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The 3rd UNESCO Creative Cities Beijing Summit affirms science and technology as new avenues to sustainable urban development

28/09/2020

On 17 September, the Director-General of UNESCO, Ms Audrey Azoulay, alongside the Mayor of Beijing, Mr Jining Chen, and the Vice-Minister of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Mr Fuzhi Zheng, opened the third edition of the UNESCO Creative Cities Beijing Summit, under the theme ‘Creativity empowers cities, technology creates the future’.

The Summit brought together more than 40 speakers from around the world, including Mayors and high-level representatives from UNESCO Creative Cities, representatives from United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations, academics and experts, innovators and entrepreneurs from the private sector, to engage in a discussion on the increasing role of new technologies, science and creativity in urban development.

During her opening remarks, the Director-General emphasized the role of cities as laboratories of innovation and creativity and essential contributors in achieving the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. She further emphasized the role played by the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) in achieving this global Agenda, and said “The strength of the Network lies in its ability to provide a platform for exchange and meeting. With over 246 cities from over 80 different countries, the Network is a forum for dialogue, where governments, local authorities, creators, civil society and enterprises can work together.” (unofficial translation).

Mayors from many of the cities in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network discussed the key role that science, technology and creativity can play in helping cities to devise people-centered solutions, not merely for fighting the ongoing pandemic but also for developing future-proof cities. Ms Virginia Raggi, Mayor of Rome, underlined the importance of creativity in urban development: “Creativity is the engine of our history, both individual and collective. It is the soul of our culture. It is the product of our intelligence. We are creativity.”

As an international platform for dialogue for cities and urban stakeholders, the Summit showcased how innovative actions taken by cities combining culture, creativity, science and technology are increasing access to culture and education, and improving the overall well-being of their inhabitants.

During the Summit, the Assistant Director-General for Culture of UNESCO, Mr Ernesto Ottone R., launched UNESCO’s latest e-publication entitled ‘UNESCO Creative Cities’ Response to COVID-19’. The publication features a wide variety of culture driven urban practices and innovative actions undertaken by Creative Cities around the globe over the past months in response to the pandemic and aims to further enrich the collective reflection on COVID-19 recovery strategies during and beyond the pandemic. Currently available in English, French and Chinese, the publication will soon be available in Spanish.

In closing the Summit, Mr Ottone R. underscored the role of cities in achieving sustainable development, particularly during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.“Not only have technology and innovation supported and revived the social and cultural ties amongst the cities’ inhabitants, they have also helped in mitigating other challenges including supporting health practitioners, education systems, creative professionals, economic endeavors, among others,” he said.

Followed worldwide by over 110 registered cities and many others, the Summit has over 530,000 views through different platforms. The recording of the Summit is available through the Summit’s web platform (link: http://www.shejiyun.net/en/lives/index.html).

Press Coverage:

The third edition of the UNESCO Beijing Summit received wide press coverage at the national and international level. A non-exhaustive list of web news and articles related to the UNESCO Beijing Summit is available using the links below:

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