The Tracker Culture & Public Policy | Special Issue n°4 : Countdown to MONDIACULT

Culture and education together are the backbone of human development. They provide the foundations for a context and content relevant development that builds on cultural resources and specific local contexts. Culture informs education and makes it relevant to address the challenges and opportunities of each context. Culture expands the spectrum of education and encourages the appreciation of cultural diversity while enhancing and deepening learning outcomes. In this framework, UNESCO champions synergies between culture and education to better equip teachers and learners in an ever more urbanized and multicultural environment. Both culture and education connect us with the world and one another, expose us to new possibilities, build a sense of identity and belonging, and strengthen our capacities for dialogue and action. Yet, institutionally, these two faces of the same coin have often been viewed in isolation: the cultural context of education systems is often disregarded as irrelevant, whilst culture and arts education is dismissed as a luxury, in view of competing priorities within national budgets.

As humanity and the planet face increasing challenges, the necessity of integrating culture and education in a more systemic way has been put under the spotlight in recent years. Widening social and economic inequality, climate change, biodiversity loss, democratic backsliding and disruptive technological transformation are the hallmarks of our current historical juncture. Culture is increasingly embroiled in conflicts, with cultural heritage targeted as means to undermine cultural diversity. Meanwhile, as noted in UNESCO’s landmark 2021 publication The Futures of Education, a global learning crisis means that there is an urgent need to reinvent education to help us address common challenges through a new social contract.

Culture and arts education is a powerful response to the call of the United Nations Secretary-General in his 2021 vision document, Our Common Agenda, for a more integrated approach to our inter-related challenges. Culture fosters the skills and attitudes that lead to innovation, generating new ideas, theories, products and knowledge. Education on cultural heritage is essential to ensure its guardianship for future generations, not only through an appreciation of these manifestations of our past and present, but also the skills needed for their longevity. Innovation, through the cultural and creative industries is a key engine of economic growth in knowledge-based societies. Furthermore, culture and arts education can help learners develop necessary competences in creativity, critical-thinking and emotional intelligence to be engaged and responsible members of society. The development and acceleration of the creative economy stemming from the rapid digital transformation, has, for its part, heightened the imperative to harness and expand capacities of learners and educators to review traditional curricula and educational practices, and to adapt technical and vocational training and education that foster culture-related skills and employment.

Over time, the fields of culture and education have evolved and adapted, broadening their sense of purpose. Education has increasingly become rooted in the UNESCO Culture Conventions, as more people-centred and human right-based models have superseded conceptions of culture based solely on monument and fine arts; whilst the defined purpose of education has also expanded beyond the acquisition of basic skills to a more holistic approach that takes into account the dimensions of human dignity and well-being.

Indeed, it is the innate capacity of culture and education to evolve and adapt, particularly in the current rapidly changing and volatile global landscape, that make them such vital tools. During the MONDIACULT 2022 Regional Consultations, the need to better integrate culture and education in public policies was a high priority for participants, requiring deeper dialogue to chart a way forward.

For many societies around the world, culture and the arts have long been integral to the holistic development and education of people at all stages of life. People have always communicated and learned through culture and the arts, as they provide different ways of representing and understanding the world, deepening our experiences through oral traditions, dance, literature, music and drama. Education is a vehicle for the transmission of values, know-how and ways of seeing the world, rooted in the fertile soil of different cultures. The interface between culture and education has sometimes been an uneasy one, touching on the raw nerve of issues related to identity, cultural diversity and historical injustices. Cultural heritage, creative expressions and cultural rights may be tied up in complex dynamics of identity-based conflicts linked to power relations in a given society. The significance of what societies consider heritage and transmit through education is profoundly symbolic.

In recent decades, the vision of the purpose of culture and education policies have broadened in the face of new trends and challenges. A major evolution in the concept of the purpose of culture stems from the Declaration of the World Conference on Cultural Policies – MONDIACULT 1982, which stated that “education and culture, whose significance and scope have been considerably extended, are essential for the genuine development of the individual and society. The international community endorsed a broader, anthropological definition of culture as “a set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group and that it encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs”, as later enshrined in the 2001 UNESCO Declaration on Cultural Diversity.

