EU adopts resolution on the cultural dimension of sustainable development

On Thursday, 21 November, the Council of the European Union adopted a resolution on the cultural dimension of sustainable development. The aim is to enhance the contribution of culture to the global challenge of sustainability. 

Within the resolution was an agreement:

1. To step up our efforts to promote the cultural dimension in sustainable development;

2. To pursue work to integrate cultural policies and perspectives into national sustainable development strategies;

3. To review cultural and culture-related policies and measures in order to maximise their contribution to sustainability;

4. To continue exchanging information and good practices, in the spirit of peer learning, on lessons learnt at the national level;

5. To consider including culture in Voluntary National Review Reports for the UN’s Highlevel Political Forum;

6. To engage in participatory, multi-stakeholder and integrated governance of culture and sustainable development, including through support to bottom-up initiatives by cultural and creative sectors and active involvement of citizens, especially children and young people;

7. To work closely with other EU institutions as well as with other stakeholders to unlock culture’s full potential for sustainability and, in particular, with the Commission in the development of the action plan on the cultural dimension of sustainable development;

8. To set up, as soon as possible, an Open Method of Coordination working group on the cultural dimension of sustainable development.

And an invitation to the European Commission:

To prepare, in coordination with Member States, an action plan on the cultural dimension of sustainable development at EU level and integrate the action plan in the EU’s implementation strategy for the 2030 Agenda;

Read full resolution