Culture as Catalyst: UNESCO Creative Cities Advancing Sustainable Development
September 23, 2025
Sustainable development has often been understood as having three dimensions: economic, environmental and social. But the world has begun to recognize a fourth: culture.
Culture and creativity play key roles in advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Around the world, UNESCO’s 350 recognized Creative Cities are demonstrating how everything from cuisine to literature can drive positive change. By placing cultural industries at the heart of their development and sustainability plans, Creative Cities show us how culture can generate jobs, strengthen community ties, foster innovation, and accelerate progress toward the SDGs.
UNESCO launched its Creative Cities Network in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that had identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development. Today, there are 350 Creative Cities, representing more than 100 countries.
UNESCO’s eight Creative City designations (creative fields) are:
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Architecture
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Craft and Folk Art
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Design
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Film
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Gastronomy
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Literature
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Media Arts
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Music
The Mexico City Declaration on Cultural Policies, adopted by UNESCO in 1982, defines culture as “the whole complex of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features that characterize a society or social group. It includes not only the arts and letters, but also modes of life, the fundamental rights of the human being, value systems, traditions and beliefs.” Culture “shapes individuals and societies, fostering unity through shared values and traditions,” and can help societies to confront global challenges such as conflicts, climate change and technological advances.
This expansive definition reminds us that culture is much more than a sector—it is a foundation for identity, community and resilience. This observation captures both the challenge for a Creative City and the promise: how can it nurture imagination, safeguard cultural rights, and create the conditions for lifelong creative expressions for its residents? And if it succeeds, what might it achieve for the world?
Around the world, communities are tapping into culture and creativity to become more inclusive, resilient and prosperous. Through their policies, programs and partnerships, they are not only preserving their cultural heritage, but also shaping innovation and social cohesion. Their efforts are grounded in and aligned with key international frameworks—including UNESCO declarations and conventions—that elevate culture as the fourth dimension of sustainable development.
Over the past few decades, the international community has begun to recognize the profound economic and social clout of the cultural and creative sectors, which now generate more than 48 million jobs globally. These sectors are powerful drivers of equity, environmental action, gender equality and well-being. In fact, in culturally diverse urban settings, cultural practices and creative spaces can foster social inclusion, intercultural dialogue and civic engagement, especially among vulnerable and marginalized communities.
From the first MONDIACULT conference in 1982 to the landmark MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration four decades later, culture has moved from the margins to the centre of global development agendas. This shift has spurred new commitments and tools for cities—particularly those in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network—to leverage culture and creativity to make progress on the SDGs.
This publication explores the vital role that UNESCO Creative Cities play in advancing the SDGs. It details the evolving international legal and policy frameworks that support the protection of cultural rights and guide culture-led development. It also reflects on emerging global priorities—from digital transformation to climate change—and the solutions that cities are advancing in response.
For inspiration, this paper includes practical examples of how three UNESCO Creative Cities in Canada and three others around the world are translating culture and creativity into concrete actions to advance the SDGs.
Understanding the role of international law
Cities around the world play a central role in global efforts to achieve the SDGs. But it wasn’t always this way.
Cities have gained power over the years in part because their populations have increased. Today, about 56 percent of people around the world live in urban areas—a dramatic change from past decades when most lived in smaller or rural communities. This shift toward urban living, combined with the cultural diversity brought by migration, is amplifying cities’ voices on the global stage. The movement is particularly prominent in regions like Asia and Africa, where cities promise better economic prospects, health care and education. According to United Nations projections, by 2050, about 68 percent of the world’s population will reside in urban areas.
But the influence that cities increasingly wield today is also thanks to a series of international standards concluded over the past few decades that changed the way we perceive their potential and power.
A growing number of international standards recognize the essential role of cities—and their cultural assets—in building inclusive, sustainable societies. These global frameworks don’t just provide legitimacy and set norms: they also empower cities to innovate, protect and apply local knowledge and shape more resilient futures grounded in culture. They even influence the tools, funding streams and collaborative opportunities available to cities.
Around the world, frameworks like these have led the world to regard culture as a core feature of local identity and a key contributor to urban vitality.
