Costa Rica is one of a select few countries selected worldwide to carry out the pilot implementation of the UNESCO Culture|2030 Indicators: a set of thematic indicators developed by UNESCO to measure the role of culture in advancing the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These indicators constitute a conceptual framework to measure and monitor the progress of the contributions of culture to the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, as a support and complement to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda. This tool has been designed to be applicable at both national and local level and in different contexts; therefore, in Costa Rica it will be applied simultaneously at national level and at urban level in the canton of Alajuela.
The implementation of this project consists on the collection of data from multiple existing sources and its systematisation in terms of a battery of indicators. The process will be carried out by an inter-institutional team led by UNESCO, together with the Ministry of Culture and Youth and the Municipality of Alajuela, with the collaboration of the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Policy (MIDEPLAN), the Ministry of Public Education (MEP), the National Institute for Women (INAMU), the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC), the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC), among many other national institutions with sources of information relevant to one or more thematic dimensions of the Indicators.
This project started with a launching workshop addressed to all the people and institutions involved, to clarify the work plan and the methodological details that will guide the process. This workshop took place virtually from 21 to 25 February 2022, and was opened by Ms Sylvie Durán, Minister of Culture and Youth of Costa Rica, Ms Pilar Garrido, Minister for National Planning and Economic Policy, Ms Sofía González Barquero, Deputy Mayor of Alajuela, Mr Ernesto Ottone, Assistant Director-General for Culture of UNESCO, Ms Jyoti Hosagrahar, Deputy Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Ms Caroline Munier, Programme Specialist for Culture at the UNESCO Cluster Office in San José, and Ms Kathrin Renner, of the European Union Regional Cooperation Office.
The Culture2030 Indicators aim to help decision-makers by building a strong and coherent evidence-based discourse on culture and development.
Costa Rica is one of the countries that joins this pilot, on behalf of Latin America, thanks to the sustained and growing effort that has been made in the generation of data with the Cultural Information System, the Culture Satellite Account (...) These are tools that position us internationally, facilitate the management of cooperation, allow us to give voice to small-scale cultural contexts and are of great value for decision-making and informed prioritisation of institutional work in favour of the country's artistic and cultural sector and the well-being of our society.
Culture is fundamental for society, it helps our communities and our people to grow. I would like this to be a tool that allows us to see substantial improvements in culture.
In line with its commitment to uphold the essential role of culture in sustainable development, the have been developed by UNESCO, in collaboration with the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). This pilot project in Costa Rica is made possible thanks to the generous financial contribution of the European Union and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Government of Sweden. The implementation of this innovative tool will facilitate the integration of culture in national and local development policies, while fostering the allocation of public and private resources to the cultural and creative sectors.
For more information on this initiative: here