This expansion in the scope of culture opened up new possibilities to deepen knowledge and understanding about one’s own culture and that of others through learning about heritage, which was already embedded in the UNESCO Cultural Conventions that existed at that time. The 1972 World Heritage Convention, for example, strengthened its educational capacities by setting up the World Heritage Education Programme to engage youth in learning about World Heritage sites, about the history and traditions of their own and other cultures, about ecology and the importance of protecting biodiversity. There was a new emphasis on education in culture as a way of building a sense of ownership to form a new generation of guardians of the past. Education about heritage, as part of lifelong learning, proved to be a particularly powerful tool in post conflict situations to build a shared sense of identity or mutual understanding.

The education dimension was built into the design of many of the subsequent Culture Conventions, particularly as regards living heritage. The creative process of intergenerational transmission is at the heart of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) safeguarding, and a key facet of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Traditional knowledge of land and the natural environment, for example, is a deep repository of local acumen about environmental changes and protection that has been passed down the generations through informal education. However, formal education systems can contribute to the loss of local and indigenous languages and knowledge when content is detached from the everyday reality of learners. This is not to say that formal education is not extremely important, but rather that more of a balance is needed. The Convention promotes initiatives for the safeguarding of such living heritage in the formal education of the school system, as well as non-formal educational settings. Indeed, modes and methods of transmission that are recognized by communities can be strengthened in education programmes. In this regard, education institutions can foster respect for intangible cultural heritage and provide new spaces to ensure its transmission to future generations.

The past two decades have witnessed the significant expansion of the economic contribution of the cultural sector, highlighting the need to professionalise the workforce through appropriate education provision. The cultural and creative industries contributed US$389.1 billion in 2019 to global economy (3.1% of global GDP), as well as nearly 50 million jobs (6.2% of all employment), employing more young people aged 15-29 than any other sector, as highlighted in the 2022 UNESCO Re|Shaping Cultural Policies for Creativity report. Furthermore, cultural tourism, which, prior to the pandemic represented 40% of all tourism, according to the UN World Tourism Organization, contributes significantly to the economies of several countries. This includes not only jobs in the cultural sector itself – such as those linked to heritage sites, museums, galleries, visual or performing arts venues – but also has significant ripple effects throughout the economy in terms of auxiliary jobs in the hospitality and transport sectors. The 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions not only recognises the significant expansion of the economic opportunities of the creative sector, particularly for young people, but also in protecting cultural diversity as a source of societal resilience.

Approaches to education have also evolved, affirming a broader vision of learning as a holistic endeavour and a driver of development. There was a progressive shift in education towards opening up to new challenges and to a new reality. The ‘Faure Report’ established the two interrelated notions of the learning society and lifelong education, and advocated for the necessity of transmitting organised knowledge beyond school, in other aspects of social life such as social and cultural institutions, the work environment and the media. The 1996 UNESCO Learning: The Treasure within Report (the ‘Delors Report’) then laid out a vision for ‘learning throughout life’ based on four pillars of learning: to know, to do, to live together, and to be. The Delors Report was aligned closely with the moral and intellectual principles that underpin UNESCO, presenting an analysis and recommendations that were more humanistic and less instrumental and market-driven in logic than other educational reforms proposed at the time. The open education movement, led within the education community with UNESCO, advocated that high-quality educational resources and experiences should become available to all. In addition to tackling barriers such as high monetary costs, outdated or obsolete materials, and legal mechanisms that prevent collaboration among scholars and educators, there was also a progressive expansion of the traditional spectrum of education in terms of disciplines, contents and pedagogical practices, including culture. Digital technologies facilitated and amplified this movement.