These standards enable local leaders to anchor their work and strengthen the case for cultural investment, helping align municipal strategies with global priorities. For example, cities today invest more and more in festivals, cultural events and infrastructure, all of which serve as standard-bearers for tourism, development and intercultural dialogue.
This recognition is reflected in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, where SDG 11 calls for efforts to “protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage” as part of building inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities.
The growing role of culture in urban planning was further emphasized at the UN Habitat III Conference in Quito (2016), where the New Urban Agenda was adopted.
Habitat III was the first UN global summit to take place after the 2015 adoption of the 2030 Agenda. As such, it provided a unique opportunity to discuss how cities, towns and villages could be planned and managed to fulfill their role as drivers of sustainable development—and, consequently, shape the implementation of global development and climate change goals.
The New Urban Agenda promotes people-centred models of city governance that integrate culture and heritage into the broader goals of sustainable development. It also encourages cities to use cultural resources to reduce inequality, improve quality of life, and shrink their ecological footprint.
How UNESCO’s cultural instruments impact cities
UNESCO’s major cultural instruments have contributed to cities’ abilities and inclinations to integrate culture into development, protect community traditions and promote equitable access to creative expression. For example:
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The 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage recognizes the role of living heritage—like rituals, knowledges, practices, and expressions passed down through generations—in fostering social cohesion, creativity and resilience. In cities, this heritage is shaped by both long-time residents and newcomers who bring diverse cultural traditions, enriching the urban fabric.
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The 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions reinforces the value of cultural pluralism and equitable access to creative expression—key principles for inclusive urban development and cities’ ability to succeed in the creative economy. This convention was the first legally binding instrument to recognize the fourth dimension—the cultural dimension—of sustainable development (the other three are economic, social and environmental) in international law. Article 13 invites Parties to integrate culture into their development policies at all levels and in all sectors.
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The 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape offers a people-centred approach to planning and calls on cities to blend heritage conservation with urban development strategies, respecting each place’s unique values and traditions. The World Heritage Committee uses this recommendation to promote a holistic approach to managing historic urban areas. About one-third of UNESCO World Heritage Sites are urban centres, reflecting the complexities of reconciling urban development with heritage conservation.
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The UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape and the MONDIACULT 2022 Final Declaration (more below) emphasized the essential role of culture in shaping liveable, inclusive, and resilient cities.
Together, these frameworks affirm that sustainable urban development must include crucial elements such as access to cultural life for all and heritage protection.
By their very nature, urban environments bring diverse populations together. Long-time residents preserve local knowledge and traditions, while newcomers—whether from rural areas or international backgrounds—contribute with their own cultural practices. Together, these overlapping forms of living heritage shape a city’s evolving identity.
But this diversity also brings challenges. Urban pressures, such as housing shortages and rapid development, can disrupt cultural practices and continuity. That’s why it’s critical that local governments consider cultural inclusion in their plans for social services, education and infrastructure. Doing so protects heritage while also supporting more inclusive, resilient and sustainable urban futures.
The MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration: A turning point for culture-led development
Emerging from the 2022 UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development – MONDIACULT, the MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration stands out as a pivotal moment in global cultural policy. It consolidated decades of progress and set a clear direction for integrating culture more fully into sustainable development, especially at the local level.
The 2022 event marked the 40th anniversary of the first MONDIACULT conference, held in Mexico City in 1982. This latest iteration brought together more than 150 ministers and cultural leaders from around the world with the shared goals of strengthening the role of culture in sustainable development and fostering peace, resilience and solidarity. The delegates declared culture a public good and “a specific objective in its own right” with regards to the post-2030 global development agenda.
For city leaders, the MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration represents a major opportunity to embed culture into policies across education, health, labour, urban planning, tourism and more.
Bridging historical instruments and practical local actions
The MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration is a milestone document that reaffirms the central role of culture in global development agendas. While not legally binding, it carries strong political and moral weight and encourages governments at all levels to integrate culture into public policies and development frameworks.
