The Center for Music Ecosystems is a new global NGO dedicated to understanding and advancing music ecosystems to foster more sustainable communities. 

The Center for Music Ecosystems just launched a Guide to Music and the SDGs, which explores the relation between music - in all its forms and functions - and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Written in collaboration with UN Agencies, the detailed Guide outlines the role that music plays across each of the 17 SDGs, and describes examples from around he world. 

The guide is available for all to download and read at www.centerformusicecosystems.com/sdgs.

The Voices Of Culture initiative recently launched a brainstorming report on Culture and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: Challenges and Opportunities, calling for a full SDG dedicated to culture, including contributions from the Committee on Culture of UCLG. 

More information: https://voicesofculture.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/VoC-Brainstorming-...

We are happy to announce the release of an in-depth video interview on the #2020RomeCharter! A conversation with Luca Bergamo, Deputy Mayor on Cultural Development of Rome and Emilia Saiz, Secretary General of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), facilitated by Giorgio Barberio Corsetti, from the Teatro di Roma.

The video of the interview is available here in English, with subtitles in Italian. 

More info on the Charter: www.2020romecharter.org

The Prince Claus Fund, the European Culture Foundation (ECF) and Hivos have joined forces to publish a publication entitled "Forces of Art: Perspectives from a Changing World", to which several experts the UCLG Committee on Culture daily works with contributed, including experts Jordi Baltà Portolés and Zayd Minty.

The publication reflects on the transforming power of art in communities in the global south, and is an extensive volume with many case studies and research conducted by people from different regions. It investigates the way in which artists, artworks and cultural organizations affect people and their social environments, and explores how cases of creative practice have been operational in empowering people, communities, and societies in their given contexts. It is a dense, multi-layered, polyvocal compendium of current thinking about the impact of art on civil society and social change, and contains a large number of essays and case studies located all over the world, from Central Asia to Meso and Latin America, from Africa to Central Europe, from South and South-East Asia to the Middle East.

More information here.

The IETM has recently published a new report entitled "The moment for change is now. COVID-19 learning points for the performing arts sector and policy-makers".

The report explores how the performing arts sector has been adapting to the pandemic and attempts to identify some of the interesting solutions for survival which should be scaled up and brought into the post-pandemic future. It also provides recommendations to policymakers on how to support the sector today, in the near future and in the longer term, and how policies and funding programmes should be reexamined in light of the COVID-19 crisis. The publication is a quick look back over the past several months, a snapshot of what we have learned so far, and an attempt to imagine a better future.

More information here.

In last September, the British Council published a very important report entitled "The Missing Pillar. Culture’s Contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals".

The report explores the place of culture in the SDGs through research, policy and practice. It analyses where arts and culture as a sector and as a creative process can fit within a number of goals, including their targets and indicators. 11 British Council programmes provide examples of cultural initiatives around the world, tackling a variety of issues and cutting across sectors, such as sustainable fashion, creative inclusion, and cultural heritage protection. 

The recommendations from the report advocate for the SDGs to be more accessible to the cultural sector, for them to be embedded in the delivery of cultural initiatives based on local needs, and for their impact to be measured accordingly. The report recommends taking an inclusive approach, involving communities and local actors to understand cross-cutting needs and ecosystems to ensure sustainability. It also calls for a focus on digital technologies to raise awareness and a clearer response to the climate emergency from the cultural sector.

This report is a tool to increase understanding of the link between arts and culture and sustainable development. It is a first step at framing the impact of our British Council programmes alongside the SDGs, while keeping on advocating for the value of culture as a fourth pillar of sustainable development and a key part of cultural relations.

More information here.

As part of the Climate Heritage Mobilisation Webinar series, in partnership with Historic England, the Climate Heritage Network is organising the online seminar "Using Culture to Promote Climate Resilient Sustainable Development" on next Friday 27 November 2020, from 16h-17h00 CET (15h-16h00 UTC).

Cultural policies do not (yet) explicitly recognize the connections between culture and environmental sustainability, climate change, resilience and the sustainable use of the world’s resources. In the next years, cultural actors, institutions and organisations will have to integrate climate change measures into their strategies, strengthen their resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters, and improve education, awareness-raising and capacity in these fields.

The webinar will explore their work towards 'Contributing a climate change dimension to the work of the global campaign of cultural networks on culture in sustainable development'.

More information and registration here.

On last 1-3 October 2020, the City of Rome together with the Committee on Culture of UCLG held the Hybrid 2020 Rome Conference, where the result of the 2020 Rome Charter participatory and cocreation process came to an end and was officially presented to the public. 

Three days of debates, international interventions and dialogues dedicated to discuss the implications of the 2020 Charter of Rome in the development of sustainable cities and communities through participation in culture were held.

The Conference permitted to share over 50 stories and to have a collective reflection on how to build and develop better societies for the future, around the Right to Participate Fully and Freely to Cultural Life as Vital to Our Cities and Communities.

The Conference can be watched again on the 2020 Rome Charter website, either by session and/or by key intervention of main panelists.

The Culture Heritage Network will organise on next 27 October 2020 (2:00 PM – 4:30 PM CET) the parallel session "Showcasing exemplary local climate action by city and regional arts, culture and heritage offices mobilizing to meet the climate emergency" in the context of Daring Cities 2020 Forum on the occasion of World Cities Day.

Culture and heritage give voice to equity, creativity, values, memory, spirituality, and tradition across both time and space, themes that are essential for transformative change in cities. And yet, the role of culture in climate action is not well understood.

This gap is evidenced by a practical reality: while the culture and heritage sectors are important institutions in many communities, their expertise is not well mobilized in support of climate action.

Increasingly, however, arts, culture and heritage agencies of cities and regions are flipping this paradigm. This panel will showcase exemplary local climate action by culture authorities from around the world in addressing the climate emergency, from adaptive and resilience-building measures to climate change mitigation efforts.

This event will be presented in Spanish and English and will include two separate breakout sessions (one in each language) out of which one will be facilitated by the coordinator of the Committee on Culture of UCLG.

More information and registration here.

The City of Jinju, Pilot City of the Agenda 21 for Culture and UNESCO Creative City, has launched a call for papers for the first issue of an International Journal of Crafts and Folk Arts, foreseen to be published in November 2020. The call is looking to collect academic and research papers, articles, and news items related to crafts and folk arts.

The Journal aims to foster cultural diversity and sustainable urban development by sharing knowledge, experiences and good practices. Covering topics such as creative transmission of intangible cultural heritage in the domain of crafts and folk arts, ways to promote creative industries for sustainable development amongst others, the Journal will also act as a platform for debates on current and future challenges, interviews, innovative practices and events related to Crafts and Folk Art. Cities, local and international artists, residencies, educational institutions, and governments are invited to partake and share their work until 30 October 2020.

More information here.