These landmark reports and the open education movement pushed the frontiers of the purpose of education, opening up new horizons, beginning in the 2000s. UNESCO began working on concepts such as Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) – which aims to bring about personal and societal transformation in the face of the planetary ecological crisis - and Global Citizenship Education (GCED) – which aims to instil cognitive and behavioural competencies to make responsible choices for peaceful and tolerant societies. Both rely heavily on the cultural context in which behaviours and attitudes are forged, drawing on social structures, value systems and traditional knowledge of ecological management, as previous strategies that neglected the local cultural context in centralized “top-down” education approaches have resulted in limited impact on intercultural understanding and social cohesion.

As education became a more integral element to cultural policies, and educational policies became much more cognisant of cultural context for holistic education, UNESCO sought to more firmly operationalise culture and arts education. It is worth recalling that in the UNESCO Report of the World Commission on Culture and Development, published in 1995, it is stated that "The pursuit of purely economic development ignores the development of the self, which stands at the heart of any viable educational project. Education, as an integrated action aimed at transmitting knowledge and values, establishing skills and training and perfecting people in all their aspects and throughout their lives cannot be dissociated either from culture, of which education is by essence a means of spreading and renewing, or from development of which it is a major factor." At the beginning of the 21th century, the Organization redoubled efforts to mainstream culture and arts education in formal and non-formal education systems Two World Conferences on Arts Education have established UNESCO’s concepts and action on arts education enshrined in the UNESCO Roadmap on Arts Education adopted in Lisbon in 2006, and the Seoul Agenda: Goals for the Development of Arts Education, in 2010. The World Conferences were instrumental in defining the scope and the aims of arts education, to improving the quality of education, promoting the diversity of cultural expressions, and upholding the contribution of arts education to fostering human rights and cultural participation. The Lisbon Road Map and the Seoul Agenda for Arts Education have served to guide policy development at national level, pedagogic approaches and materials. They set out the concepts of learning in the arts and learning through the arts.

In recent years, the convergences between culture and education have become even stronger, as the concepts pioneered by UNESCO have taken root in the international development agenda. The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted in 2015, in particular firmly embeds the notion of culture as the bedrock of development, being a driver (a means or a resource to achieve development objectives) and an enabler (by adapting development strategies to local needs). In addition, the approach to education, as encapsulated in Sustainable Development Goal 4, has significantly expanded from previous international development agendas, reflecting notions such as lifelong learning. ESD and GCED are clearly articulated as a stand-alone Target 4.7 – which partly aims to promote an appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.

UNESCO, as the UN agency with a mandate on culture and education, has also renewed dialogue and reflection on these fundamental areas. The 2019 Forum of Ministers of Culture, which brought together some 130 ministers, marked a reinvestment in inter-ministerial dialogue on cultural policies. At this time, the high-level representatives pinpointed culture at the heart of education as a fundamental dimension for human development and innovation, as one of the four themes of the Forum, and called for greater reflection and dialogue at an international level. Also in 2019, UNESCO established the International Commission on the Futures of Education, whose final report published in 2021 affirms that a new social contract must be grounded in human rights and based on principles of non-discrimination, social justice, respect for life, human dignity and cultural diversity. It must encompass an ethic of care, reciprocity, and solidarity. It must strengthen education as a public endeavour and a common good.”

UNESCO has stepped up its work on the interface between culture and education, most notably, by ensuring that culture provides content- and context-relevant learning. Integrating heritage in education can inform education approaches that are contextually relevant, so improving learning outcomes whilst simultaneously imbuing an appreciation for cultural diversity and mutual respect. Due to cultural heritage’s power to provide a sense of identity and continuity, it provides a strong basis for understanding the world and learning across curricula subjects. Intangible cultural heritage is a particularly rich resource for learning as it is constantly being recreated through a dynamic and interactive process and so is prime source for learning through culture, and not only in culture. The UNESCO Clearinghouse on Living Heritage and Education, for example, is an expanding tool, sharing experiences of lesson plans across the curricula using living heritage, for example physics lessons that incorporate traditional music, physical education lessons that use traditional folk games or traditional art or printing techniques in mathematics classes.