Importantly, the declaration recognizes that culture and creativity are not just “nice to have” in economic or social development, but are integral to a holistic, people-centred approach to policy development. This recognition positions the cultural sector as a vital player in achieving the SDGs.
Three key principles of MONDIACULT 2022: Everyone has a role to play in sustainability
The declaration reinforces several foundational principles that echo existing UNESCO cultural instruments and are essential to building inclusive, resilient and sustainable societies. But its call for action isn’t aimed only at national governments. Cities—especially those in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network—are key to putting these principles into practice.
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Respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, especially as they relate to individual and collective cultural rights. This includes rights across the full spectrum of cultural life—from heritage to the creative industries—and, increasingly, the digital environment. Article 10 urges governments to create conditions that support the full expression and protection of cultural rights.
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The interdependence of the economic, social, environmental and cultural dimensions of sustainable development. The declaration calls on Member States to systematically embed culture into national and local development strategies and the broader frameworks that international development programs and agencies use.
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Participation. The declaration emphasizes that inclusive cultural policies must be co-created with a diversity of actors—not just governments and public agencies, but also local authorities, community groups and cultural practitioners. This collaborative approach recognizes the wealth of creativity and resources present in communities and reinforces the importance of shared ownership in sustainable cultural development.
These three principles reflect a broad shift toward culture-centred policy development and reinforce culture’s position as the fourth dimension of sustainable development—on equal footing with the economic, social and environmental dimensions.
Linking culture to broader public policy and the SDGs
The MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration highlights the need to integrate culture into all areas of public policy, not just those traditionally labelled “cultural.” This includes sectors like education, health, labour, urban development, tourism and environmental planning—because all of these intersect with culture in meaningful ways.
The evidence of this is in the data. We know that the cultural and creative sectors contribute more than 48 million jobs worldwide, accounting for 6.2% of all employment and 3.1% of global GDP. In addition to their economic contributions, they promote well-being, social inclusion and local resilience. They are major drivers of development.
Recognizing culture’s cross-sector importance opens the door to stronger alignment between culture and the SDGs—especially at the local level—as outlined in the following three policy areas.
Culture and education (SDG 4)
Cities and cultural institutions play a vital role in making education more inclusive, relevant and connected to local knowledge. One of the clearest opportunities for cross-sector collaboration lies in strengthening the links between culture and education. As societies shift rapidly in the knowledge era, cultural content, such as heritage, traditional knowledge and local histories, offers vital context for making education more relevant and inclusive.
The MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration calls on governments to embed culture across learning systems. Cultural institutions like libraries, museums and community centres play a key role by facilitating lifelong learning, intercultural exchange and knowledge-sharing between generations and across communities.
To support this vision, UNESCO Member States adopted the Framework for Culture and Arts Education in February 2024. The framework calls for greater collaboration between schools, municipalities and cultural actors, including members of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, to foster “shared learning experiences with the involvement of the whole community.”
Culture and climate action (SDG 13)
Urban centres increasingly use cultural platforms to shape narratives and mobilize communities around climate solutions. The MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration affirms that culture must play a central role in climate action—not only through messaging and awareness, but by applying traditional ecological knowledge and creative problem-solving.
Culture can help shift the climate conversation from one built on trade-offs to one rooted in shared values, collective memory and community resilience. This shift requires sustained investment in cultural research, knowledge exchange and innovation. Cities are uniquely positioned to lead this effort. Through festivals, exhibits, creative industries and participatory planning, they can raise awareness around mobility, greenhouse gas emissions and sustainable lifestyles.
Equally important, art and culture can spur people to deepen their relationships with the natural environment, nurturing empathy and stewardship that can translate into support for ambitious climate policies. Indigenous knowledge systems offer powerful models: storytelling, ceremony and land-based practices share ecological understandings across generations while strengthening community bonds with the land.
One example is Indigenous Cities at the National Arts Centre (NAC) in Ottawa, Canada—an online audio and interpretive storytelling project launched by NAC Indigenous Theatre. Through spoken-word performances, music and soundscapes, Elders, knowledge keepers and artists share place-based stories that invite listeners to experience urban environments through Indigenous perspectives. These narratives deepen awareness of traditional ecological knowledges, reveal layered histories embedded in land and place, and highlight the vital connections between culture and environment.
