ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

The UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development – MONDIACULT 2022 will be convened by UNESCO forty years after the first Mondiacult World Conference on Cultural Policies held in Mexico City (Mexico) in 1982, and 24 years after the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies for Development held in Stockholm (Sweden) in 1998. The UNESCO-MONDIACULT 2022 World Conference will be hosted from 28 to 30 September 2022 by the Government of Mexico.

As we have entered the last Decade of Action for the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, agreed by the international community as a common aspirational roadmap, UNESCO is engaging its Member States and the international community to embark on a renewed reflection on cultural policies to tackle global challenges and outline immediate and future priorities. The aim is to shape a more robust and resilient cultural sector, fully anchored in sustainable development prospects in line with the vision enshrined in the UN Secretary-General’s report Our Common Agenda (September, 2021).

What is at stake?

The cultural sector itself has evolved considerably over the past decades covering a wide range of areas of development but also influenced by societal change and the digital transformation. These advances have led to the decisive recognition of the nexus between culture and sustainable development emphasizing the role of culture in supporting continuity, participation, education, employment, resilience, and well‐being, while also revealing the value of culture to foster inclusive societies, social development and economic growth at the global and national levels. 

The global landscape has also profoundly evolved, marked by overarching transnational challenges - such as rising inequalities, conflict, the technological revolution and climate change - leading countries to adapt their public policies to better fulfill their role in ensuring the provision of global public goods – an imperative which is particularly relevant to culture. 

Furthermore, the COVID‐19 pandemic has starkly exposed the existing vulnerabilities of countries in facing emergency situations in the cultural sector in an abrupt manner, during which countries were called upon to continue providing basic services while ensuring, at the same time, social and economic sustainability. The widespread disruption of cultural activities and practices, which also impacted cultural institutions across the world, has brought to the forefront the urgent need for adaptation of the cultural sector itself, but also vis-à-vis the overall crosscutting role that cultural policies play across the broad public policy spectrum.

This momentum has opened new opportunities for a renewed vision of cultural policies to gain ground in the broad public policy spectrum. In this context, UNESCO is reinvesting in global policy dialogue on cultural policies, building on its mandate and expertise to foster multilateral cooperation and policy dialogue for the free flow of ideas.  MONDIACULT 2022 follows its landmark conferences on cultural policies, held respectively in 1982 and 1998 – whose conceptual and policy outcomes laid the ground for major advances in the conceptualization and architecture of cultural policies. 

As we have entered the last Decade of Action for the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, agreed by the international community as a common aspirational roadmap, UNESCO is engaging its Member States and the international community to embark on a renewed reflection on cultural policies. The aim is to tackle global challenges and outline immediate and future priorities in order to shape a more robust and resilient cultural sector, fully anchored in sustainable development prospects in line with the vision enshrined in the UN Secretary-General’s report Our Common Agenda (September 2021).

UNESCO is reinvesting in the global policy dialogue in the field of culture, building on its mandate and expertise to foster multilateral cooperation and policy dialogue as a follow-up to its landmark conferences on cultural policies.
Calendrier Aztec du Mexique

Culture for Sustainable Development in Figures

US$2,250 bn
of revenues

are generated by cultural and creative industries (CCIs)

13%
of city employment

is concentrated in CCIs in major cities worldwide

10 million km2
of cultural and natural sites

around the world are protected by UNESCO’s designated sites

90%
of countries

feature culture as a leading priority in their tourism policy

317
elements of the UNESCO’s 2003 Convention Lists

have links with inclusive, equitable and quality education

80%
 of the world’s global biodiversity

is protected under the stewardship of Indigenous peoples

29.5 million
jobs are created by CCIs worldwide

and more young people 15-29 are employed in the sector than in any other economic activity

47%
of workers in 72 countries

of the cultural and creative sectors are women

The UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Development will be hosted by the Government of Mexico from 28 to 30 September 2022. 

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