Noticias del Portal de la Cultura de América Latina y el Caribe

Heritage and creativity in Latin America and the Caribbean: keys to promote sustainable urban development


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24 June 2021/ UNESCO Office in Havana

In 1950, only 29% of the world's population was urban; by 2030, it is expected that 60% of the planet's people will live in cities. For Eugenia De Grazia, UN Habitat Mexico-Cuba Programme Officer, this fact represents an opportunity “to make these cities prosperous, vibrant, inclusive”, with the essential contribution of culture.

This reflection was shared during the Regional Seminar “Sustainable Urban Development: Tools for its implementation through heritage and creativity in Latin America and the Caribbean”, an initiative organized by UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean in Havana and the Cluster Office for the Caribbean in Kingston, in coordination with UN-Habitat and UNESCO Creative Cities Network.

During June 16 and 17, more than 400 professionals from Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Africa virtually followed the presentations and asked questions that enriched the debate around the relationship between culture and sustainable development in cities.

Human beings, culture and cities, intersections at the heart of sustainable development

Figures from a recent ECLAC report confirm that “urban life in Latin America and the Caribbean is a majority and growing”. The Seminar offered an interagency view on how to face the challenges related to sustainable urban development and the role of culture in this challenging scenario.

“UNESCO and UN-Habitat work for the advancement of the New Urban Agenda (NUA) and this seminar is a good example”, stated Tatiana Villegas, Culture Program Specialist at UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The NUA recognizes that “culture and cultural diversity are sources of enrichment for humanity and make an important contribution to the sustainable development of cities.”

Elkin Velasquez, UN-Habitat Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean highlighted the cultural topic, “as an essential element to address the socio-economic recovery processes that, in Latin America”, he expressed, “need to be born, in many places, from the bottom, from the local level.”

“It is very important” - he also indicated – “that the planning and management processes of our city, of our historic neighborhoods, rely on the perspective of inclusion and of enabling the ownership by the community.”

For UNESCO, as the main United Nations agency dedicated to culture, this idea is essential. In her remarks sent to the Seminar, Saadia Sanchez, Director and Representative of UNESCO Cluster Office for the Caribbean in Kingston and Officer in Charge of UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean in Havana, highlighted the importance of that outlook.

“… achieving this sustainable development while preserving the quality of urban life, the protection of urban identities, the appreciation of local cultures, the promotion of creative expressions and industries, as well as the arts and heritage, is a great challenge that implies ensuring that the human being is at the heart of this urban development.”

For UNESCO expert, Lazaro I. Rodriguez, it is about approaching policies with a view “where culture is not only part of sustainable development, but also considers Sustainable Development as a cultural policy.”

Best practices for sustainable development through heritage and creativity

As part of a work started in 2019 that also resulted in this Seminar, UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean, UN-Habitat and UNESCO Creative Cities Network are working on the conception of an instrument that explains, through examples and proposals, how to introduce heritage and culture in sustainable urban development.

It is a tool to contribute to the responsible use of heritage and creativity in local urban interventions, in an improved, efficient and articulated manner, aligned with the purposes of the 2030 Agenda, as specified by Rodríguez, author of the study.

The work includes a mapping of numerous projects in the region, which show the contribution of UNESCO conventions, recommendations, protocols or networks to sustainable urban development.

UNESCO Creative Cities Network, launched in 2004, represents precisely one of such instruments. Denise Bax, Secretary of the Network, explained how “culture and creativity have proven to hold the power to contribute to face economic and environmental challenges” in cities.

The examples shared during the Seminar and the projects included in the study show “that sustainable urban development through culture is possible and necessary, supported by all the UNESCO’s conventions and tools for the safeguarding, promotion and protection of culture,” as Tatiana Villegas declared at the closing ceremony of the meeting.

Just under the protection of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, the Transculture Program: Integrating Cuba, the Caribbean and the European Union through Culture and Creativity is implemented from Havana, with funding from the European Union, as an initiative to reinforce synergies with culture as a pillar and motive, as Alejandro Guma, one of the Program Officers, explained during the virtual event.

As mentioned by the speakers, the Seminar is a contribution of UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in the framework of the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development. The activity was also conducive to inviting participants to join UNESCO celebration on the occasion of the Tenth Anniversary of the Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape, an instrument that responds to the need to better integrate and articulate strategies for the conservation of urban heritage, with respect to the broader goals of global sustainable development.