Another example is Indigenous Public Art in Burnaby, which showcases murals and installations by Indigenous artists across the city. By bringing Indigenous cultural teachings and relationships to land into shared public spaces, these works connect residents more closely to their environments and illustrate how cultural expression can strengthen the way we care for the natural world.
Culture and the creative economy (SDG 8)
The MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration also supports the growth of the creative economy as a vehicle for inclusive and sustainable development. It encourages governments to uphold the social and economic rights of artists and cultural professionals, improve their mobility and create fairer digital ecosystems.
Local policy-makers are leveraging culture’s transformational power to support SDG 8 by creating jobs, encouraging innovation and making their communities more attractive to people to live, work and invest in. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, around 60% of government spending on culture and recreation comes from subnational and local levels. This spending results in things like arts festivals, promotion of creative entrepreneurship and cultural tourism, all of which generate employment and economic vibrancy at the local level.
The 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and the 1980 Recommendation concerning the Status of the Artist are key reference points for implementing these commitments.
Taking the lead: Using culture to change norms
Cities aren’t just implementing global cultural frameworks—they’re also shaping them by stepping up with their own cultural development agendas. Across networks and regions, municipal leaders are creating normative tools, such as declarations, manifestos and action plans, that underscore the vital role of cultural rights and creativity in advancing the SDGs. These instruments provide shared guidance and accountability mechanisms for local action and international alignment.
Applying a cultural lens to tackle growing challenges
Cities are taking leadership roles on the global stage, signalling their readiness to act as laboratories for sustainable, culture-driven development.
In 2024, the UNESCO Creative Cities Network adopted the Braga Manifesto at its 16th annual conference in Braga, Portugal (Creative City of Media Arts since 2017). Building directly on the principles of the MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration, the manifesto sets out local commitments in six key areas:
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Strengthening individual and collective cultural rights
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Addressing digital transformation and the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the cultural and creative sectors
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Harnessing culture for climate action
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Promoting the economic dimensions of culture
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Protecting cultural heritage in times of crisis
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Enhancing synergies between culture and education
As the manifesto states, the UNESCO Creative Cities “support the protection of culture and cultural professionals at risk and in crisis, through policies and mechanisms that promote cultural diversity and the diversity of cultural expressions, protect cultural heritage, and enable peaceful solutions and global dialogue, bolstering resilience, fostering a shared culture for mutual-understanding and international collaboration, contributing to reconciliation, democracy, equity, human rights and peace, and the achievement of the sustainable development goals.”
In 2025, the UNESCO Creative Cities Network gathered again, this time in Enghien-les-Bains, France, (Creative City of Media Arts since 2013), to discuss how artificial intelligence is influencing creative sectors and how it can be harnessed to drive cultural innovation, social inclusion, and sustainable urban transformation.
Aligning city-level reporting with the MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration and 2030 Agenda goals
Another concrete step forward is the 2024 revision of the Creative Cities’ periodic reporting structure. The new format brings city-level reporting into closer alignment with the goals of the MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration and the 2030 Agenda. It encourages municipalities to reflect more deeply on their contributions to sustainable development and to articulate how cultural policies intersect with climate action, economic inclusion, education and social equity.
At the same time, United Cities and Local Governments (a global network based in Barcelona, Spain) has been instrumental in framing culture as the fourth dimension of sustainable development. Through its Agenda 21 for Culture, the Rome Charter, and other key publications, the network has encouraged cities to embed cultural rights, participation and diversity into municipal policies. It also supports peer learning and advocacy at international forums to ensure that local perspectives influence global decision-making.
These collective efforts are redefining how cities measure progress—not only in economic terms, but through creativity, cultural rights and community well-being. They’re also generating practical models that other municipalities can adapt and scale.
The next section highlights how cities are applying these principles through concrete local initiatives.
