UCLG Culture Summit and Executive Bureau: Cities lead cultural actions in sustainable development

25.03.2019

After the success of the first two UCLG Culture Summits (Bilbao, 2015; and Jeju, 2017), culture makes a comeback to the centre of the political agenda with the third edition of the Culture Summit from 3 to 5 April in Buenos Aires. 

Bearing in mind the growing importance of culture in achieving sustainable cities, UCLG members will debate these issues during three sessions hosted by the UCLG Politicy Councils within the framework of the Culture Summit in Buenos Aires, on 4 and 5 April. UCLG’s Culture Summit is a unique event that brings together cities, local governments and other key actors committed to the effective implementation of policies and programmes on culture and sustainability at the local level.  The third edition of the Culture Summit will begin on April 3 in Buenos Aires bringing together more than 500 people from around the world – cities, local governments, experts, academics, cultural agents and sustainable development actors – to discuss and share how culture helps accelerate sustainable development in cities.

With this goal in mind, the meeting will be an opportunity for knowledge exchange and learning between cities, as well as for the strengthening of networks that work on cultural policies for sustainable local development through plenary sessions, thematic parallel sessions, project presentations and workshops, networking spaces and visits to cultural sites.

[Discover the full programme of the Culture Summit]

The Summit: Home of the UCLG Policy Debates

For the first time, within the UCLG Culture Summit the UCLG’s Policy Councils will hoste three sessions. These sessions will be the perfect occasion to reinforce messages at the international level on the role of culture in sustainable development. They are also essential to provide visibility to the international debates on cultural rights in the city, on public space as a means of creativity, on the role of youth in development, and on the importance of local finance for innovative sustainability proposals.

The meeting during the morning of Thursday 4th of April on “Implementing cultural rights in the city: what does this involve?” will be held under the auspices of UCLG’s Policy Council on the Right to the City. This debate aims to open a dialogue aimed at all local governments to exchange experiences and ideas on what cultural rights entail and how to integrate them in the framework of cities.

Debates on “Generational Dialogues and Creativity: Strategies for Youth”, held under the auspices of UCLG’s Policy Council on Opportunities for All will take place that same afternoon, whereas  the debate on “Experimenting with Creativity in Public Spaces”, under the auspices of UCLG’s Policy Council on Resilient Cities will be held on the 5th of April. Both meetings will gather initiatives and local experiences related to youth, education for non-violence, social inclusion and the culture of peace.

[Discover the full programme of the Policy Councils]

Montevideo, the place for UCLG political meetings

The localization of the Global Agendas is at the heart of UCLG’s work and efforts, and this is why the themes to be addressed at the Executive Bureau in 2019 will be closely related to achieving the SDGs at the local level. Topics such as gender equality, the role of local governments in migration governance and crisis management, food security and local financing are essential to achieve the SDGs, and require the active participation of local governments throughout the process.

Other statutory meetings such as the Executive Committee of the Metropolitan Section of UCLG (Metropolis), Executive Committee of the UCCI (Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities) and a Meeting of the Mercociudades Executive Direction will be held in Montevideo from 5 to 6 April. The Working Group on Territorial Prevention and Management of Crisis will also meet to address how cities cope with crises.

The Executive Bureau of Montevideo will also discuss the preparations of the World Summit of Local and Regional Governments, which will take place from 11 to 15 November in Durban and will be a key milestone for the future of the municipal movement.

This Summit, the UCLG World Congress, will offer space not only for local and regional governments, but also for partners, national governments, United Nations agencies, civil society organizations…etc. The goal is to transform global governance spaces by giving voi