UNESCO, The Philippines and Baguio city organized the Launch Workshop of the UNESCO Culture|2030 Indicators’ project implementation.

The pilot implementation of the Culture|2030 Indicators’ framework has been launched in The Philippines and in Baguio city. The launch workshop was organized by the Philippines’ National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Mayor Office of Baguio city, in close collaboration with UNESCO, on 2 and 4 October 2021, and gathered more than a hundred participants, including representatives from the National and Local Authorities, as well as civil society organizations, academy, private sector, and other competent entities whose work is informed by culture.

In line with UNESCO’s commitment to advocate for the essential role of culture in sustainable development, the UNESCO Thematic Indicators for Culture in the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development (Culture|2030 Indicators) is a conceptual and methodological framework of thematic indicators whose purpose is to measure and monitor the progress of culture’s enabling contribution to the national and local implementation of the Goals and Targets of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The framework has been developed by UNESCO in collaboration with the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), with the aim to assess both culture’s role as a sector of activity, as well as the transversal contribution of culture across different SDGs and policy areas. The UNESCO Culture|2030 Indicators framework maps the SDGs in 22 Indicators, across four thematic Dimensions: Environment & Resilience, Prosperity & Livelihood, Knowledge & Skills, and Inclusion & Participation.

The project’s framework and methodology make culture visible, provide a thematic overview, build messages and advocacy, inform national and local policies and actions, help understanding trends and build knowledge, and monitor the global progress of culture in the realization of the UN 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.

The project benefits from capacity building materials led and delivered by UNESCO, as well as from the guidance and technical support of the UNESCO International and Regional Experts in close collaboration with the National and Local Authorities’ implementation Teams, at country and city levels. The implementation of the UNESCO Culture|2030 Indicators in The Philippines and Baguio city was made possible thanks to the generous financial contribution of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), with additional resources for national and local implementation from the Philippines’ National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). The said project is implemented in close cooperation with the UNESCO Jakarta Field Office.

The Workshop introduced the methodology of the UNESCO Culture|2030 Indicators framework, and shared capacity building materials with the authorities and actors. The UNESCO Regional and International Experts present also shared trends and experiences of the process of collecting resources and analyzing Data.

Mr. Arsenio Lizaso, the Chairman of the Republic of The Philippines’ National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), and Mayor Benjamin Magalong of Baguio City, delivered the welcoming messages for the workshop.

Dr. Jyoti Hosagrahar, Deputy Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, shared  introductory remarks on the UNESCO Culture 2030 Indicators project. She explained the development of the methodology, the framework itself, and the major implementation steps at national and local levels. She also addressed how these voluntary indicators contributed to the realization of the UN 2030 Agenda and its 17 SDGs, at the national and local levels, as well as to the National Voluntary Reviews and Local Voluntary Reports for countries and cities.

An introduction to the methodology of the framework, prepared by UNESCO, was presented by the UNESCO Regional Expert, Mr. Desmond HUI.

During the Workshop, the UNESCO Regional Expert, the involved National and Local Authorities, and various actors exchanged and discussed the UNESCO Culture|2030 Indicators from different perspectives and through its 22 Indicators and its 4 Dimensions.

The meeting was closed by Mr. Bernidick Bryan Hosmillo, the National Coordinator, and Mr. Raymundo Rovillos, the Local Coordinator. They thanked all the Participants and they shared the information that the project’s implementation will culminate with a restitution workshop to be held in April 2022.

For further information on the UNESCO Culture|2030 Indicators project, we invite you to explore the following webpage: UNESCO Culture|2030 Indicators