UNESCO Creative Cities in action: Case studies
Canada
A building’s shapes, materials and colours can subdue or amplify the impacts of climate change and natural disasters, and its layout can help or hinder how people with diverse needs use it. In so many ways, design can be a powerful driver of sustainable development—and for more than a century, the City of Montréal has used it to improve residents’ lives.
Background
From the layouts of its sprawling parks to its repurposing of iconic buildings (such as from Expo 67 and the 1976 Olympics) into museums and environmental research facilities, Montréal is renowned for using design for its positive impacts on residents.
This approach is championed by the city’s Design Bureau, a team that promotes creative solutions to urban challenges in Montréal and fosters the next generation of design and architecture practitioners at home and abroad.
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Setting the standard for diversity and inclusion in the design industry (SDGs 4, 8, 11)
In 2025, the Montréal’s Design Bureau collaborated with Six cinquième and Never was Average to publish In Perspectives, a report and guide on inclusion in the design industry. Targeting project managers, decision-makers and others in the city who influence quality of life in Montréal, the report advocates for inclusive design processes that “respect diverse communities and embrace inclusive practices” for people who design spaces for communities that are not their own.
The authors draw on barriers—such as lack of representation in the industry, lack of consultation with communities in design process, and more—to plot out a roadmap for truly inclusive design processes.
Insights
From city staff to local designers and design educators, Montréal’s design community is transforming the way it involves communities in its actions and considers the secondary uses of the spaces it creates. The results offer key takeaways for other cities looking to design with sustainability in mind:
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Go beyond your design’s primary function to consider its sustainability and likely future impacts.
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Hear, consider and truly understand how your project can function in its particular community.
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Foster inclusion and diversity in the design sector to grow the pool of talent, voices and creativity that will shape the community’s future.
While In Perspectives was conceived mainly to address Montréal’s needs, the resource presents solutions that can be applied anywhere, such as a guide to help designers and project leads ensure communities are consulted, informed and heard throughout the design process. It demonstrates that diversity in the design community and consultation processes ultimately results in better outcomes for all.
Source: City of Montreal’s Design Bureau
London is leveraging its UNESCO City of Music designation to grow its music sector in an equitable and sustainable way and harness the power of music for sustainable development.
Background
In the 2010s, London worked to become a member of the UNESCO Creative City Network by positioning music as a tool for positive social, economic and environmental advancement. Today, it is a hub of music education, with three post-secondary institutions educating more than 1,000 music students annually. Through its London Music Office and a council-endorsed music strategy, the city nurtures a thriving music community.
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Partnering with musicians to amplify sustainable development (SDGs 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 17)
In 2019, the City of London Council declared a climate emergency to acknowledge the threats posed by climate change to the city and plot a course toward a sustainable future. The London Music Office and the City of London Climate Change, Environment & Waste Management team responded by working together to manage important messaging, using music as a tool for positive change.
The city and its musicians have built awareness about the implications of climate change on life in London and the city’s efforts to become more sustainable:
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In 2024, the city engaged musicians as advocates for its Green Bin rollout, featuring interviews with local artists about why they support the initiative.
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In 2025, musicians, NGOs and the city partnered to host Green in the City, a performance event designed to spur discussion about the need to make sustainable changes.
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In 2025, the city supported a collaboration between its poet laureate and local musicians on the Watershed Project, a multimedia poem that addresses the local impacts of climate change.
Across these examples, London has used its UNESCO City of Music designation to drive progress on SDG 13 (Climate Action) and other SDGs by ensuring a gender-balanced roster of artists, providing fair and equitable pay to all artists involved, curating an inclusive representation of community members, implementing new sustainable practices, and fostering collaboration throughout the community.
Insights
By integrating sustainable practices like gender equity, decent work and economic growth through music into its day-to-day service delivery, the City of London is not just supporting its music industry; it is building relationships with influential ambassadors. The city routinely partners with musicians to spread the word on sustainability initiatives and issues:
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Musicians help London deliver its sustainable development messages in engaging ways—and are often more compelling than traditional municipal government communications channels.
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When musicians share public messaging, they can soften challenging ideas, intrigue audiences and amplify messages across social networks.
