More than 100 Ministers of Culture, supported by 1200 CCS representatives, adopted in Barcelona, Spain, a Declaration for setting Culture a standalone Sustainable Development Goal. A much anticipated declaration that initiates counting down until the next milestone, the 2027 SDG Summit.
By Eirini PolydorouWednesday 1 October - Rising expectations for CCS as the Ministers participating in MONDIACULT 2025 adopted the much anticipated Declaration calling for Culture as a Sustainable Development Goal.
“Thank you, Spain!” celebrated Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO. "Culture as a standalone SDG goal, should be self-evident. It turns out we have to fight for that! Let's fight for that in a tangible and well-documented way, so we can win that battle!" she stated.
“Now we have a shared objective, all of us here in this room, to obtain for culture a standalone goal in the next SDG agenda, we will achieve it!” stated Ernest Urtasun, Culture Minister of Spain.
Civil society agents participating in MONDIACULT 2025 Agora Civica adopted as well a Declaration reaffirming culture as a public good and calling for culture as an SDG in the UN post 2030 framework. Setting a priority for concrete action on cultural rights, they highlighted that “Culture is no luxury but a driving force”, and concluded that “Without Culture there is no Peace, no Democracy and no Sustainability” .
MondiaYouth representatives highlighted today’s threats against culture, and proposed seven priority areas with accessibility to culture as a public service being the first.
Though allowing for hopes, MONDIACULT 2025 Declaration is only the beginning, while the 2027 SDG Summit rises as the next step for establishing culture as an SDG.
After all, when culture was declared a public good in MONDIACULT 2022, aspirations for Culture as an SDG grew higher. However, culture was not named as a stand-alone goal, at the United Nations level, during the adoption of the Pact for the Future in 2024.
Count down is on.