Furthermore, culture expands the opportunities for socially inclusive education. Place-based educational initiatives that target marginalised groups have been particularly successful in employing arts-based practices for socially-inclusive learning, as they transcend language barriers or obstacles due to socio-economic status. UNESCO cities' networks, such as the Creative Cities Network (UCCN) and the Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC), have experimented with ways to build skills and foster job creation by supporting vocational training in the cultural sector, notably targeting vulnerable populations. UNESCO Learning Cities have also engaged with local cultural centres as spaces for learning and intercultural dialogue, and to establish volunteer schemes to boost the inclusion of vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and persons with disabilities, in cultural activities and training workshops.

Livelihoods can especially be boosted by linking the arts and heritage to non-formal educational settings through technical and vocational educational and training (TVET). Digital skills of cultural professionals are now very important to the dissemination of cultural goods and services, yet worldwide, there are gaps not only in infrastructures but also in competences. The 2005 Convention Guidelines on the Implementation of the Convention in the Digital Environment, approved in 2017 aim to redress this disparity. In response to the lack of professional recognition of heritage specialists, UNESCO has also developed a “Competence Framework for Cultural Heritage Management” to help guide universities in designing qualification standards, training programmes and curricula in cultural heritage management and conservation. Several UNESCO-led initiatives, including in flagship initiatives Revive the Spirit of Mosul in Iraq, have provided training for young people in traditional building techniques, not only contributing to the preservation of cultural heritage sites but also to decent employment and a sense of pride in community.

Moreover, education in the arts and culture widens competences, including creative thinking and socio-cognitive skills, which are increasingly sought-after skills across the workforce. UNESCO’s International Bureau of Education identifies a number of “21st century skills”: the knowledge, skills and attitudes citizens need to be able to fully participate in and contribute to the knowledge society. These include collaboration; communication; Information and Communication Technology (ICT) literacy; and social and/or cultural competencies (including citizenship), as well as creativity, critical thinking and problem solving. This includes underlining the importance of the inclusion of culture in educational delivery in relation to sustainable development, and the role of education in relation to sustainable development. The proliferation of print, broadcast and digital content means that learners need strengthened resilience and competences to recognize and counter hate speech and misinformation. As young people increasingly encounter hate speech online, there is an imperative to implement educational and digital pedagogies that build media and information literacy and critical-thinking skills to nurture capacities to recognize and counter misinformation.

Cultural institutions are particularly called upon to strengthen knowledge societies through enhanced provision of educational content, beyond their traditional role as repositories of collective heritage and hubs for academic research. A renewed vision of museums in the twenty-first century is laid out in the UNESCO 2015 Recommendation concerning the Protection and Promotion of Museums and Collections, their Diversity and their Role in Society. It highlights education as one of the primary functions of museums, through engaging in formal and non-formal education and lifelong learning for social cohesion and sustainable development. It calls upon Member States to evolve the role of cultural institutions, expanding education activities beyond the museum walls, such as engaging with public spaces, joint collaborations and a range of partners. Through the adoption of this instrument, countries have committed to ensuring that culture and education directly contribute to the advancement of human rights, development and peace.

More recently, UNESCO has begun the process of expanding existing frameworks on culture and arts education. Thanks to the converging paths of developments in the fields of cultural policies and education policies, this new area of work integrates “culture” and “arts education” opening a space for a holistic vision that incorporates the manifold forms of cultural and artistic education, in a variety of settings. The first UNESCO intersectoral programme addressing culture and education together, which is entitled “Learning for Diversity: Strengthening synergies between culture and education for inclusive, sustainable and resilient societies” was officially launched in 2021. The programme aims to support Member States with policy advice and technical support on how to integrate culture in education policies and programmes, in view of improving their quality and relevance, including by enlarging learners’ perspectives, approaches and pedagogies – both in formal and non-formal education, including TVET and lifelong learning.

