German Commission for UNESCO hosts Side-Event at the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policy

The German Commission for UNESCO will bring together renowned international actors and young experts for the hybrid side event "Fair Culture - a Key to Sustainable Development" on September 27 (from 10 AM to 1 PM local time) at the Goethe-Institut Mexico.

Fair Culture – A Key to Sustainable Development

Fair Trade principles address poor labour standards and global inequalities. While they have been widely implemented in several economic sectors over the last decades, culture and creative sectors have not been part of the discussion so far.

This needs to change. Inequalities are a key challenge for the cultural sector and creative industries, particularly between countries of the Global South and the Global North, as highlighted in latest UNESCO Global Reports on Culture. The reports show how cultural goods and services are increasingly disseminated through digital networks, thereby transforming value chains. The COVID-19 pandemic also had a dramatic impact on artists and the entire cultural ecosystem, exacerbating inequalities and making the conversation about “Fair Culture” even more urgent.

Mobilizing for the international recognition of the pivotal role of culture for sustainable development, social inclusion and international peace, the event advocates for the “Fair Culture” approach to become an integral part of reforms of the cultural sector and of a future UN framework for sustainable development.

The side event takes on the recommendations of a vast international conceptual study Fair Culture – A Key to Sustainable Development carried out by the UNESCO Chair on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions at University Laval, Canada 2021, commissioned by the German Commission for UNESCO. The cooperation partners will gather a truly global group of experts at MONDIACULT 2022 to elaborate the concept of “Fair Culture” – adapting Fair Trade principles to culture and creative sectors.

The event will focus in particular on the topics of preferential treatment, fair working conditions and social security, fair culture as a contribution to sustainable development and peace, and the digitalization of cultural value chains.

The event is being organized in close cooperation with the International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (IFCCD), the UNESCO Chair on Diversity of Cultural Expressions at the University of Laval in Québec, Canada, the Goethe-Institut Mexico and the National Commissions for UNESCO of France, Kenya and South Korea as well as the Ministry for Culture of Colombia.

A Call for Young Experts

The event brings together excellent professionals, future decision makers and communicators from all over the world to elaborate on and sharpen the concept of “Fair Culture”. The German Commission for UNESCO and its cooperation partners are seeking up to 12 young specialists from Africa, Asia, EU, Latin America, Northern America and the Arabic Region with proven competence and interest in the areas of cultural, trade and/or development policies and relevant aspects of the UNESCO Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Mentoring by experienced actors from the cultural and creative sector is foreseen. Applications were open until July 28.

Open Call: Young Experts for Fair Culture

Young Experts on Fair Culture

Background

The UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development – MONDIACULT 2022 will be convened by UNESCO fourty years after the first MONDIACULT World Conference on Cultural Policies was 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.