By incorporating music across its operations, London continues to discover the power of its Creative City designation and work toward a better future.
Source: London Music Office
Stories help us track and understand a culture’s evolutions, challenges and values. They reveal power dynamics, life lessons and social relationships, and they educate and inspire change. That’s why Québec is leaning into literary spaces to build community and drive sustainable development.
Background
As the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat Nation, the Québec area was alive with stories long before Europeans arrived. It has since inspired authors like Charles Dickens, Albert Camus, Anne Hébert and Gabrielle Roy, not to mention newer wordsmiths who are supported by residencies, festivals and other city-led initiatives.
As a UNESCO Creative City, Québec continues to expand the reach and power of literature in the community, aiming to educate, empower and connect. This approach reflects the city’s vision, in which culture and literature play essential roles as catalysts for social change, cohesion and sustainable development.
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Leveraging literary spaces to engage and create community (SDGs 3, 4, 11)
Québec’s library system goes well beyond offering literary resources to deliver educational and cultural programs for all ages, helping to ensure equitable access to quality education and to promote lifelong learning opportunities for residents.
In 2024, the city completed a project to modernize its libraries, revealing significant, environmentally conscious renovations to its Gabrielle Roy Library. These have transformed it from a building for books to a cultural hub for people.
The Gabrielle Roy branch now boasts a community kitchen, where people can learn cooking skills and eat together; a toy library and other spaces for children; and a creative incubator that brings community organizations together to dream up additional initiatives for the library to deliver on. Furnished to adapt to the needs of people with different abilities, the library’s new spaces are already welcoming more visitors than ever before.
Insights
Québec is demonstrating the power of its library branches to benefit residents. Initiatives that other cities’ libraries might consider are:
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Support lifelong learning. For example, from a program that gives new parents a baby book and literacy materials to its satellite book-lending locations in assisted living facilities, Québec’s library system ensures that people of all ages can engage with reading.
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Build community. Québec’s “Racines plurielles” program connects people who are new to Québec with more established residents through workshops hosted in libraries. This builds community through personal and literary connections.
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Reach beyond physical institutions. Whether through its catalogue of thousands of digital books or its pop-up library in a neighbourhood of immigrants, Québec’s library system connects with the community outside its brick-and-mortar locations, feeding a love of learning and sense of connection.
Québec recognizes that literacy institutions can evolve to meet the modern needs and interests of the public. It is building an environment where cultural institutions play a prominent educational and social role.
Source: Québec, ville de littérature
Around the world
In Bendigo, Australia, food is family ties, cultural connections, health, economic prosperity and climate resilience. The inland city northeast of Melbourne is harnessing its cultural and culinary diversity to help shape and secure a thriving future for its people and its land.
Background
The Dja Dja Wurrung people sustainably stewarded the lands and waters around what is now Bendigo, Australia, for thousands of years before colonization—until large-scale European agricultural practices arrived and destabilized the balance of life in the region.
Today, faced with the impacts of industrial production and climate change, people of all cultures in the Bendigo area are rebalancing their relationships with the land to support their community and heal the land and people in the process.
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The Australian Future Foods Lab: Experimenting with recipes for sustainability
In 2021, food growers, artists, ecologists, policymakers and traditional custodians gathered at a Bendigo-area winery to look for ways to blend their knowledge and skills to identify ecologically and economically sustainable ways to lean into the region’s Creative City designation.
The discussions founded new partnerships and popularized Indigenous perspectives. The event, which was given the Dja Dja Wurrung name Djakitj Laar (interpreted as “communal food of place”), is just one of many initiatives the Australian Future Foods Lab has instigated in Bendigo to “re-ignite tastebuds and the cultural imagination in support of emerging and sustainable food systems.”
Insights
Culinary and community leaders in Bendigo are asking themselves: “What do we want to eat in 50 years?” Their answers are motivating actions that help ensure Bendigo can sustainably provide residents with what they need, today and well into the future. They also offer key takeaways for others looking to grow sustainable food systems:
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Look to native species for climate resilience. The Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation’s Djandak Dja Kunditja (Country Healing its Home) initiative is exploring how re-establishing kangaroo grass as a widespread crop can support ecological restoration and food security needs. The grain is well-adapted to the region’s growing conditions and may be a powerful tool in building sustainable food systems that are resilient to many of the impacts of climate change.
