects of the SDGs, and an assessment of the final 2030 Agenda, were produced.


Contribution to the New Urban Agenda

The Committee on culture of UCLG participated in
Habitat III Habitat III, the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, took place in Quito, Ecuador, from 17 – 20 October 2016. The UN Conferences on Housing (Habitat) are occurring in the bi-decennial cycle (1976, 1996 and 201 ...
, the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, whose primary goal and outcome was the adoption of the New Urban Agenda (NUA). The conference took place in Quito, Ecuador, from 17 – 20 October 2016, and the New Urban Agenda was endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly on 23 December 2016 Before the conference, the Committee has formulated a set of comments to the issue paper on "Urban Culture and Heritage", which was one of the 22 issue papers published by the UN Task Force in preparation for the conference. The Committee welcomed the publication of this paper and believes that the New Urban Agenda should provide details of a culture-based approach to local sustainable development.


Publications

Since 2006, in the framework of its research tasks, the Committee on culture of UCLG (Agenda 21 for Culture) has published the following reports: *''Local policies for cultural diversity'' *''Culture, local governments and Millennium Development Goals'' *''Agenda 21 for culture in France. State of affairs and outlook'' *''Culture and sustainable development: examples of institutional innovation and proposal of a new cultural policy profile'' *''Cities, cultures and developments. A report that marks the fifth anniversary of Agenda 21 for culture'' *''Rio+20 and culture. Advocating for Culture as a Pillar of Sustainability'' *''Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development'' *''Operationalising culture in the sustainable development of cities'' *''Why must culture be at the heart of sustainable urban development?'' Moreover, two briefings providing information and facilitating discussion on relevant issues regarding culture (''Cities, Refugees and Culture: Briefing'' and ''Culture, Climate Change and Sustainable Development: Briefing'') and the study ''Culture, Cities and Identity in Europe'', jointly with Culture Action Europe, have been prepared.


Culture and development

The Agenda 21 for culture is a tool to enhance the role of culture in urban policies and also a tool to make cultural issues the fourth pillar of sustainable development. "Sustainability" in culture refers not only to the preservation of cultural heritage but also to incorporating the sustainable development mentality into everyday life. The extensive work and activism undertaken by the Agenda 100 for culture led the UCLG Executive Bureau to head the preparation of the policy statement document "Culture: the Fourth Pillar of Sustainable Development", approved on 17 November 2010 in the framework of the World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders – 3rd UCLG World Congress, held in Mexico City. This document opens a new perspective and points to the relationship between culture and sustainable development through a dual approach: developing a solid cultural policy and advocating a cultural dimension in all public policies.


Participation

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
has endorsed the Agenda 21 for culture model and released a development plan along these lines.
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
has ratified the agenda and undertaken various actions including library restoration and the creation of new cultural institutions, including "Design Montréal". An NGO called "Culture Montréal" has formed to promote development of and access to culture. Montreal has been designated a "UNESCO City of design". The Moroccan city Essaouira, according to mayor Asma Chaabi, has been incorporating culture into its implementation of Local Agenda 21 since the 1990s. She writes in the five-year review of Agenda 21 for culture that Essaouira has succeeded in its historic preservation goals through cooperation with the national ministry of culture and with UNESCO. Asma Chaabi, "The Agenda 21 for culture and Essaouira"; in Pascual (2009), pp. 23–28.


See also

*
Culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...
* Cultural bias *
Cultural rights The cultural rights movement has provoked attention to protect the rights of groups of people, or their culture, in similar fashion to the manner in which the human rights movement has brought attention to the needs of individuals throughout t ...
*
Culture theory Culture theory is the branch of comparative anthropology and semiotics (not to be confused with cultural sociology or cultural studies) that seeks to define the heuristic concept of culture in operational and/or scientific terms. Overview In t ...
*
Culture war A culture war is a cultural conflict between social groups and the struggle for dominance of their values, beliefs, and practices. It commonly refers to topics on which there is general societal disagreement and polarization in societal valu ...
*
Cultural dissonance In sociology and cultural studies, cultural dissonance is a sense of discord, disharmony, confusion, or conflict experienced by people in the midst of change in their cultural environment. The changes are often unexpected, unexplained or not unders ...
*
Cultural imperialism Cultural imperialism (sometimes referred to as cultural colonialism) comprises the cultural dimensions of imperialism. The word "imperialism" often describes practices in which a social entity engages culture (including language, traditions, ...


References


Citations


Sources

* Pascual, Jordi, ed.
Cities, cultures and developments: A report that marks the fifth anniversary of Agenda 21 for culture
'; United Cities and Local Governments, 15 October 2009.


External links


Official websiteUCLG. Local Policies for Cultural Diversity

UCLG. Culture, Local Governments and Millennium Development Goals

UCLG. Culture and Sustainable Development: Examples of Institutional Innovation and Proposal of a New Cultural Policy Profile

UCLG. Cities, Cultures and Developments. A Report that Marks the Fifth Anniversary of the Agenda 21 for Culture

Pascual, Jordi. Cultural Policies, Human Development and Institutional Innovation: or Why We Need an Agenda 21 for culture

Montréal, cultural metropolisLille City CouncilBuenos Aires City Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agenda 21 For Culture Political culture