In September, ahead of the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development – MONDIACULT 2022, the European Commission released the report Stormy Times. Nature and humans: cultural courage for change by the Working Group of Member States’ experts. The document, prepared in collaboration with Rolf Weiss, Expert of the European Expert Network on Culture (EENC), focuses on the role of culture as a driver towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The experts formulated 11 messages to rethink the relationship between humans and nature to fuel our cultural imagination for a liveable, sustainable future. Some of the recommendations addressed in the report are:
- the need for artists and cultural organisations to be fully involved in the implementation of the European Green Deal to achieve the changes in ways of living and thinking it requires;
- the call for not one but five Earth Overshoot Day(s) per year for the protection of the planet’s natural resources to raise awareness;
- the value of culture as a powerful tool to better communicate scientific knowledge on issues such as social injustice, inequalities, loss of biodiversity, lack of food security, climate change and others, addressed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The document is aimed at stakeholders and policymakers who have the power to implement these recommendations. As this Expert Group is overseen by the Council of the EU, most of the recommendations address issues at EU level.
You can download the full report below.
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