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Support stewardship of soils. The City of Greater Bendigo’s Healthy Landscapes project helps land managers and producers in the area adopt farming and grazing practices that foster soil health, ultimately supporting resilient biodiversity, carbon sequestration and food security.
By anticipating how growing conditions will affect local crops and food sources over the long term and adapting practices to better steward landscapes, Bendigo is setting an example that others around the world can follow.
Source: Bendigo, Gastronomy
For millennia, Cairo has served as a cultural hub for the Middle East and Arab Region, its handiwork finding its way down the Nile delta and traded throughout the Mediterranean. Now, as a UNESCO Creative City, Cairo is leveraging this rich cultural heritage and its vibrant creative industries to address contemporary challenges and achieve sustainable growth.
Background
Cairo’s legacy of cultural production continues today throughout the city, where more than 50,000 craftspeople continue to weave, carve, forge, blow glass and create works that enliven the city. Together, these artisans are conserving their culture, reinforcing Cairo’s economy and driving sustainable solutions.
Recognizing the influence that its crafts industry could have on its future, Cairo has initiated numerous programs to promote cultural diversity, conserve heritage, and stimulate the creative economy.
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Supporting cultural production by women and underrepresented communities (SDGs 1, 4, 5, 8, 10)
Cairo estimates that a significant portion of its craftspeople are women, many of whom did not have equitable access to financial support or marketing tools, historically. Through a network of partnerships with government agencies and international institutions, Cairo is building a sustainable crafts industry by training women, financially supporting their businesses and growing their market access.
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Training. Cairo’s Women’s Skills Development Center offers training in project management, product development and digital skills while guiding women entrepreneurs through initiatives like its Handicraft Development Program.
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Financial support. The city provides low- and even no-interest loans to thousands of craftspeople, including women and people with special needs, to help entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses. This microfinancing helps preserve heritage crafts, grow equitable access to markets, and foster entrepreneurship within the city’s cultural and creative economy.
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Growing market access. Since becoming a Creative City, Cairo has developed digital platforms to help safeguard, promote and inventory its cultural heritage. One platform, Ayad Misr, empowers marginalized groups and creates job opportunities for women and youth by helping them market their products and grow their reach.
Insights
Cairo is investing in its legacy cultural industries to grow its economy and support its entrepreneurs in an equitable and sustainable way. As a result, the city is seeing great results. It has discovered that:
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Securing career and financial stability for artists helps lift women and marginalized people out of poverty.
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Expanding access to markets grows the city’s cultural reputation and economy.
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Empowering women and youth with craft and business skills conserves cultural knowledge.
By fostering a dynamic ecosystem that encourages artistic innovation, supports cultural heritage sites, and engages communities in cultural activities, Cairo is laying the groundwork for culture to be acknowledged as a critical dimension of sustainable development in its post-2030 agenda. Its actions reflect an understanding that culture is not just an economic sector, but a powerful driver of sustainable, inclusive development.
Movie-making is now more accessible than ever: anyone with a smartphone can shoot and share a creation. But the global film industry remains tough to crack into. Through its Creative City of Film designation, Brazil’s seaside city, Santos, is opening up access to its vibrant film sector and using it to drive sustainable development.
Background
Santos welcomed its first commercial cinema in 1934. Film, advertising and TV producers have told their stories in the city’s streets and on its beaches for decades. Santos has embraced its role as a production hub.
Since 2000, the city has run a popular film festival and grown its creative sector significantly. In 2022, it hosted the 14th Annual Conference of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, welcoming delegates from 90 countries to discuss how they could leverage their cities’ designations to promote equality and advance social inclusion.
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Funding free access to the film sector (SDGs 1, 4, 8, 10, 11)
Santos has consciously curated a reputation as a hub for filming, producing and screening great TV and cinema. It has not succeeded only by enticing outsiders, but by creating free opportunities for its own citizens to get engaged. In this way, Santos is using its audiovisual media industry to empower citizens and drive social transformation.
