The UN Special Rapporteur in the field of Cultural Rights just released a new report entitled "Promotion and protection of human rights: human rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms".

The report will be presented to the UN General Assembly on October 22, 2019 on the occasion of an interactive dialogue (10 AM EST).

The report is available here: https://undocs.org/A/74/255

The question of how to transition to more sustainable societies hasn’t lost any urgency, on the contrary. While many people in arts and culture are keen to contribute positively to this change, too many people simply assume a positive relationship between culture and sustainable development.

Published by Nancy Duxbury, Anita Kangas and Christiaan De Beukelaer in 2017, this paper challenges this uncritical view, but constructively propose four “strategic paths” through which cultural policy and people and organisations in arts and culture can take action. 

The article is temporarily freely accessible, until October, 31st 2019, through this link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10286632.2017.1280789

In the context of its participation in the Pilot Cities Europe programme of the UCLG Committee on Culture and Culture Action Europe, the Swansea Council’s Cultural Services will hold a peer-learning event entitled ‘Pledging Diversity’ on Friday 4 October between 10am and 3.30pm at
the Swansea Guildhall.

This event tells the story of what Swansea’s Cultural services are doing to put equality and diversity at the heart of Cultural Planning in the City.

Admission Free but please register with kate.wood@swansea.gov.uk

For further information about Swansea’s work as a Pilot City, please visit this page.

The Journal of Urban Affairs just released the following call for papers on "Journal of Urban Affairs (JUA) Special Issue: The Arts and the City" on the role of the arts in the city.

This special issue will contribute to debates focused on:

1. Analyzing how the arts are defined in specific projects in cities around the world

2. Considering the contributions of the arts and creativity to urban revitalization placemaking;

3. Probing the complexity of the arts, including considering any negative impacts the use of art may have on place identity;

4. Examining the role of the arts and culture in building equitable communities and robust local economies.

Interested authors should submit their manuscript first to the guest editors by email (redaelli@uoregon.edu) by November 15, 2019.

More info here.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls on us to imagine more sustainable, more human, more creative cities.

Responding to its mission of stimulating collective and creative intelligence, the UNESCO recently released "Voices of the City", a compendium of concrete experiences that highlights the essential links between culture and sustainable development. These experiences are taken from the Culture LAB.2030 initative, a platform for experimentation and exchange to support the 2030 Agenda.

Read more here.

As foreseen by the 2019 annual work programme for the implementation of the Creative Europe programme and as announced in the EU strategic documents Work Plan for Culture 2019-2022 and European Framework for Action on Cultural Heritage, the objective of the present action is to propose a peer-learning scheme for cities and regions on three topics related to cultural heritage policies:

• Participatory governance of cultural heritage;
• Adaptive reuse of built heritage;
• Quality of interventions on cultural heritage.
   

The project foresees to compile a catalogue of at least 30 good practices from EU cities/regions on these topics. Furthermore, based on this selection, at least 12 peer-learning visits to selected European Union cities/regions shall be organised, bringing 20+ participants per visit (urban, rural and regional policy-makers as well as individual experts with thoroughly demonstrated interest and expertise).

More information here.

The Thirteenth International Conference on the Inclusive Museum will take place in Lisbon on next 3-5 September 2020 and will feature research addressing the following annual themes: "2020 Special Focus: Museums & Historical Urban Landscapes: Visitors, Collections, Representations".

A call for papers has been launched with the aim to receive proposals for paper presentations, workshops/interactive sessions, posters/exhibits, virtual lightening talks, virtual posters, or colloquia addressing one of the themes mentionned above. The deadline for contributions is 3 September 2019.

More information here.

As winning city of the International Award UCLG - Mexico City - Culture 21 (ex-aequo with Seongbuk, Republic of Korea), and given its extensive experience on culture and sustainable development, the city of Lyon together with the Committee on Culture of UCLG will organize a study visit on"Culture, Governance and Sustainable Cities" in Lyon on next 25-27 September 2019.

This visit will be a peer-learning event, and will aim at:

(a) introduce the main cultural policies of the City, including key elements, as well as the various programmes and projects, and

(b) foster exchanges and learning among different cities and local or regional governments from across the world.

The visit will already count with the participation of a cultural delegation from the cities of Esch-sur-Alzette and Terrassa, the Isle of Tenerife, as well as with a delegation from the Konya Metropolitan Municipality.

It is open to any other city of the Committee on Culture of UCLG according to a limited number of places.

We invite all cities of the Committee interested in participating in this peer-learning meeting to contact the Secretariat of the UCLG Committee on Culture before Wednesday, 4 September 2019.

Michel Vallée, Director of Culture of Vaudreuil-Dorion, recently published the book "If We Were to Meet! - Cultural Mediation, the Vaudreuil-Dorion Model", A guide, an essay, a portrait, a manifesto… “whatever you want it to be”. The book is available in English, French and Spanish.

This book will be accessible for free until 31 August 2019. To get the book for free, follow the following steps:

      - Connect to the platform:  [English]

      - When buying the book, just before filling up the payment information, click on
        "+ Add the promotion code".

      - Enter the promotion code: "Cultura".

      - Click on "next" and finalise the purchase which is now free.

Do you have an idea to change your city? Do you want to work together with partners from different sectors and discilplines? Would you like to learn from, exchange with and be inspired by changemakers from other European cities?

If the answer is yes, you are invited to apply to become an Actor of Urban Change!

The call for applications will be open until 21 September 2019: check it out here.