International Conference on Culture 2030 | Rural-Urban Development: The Future of Historic Villages and Towns

UNESCO is organizing an International Conference on Culture 2030 | Rural-Urban Development: The Future of Historic Villages and Towns, from 10 to 12 June 2019 in Meishan, People's Republic of China, in collaboration with the Sichuan Foreign Affairs Office, the Sichuan Provincial Departments of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and Culture and Tourism, and the Meishan People’s Government of Sichuan.
The Conference will bring together several ministers from around the world as well as high-level representatives of international organizations, mayors and city managers, development banks, internationally renowned experts, universities and non-governmental organizations to discuss innovative approaches and share good practices that use culture as a lever to strengthen rural-urban linkages as a means to achieving safe, resilient, inclusive and sustainable development.

UNESCO is organizing an International Conference on Culture 2030 | Rural-Urban Development: The Future of Historic Villages and Towns in collaboration with the Sichuan Foreign Affairs Office, the Sichuan Provincial Departments of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and Culture and Tourism, and the Meishan People’s Government of Sichuan from 10 to 12 June 2019 in Meishan, People's Republic of China.
The participants will discuss innovative approaches and share good practices that use culture as a lever to strengthen rural-urban linkages as a means to achieving safe, resilient, inclusive and sustainable development.

The event sessions will focus on four key themes:
1) The creative economy and cultural tourism to alleviate poverty during which cases and experiences where culture, as a driver of economic growth, has proven integral to the development of dynamic, vibrant and creative societies in small settlements will be discussed.
2)
Community engagement through culture for sustainable local development where exchanges on how culture has served as a means to enhance local communities’ participation and ownership, foster institution building and forge networks that make development more sustainable and inclusive will be stimulated.
3)
Cultural heritage safeguarding and innovation for environmental sustainability and resilience will allow to share good practices of placing culture and innovation at the forefront of sustainable development efforts, in order to strike a balance between the built environment and natural landscapes, contemporary design and vernacular architecture, as well as conservation approaches and development needs.

4)
Integrated policies to strengthen rural-urban linkages towards sustainable rural revitalization to discuss the integration of the conservation of built cultural heritage into the wider development goals of small settlements, in respect of the inherited values and traditions of different cultural contexts, while advancing creativity and promoting the diversity of cultural expressions.

During this conference, UNESCO will launch the publication ‘Culture 2030 | Rural-urban development, China at a glance – The Meishan experience’, aimed at showcasing innovative policies and practices related to the revitalization of rural villages through culture in the People’s Republic of China.