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Through festivals and other public screening sessions in low-income and underserved neighbourhoods, Santos brings traditional cinema to people who would otherwise not have access to it.
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Across 10 “Creative Villages,” Santos offers residents free courses in areas that support the film industry, such as hairstyling and make-up, carpentry, dance, theatre, fashion design and sewing. The city-run Fábrica Audiovisual offers free courses on subjects like cinema basics, screenplay writing and documentary filmmaking to hundreds of residents every year, prioritizing low-income applicants.
Thanks to efforts like these, Santos saw the number of creative businesses in the city nearly double between 2013 and 2024.
Insights
Santos is democratizing the film industry for residents, making viewing free and training accessible to people living with low incomes. In this way, the city has found ways to help its residents, cultural sector and economy grow sustainably together. To achieve similar results, other cities could aim to:
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Increase film appreciation through festivals and free public screenings to generate interest among the next generation of professionals who see a future for themselves in the field.
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Empower low-income residents with the skills to pursue careers in the film industry (if accessible in the community) so they can support themselves and their families.
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Take a holistic view of what’s involved in the industry—from writing to make-up and set design—to grow people’s pride in the cultural sector and enable them to see themselves as an important part of its success.
Santos continues to create spaces for its residents to watch and learn about film and learn the skills they need to engage in the industry and lift their economic status. In doing so, the city is making sure its community can feel ownership over and pride in its marquee cultural industry.
Culture must be recognized as driver of change
Cities are at the forefront of cultural innovation and community engagement, yet are often underrepresented in national and international decision-making forums—particularly when it comes to shaping policies that affect cultural diversity and cultural rights. As noted during a 2022 Study day organized by the UNESCO Chair on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (in French, Université Laval), municipalities typically have limited influence over provincial or federal cultural strategies, and are largely absent from global human rights forums, including those convened by the United Nations.
This disconnect risks overlooking the substantial and growing role that cities play in supporting inclusive cultural development. It also limits the visibility of some of the most effective, community-driven approaches to sustainability—those rooted in cultural rights, creativity and belonging.
Reaffirming culture as a global public good is a crucial step toward closing this gap. Doing so would validate the contributions of local governments and reinforce the idea that cultural participation is not only a right, but a driver of resilience, innovation and peace.
Recent global declarations echo this call. The G7 Culture Ministers’ Declaration (Italy, 2024) affirms that “culture is a strategic resource for inclusive economic growth, innovation, democratic resilience and sustainable development.” Similarly, the Culture 2030 Goal Campaign Declaration—a collective civil society initiative advocating for culture in the SDGs—urges the international community to “ensure that culture is recognized as a stand-alone goal in future global development agendas.”
Unlocking sustainable development’s fourth dimension
By centring cultural rights, investing in creative sectors, and working across disciplines, cities are shaping a more sustainable, inclusive, and imaginative future. Given the current global geopolitical climate, cities and local governments play a vital role in safeguarding democratic values and cultural diversity while ensuring inclusive responses tailored to local realities.
To fully realize cities’ potential as change-makers and culture leaders, national governments, international institutions and civil society organizations can:
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Actively engage cities, local governments and impacted stakeholders in the design of cultural and sustainable development policies
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Provide direct support and recognition for the normative and practical contributions of UNESCO Creative Cities
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Uphold culture as a cross-cutting dimension of global development, with appropriate funding, research, and representation at all levels
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Advocate for ethical guidelines for the fair and responsible use of AI in cultural sectors
Cities are not simply sites of implementation—they are powerful engines of change. Their leadership, when recognized and resourced, can transform how we imagine and build a more equitable world.
About the Author
Ivana Otašević is the Assistant Director and Coordinator of the UNESCO Chair on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. She holds a doctorate in international law and is a lecturer at the Faculty of Law at Université Laval.
This publication was written in collaboration with Barbara Filion, Arts, Culture & Indigenous Policy Practitioner.