The third topic of Voices of Culture 2019 – 2021 asked questions about the challenges and opportunities for culture and the sustainable development goals. How can new priorities, policies, actions and funding streams better address this issue?
The United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a 15-year global framework. It is centred on an ambitious set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 169 targets and over 230 indicators. The SDGs address all UN Member States and the European Union. They address governments, civil society and the private sector. And they include culture.
For cultural organizations, the Sustainable Development Goals create both challenges and opportunities. The main challenge is how to ensure the effective contribution of culture to the global policy agenda. The main opportunities lie in demonstrating culture’s importance to society, and supporting advocacy.
The EU and its Member States are committed to implementing the 2030 Agenda. In November 2019 the Council amended its Work Programme for Culture to prioritise the SDGs, and invited the Commission to prepare an action plan on the cultural dimension of sustainable development. In September 2020 senior officials of EU foreign and culture ministries discussed the issue.
To contribute to its reflection on culture and the Sustainable Development Goals the European Commission has asked Voices of Culture to organize a conversation among stakeholders.
The topical discussion is framed by a discussion paper by our independent expert Gijs de Vries.
Successful applicants were invited to a digital Brainstorming Meeting on the 02.12.2020 – 03.12.2020 and to a Dialogue Meeting on the 11.02.2021 to share their input on five suggested areas of discussion:
The Brainstorming meeting for the topic took place digitally on the 2nd & 3rd of December 2020.
The Dialogue meeting for this topic took place on the 11th of February 2021.
The Brainstorming Report is the result of a Brainstorming Session which took place digitally on the 2nd and 3rd of December 2020, as part of the Voices of Culture cycle focusing on ‘Culture and the Sustainable Development Goals: Challenges and Opportunities’. It was published on the 26th of February 2021.
The report was presented to and discussed with representatives of the European Commission during a digital Dialogue Meeting on the 11th of February 2021.
Through an open call for applications, the following 47 organizations were chosen to participate in the structured dialogue on Culture and the sustainable development goals: Challenges and Opportunities.
IMPORTANT: Please read the topic text by our expert Gijs de Vries, before filling in the application.
THE CALL FOR APPLICATIONS IS NOW CLOSED
Application deadline: 11th of October 2020
Announcement of results: 16th of October 2020