Agenda 21 for culture
Encyclopedia
The Agenda 21 for culture is the reference document of the local governments to draw up their cultural policies. It’s based on the principles of cultural diversity
, human rights
, intercultural dialogue, participatory democracy
, sustainability
and peace
.
for culture is a tool to promote the role of culture in local policies. The present canonical triangle of sustainable development
- environment, social inclusion and economics - either doesn’t include culture or it is considered an instrumental element. Therefore, the Agenda 21 for culture is a tool to turn culture into a forth pillar of sustainable development. This confirms the importance of having solid and autonomous cultural policies as well as the establishment of bridges to other dominions of the governance
.
, it came up the idea to draw up a document guidelines for local cultural policies, a document comparable to what the Agenda 21
meant in 1992 for the environment.
After nearly two years of work (of discussion of previous drafts in conferences organized by the international cultural networks that encouraged its creation), the final document was approved on May 8, 2004 in Barcelona, and on September 15 it was submitted to the UN-HABITAT and UNESCO
. From October of this same year, the world organization United Cities and Local Governments
(UCLG) (the UN of the cities) assumed the coordination of the Agenda 21 for culture. UCLG is the world’s biggest association of local governments, founded on May 2004 to defend democracy and local autonomy and to give voice to the cities in international forums. In the UCLG, the Agenda 21 for culture is managed by the Committee on culture, which is chaired by the Barcelona city council, and Stockholm, Lille, Buenos Aires and Montreal councils are its vice presidents.
In 2009, the Spanish Agency of International Development Cooperation AECID and the Barcelona City Council created a Fund for the implementation of the Agenda 21 for culture in African, Mediterranean and Latin American cities.
, diversity
, memory or rituality, all of them increasingly necessary for any human being to widen his or her freedoms (Amartya Sen
).
The Agenda 21 for culture has 67 articles, focused on five main subjects:
The articles are divided into three large sections:
The document is available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Galician, German, Italian, Japanese, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian (Serbo-Croatian), Swedish, Turkish and Ukrainian. All translations, articles and information about seminars and publications can be found in pdf format on the Agenda 21 for culture website.
Around 350 cities, local governments and organizations from all over the world are linked to Agenda 21 for culture..
; in effect, the current canonical triangle of sustainable development (environment, social inclusion and economics) either does not include culture or considers it an instrumental element. Therefore, the Agenda 21 for culture proposes, on the one hand, strengthening local policies, asserting the importance of solid and autonomous cultural policies, and establishing bridges with other areas of local governance. On the other hand, the Agenda 21 advocates the integration of culture as a fundamental element of our development model and adopting as its own the idea proposed by the Australian researcher and activist Jon Hawkes (www.fourthpillar.biz) in his book The Fourth Pillar of Sustainability. Culture’s Essential Role in Public Planning.
The extensive work and activism undertaken by the Agenda 21 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 17th 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.
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
. 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.
Cultural diversity
Cultural diversity is having different cultures respect each other's differences. It could also mean the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole...
, human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, intercultural dialogue, participatory democracy
Participatory democracy
Participatory Democracy, also known as Deliberative Democracy, Direct Democracy and Real Democracy , is a process where political decisions are made directly by regular people...
, sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
and peace
Peace
Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...
.
The role of culture in local policies
The Agenda 21Agenda 21
Agenda 21 is an action plan of the United Nations related to sustainable development and was an outcome of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992...
for culture is a tool to promote the role of culture in local policies. The present canonical triangle of sustainable development
Sustainable development
Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...
- environment, social inclusion and economics - either doesn’t include culture or it is considered an instrumental element. Therefore, the Agenda 21 for culture is a tool to turn culture into a forth pillar of sustainable development. This confirms the importance of having solid and autonomous cultural policies as well as the establishment of bridges to other dominions of the governance
Governance
Governance is the act of governing. It relates to decisions that define expectations, grant power, or verify performance. It consists of either a separate process or part of management or leadership processes...
.
The base of the Agenda 21 for culture
In September 2002, during the first World Public Meeting on Culture, held in Porto AlegrePorto Alegre
Porto Alegre is the tenth most populous municipality in Brazil, with 1,409,939 inhabitants, and the centre of Brazil's fourth largest metropolitan area . It is also the capital city of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian...
, it came up the idea to draw up a document guidelines for local cultural policies, a document comparable to what the Agenda 21
Agenda 21
Agenda 21 is an action plan of the United Nations related to sustainable development and was an outcome of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992...
meant in 1992 for the environment.
After nearly two years of work (of discussion of previous drafts in conferences organized by the international cultural networks that encouraged its creation), the final document was approved on May 8, 2004 in Barcelona, and on September 15 it was submitted to the UN-HABITAT and UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
. From October of this same year, the world organization United Cities and Local Governments
United Cities and Local Governments
United Cities and Local Governments is an umbrella organisation for cities, local governments and municipal associations throughout the world...
(UCLG) (the UN of the cities) assumed the coordination of the Agenda 21 for culture. UCLG is the world’s biggest association of local governments, founded on May 2004 to defend democracy and local autonomy and to give voice to the cities in international forums. In the UCLG, the Agenda 21 for culture is managed by the Committee on culture, which is chaired by the Barcelona city council, and Stockholm, Lille, Buenos Aires and Montreal councils are its vice presidents.
In 2009, the Spanish Agency of International Development Cooperation AECID and the Barcelona City Council created a Fund for the implementation of the Agenda 21 for culture in African, Mediterranean and Latin American cities.
The contents
The Agenda 21 for culture starts from the idea that culture makes a great contribution to human development, because it promotes values like creativityCreativity
Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new that has some kind of value. What counts as "new" may be in reference to the individual creator, or to the society or domain within which the novelty occurs...
, diversity
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
, memory or rituality, all of them increasingly necessary for any human being to widen his or her freedoms (Amartya Sen
Amartya Sen
Amartya Sen, CH is an Indian economist who was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory, and for his interest in the problems of society's poorest members...
).
The Agenda 21 for culture has 67 articles, focused on five main subjects:
- Culture and human rights
- Culture and governance
- Culture, sustainability and territory
- Culture and social inclusion
- Culture and economy
The articles are divided into three large sections:
- principles
- undertakings
- recommendations
The document is available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Galician, German, Italian, Japanese, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian (Serbo-Croatian), Swedish, Turkish and Ukrainian. All translations, articles and information about seminars and publications can be found in pdf format on the Agenda 21 for culture website.
Around 350 cities, local governments and organizations from all over the world are linked to Agenda 21 for culture..
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 developmentSustainable development
Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...
; in effect, the current canonical triangle of sustainable development (environment, social inclusion and economics) either does not include culture or considers it an instrumental element. Therefore, the Agenda 21 for culture proposes, on the one hand, strengthening local policies, asserting the importance of solid and autonomous cultural policies, and establishing bridges with other areas of local governance. On the other hand, the Agenda 21 advocates the integration of culture as a fundamental element of our development model and adopting as its own the idea proposed by the Australian researcher and activist Jon Hawkes (www.fourthpillar.biz) in his book The Fourth Pillar of Sustainability. Culture’s Essential Role in Public Planning.
The extensive work and activism undertaken by the Agenda 21 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 17th 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.
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
Millennium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals are eight international development goals that all 193 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015...
. 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.
External links
- UCLG. 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 Anniversay 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 metropolis
- Lille City Council
- Buenos Aires City Council