This new programme builds on the concepts of learning in the arts and learning through the arts that are outlined in the Lisbon Roadmap and the Seoul Agenda. Integrating cultural education acknowledges the need to also foster deeper knowledge of one’s own culture and that of others, developing the competences of an appreciation of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue, as vital for living in stable democratic societies in full respect of fundamental freedoms. Furthermore, as culture and arts education cultivates creativity and socio-emotional learning, enabling students to acquire the knowledge and attitudes for respect for the planet and other citizens. In parallel, UNESCO is updating the 1974 Recommendation concerning education for international understanding, co-operation and peace and education relating to human rights and fundamental freedoms – a landmark legal instrument that formulates principles and norms for the international regulation of education in support of the advancement of justice, freedom, human rights and peace – to reflect the new context of the digital transformation, ecological pressures and social inclusion in increasingly diverse societies. The “Learning for Diversity” programme not only focuses on the school system for lifelong learning, through also enhancing the role of museums as spaced of dialogue and exchange, boosting the capabilities of military personnel on the protection of culture in times of armed conflict and creating educational volunteer opportunities, in collaboration with civil society organizations.

At the Regional Consultations, preparing the ground for MONDIACULT 2022, the nexus between culture and education was a major concern of Member States, with three key issues being highlighted as needing deeper reflection, clearer guidance and reinforced international dialogue:

• Intangible Cultural Heritage for cultural identity, content and context relevant learning and the transmission of traditional knowledge;
• Education for CCIs (TVET and Higher Ed, including necessary skill sets digital or marketing etc);
• Culture and arts education for global citizenship and sustainable development.

1. Cultural Heritage, particularly intangible, for cultural identity, content and context relevant learning and the transmission of traditional knowledge

Whilst intangible cultural heritage is increasingly valued by Member States as an important source of identity, social cohesion, knowledge and know-how, it can be vulnerable in that it relies on strengthened intergenerational transmission to survive and evolve as a dynamic resource for resilience. This has traditionally happened through informal education within the community, and sometimes non-formal specialist settings but the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage increasingly needs reinforced strategies for its safeguarding in the face of multiple threats, as raised by several participants during the Regional Consultations. Conversely, intangible cultural heritage also provides a familiar framework of reference for students to learn across the curricula, providing context relevance and improving learning outcomes.

For participants of some regions, the prioritization of Intangible Cultural Heritage is a key entry point to accessing the past and building a sense of identity and social cohesion. Embedding living heritage into school systems is a pathway for development, as countries try to harness their cultural resources. Some participants identified the intergenerational transmission of knowledge and wisdom as a priority, to unlock the potential of traditional knowledge, particularly related to health and the environment, in order to design robust policies across the public policy spectrum. The provision of decent jobs through intangible cultural heritage was also identified. For some countries, this is in the context of traditional know-how for preserving built heritage, for other countries the importance of promoting of traditional handicrafts for local economic development was underscored. Several countries pointed to the development of sustainable cultural tourism strategies, including living heritage such as performing arts, and ensuring that expanding such competences is built into the education system, including in the form of TVET.

Another major facet of ensuring content relevant learning is the provision of mother language-based education. It is estimated that 40 % of the world’s population does not have access to an education in a language they speak or understand, severely hampering efforts to provide quality education to all. The incorporation of different languages, as well as different knowledge systems, into education systems was identified by several participants as a key pathway for guaranteeing cultural rights and the right to education.

            2. Education for cultural sector (TVET and Higher Ed, including necessary skill sets digital/marketing etc.)

During the consultation process, many Member States expressed their concerns about the appropriate adaptations needed in the education system, particularly in terms of technical and vocational education and training, as well as within higher education. Several echoed concerns of the recently published UNESCO Re|Shaping Policies for Creativity report that highlighted that, although there are a relatively high number of education and training programmes in culture and creativity, there remain strong disparities among regions and in the cultural fields covered. Provision remains weak notably in terms of meeting the demand for digital skills and in cultural management. Yet, the COVID-19 shutdown accelerated the transformation and digitalisation of the economy. For the TVET sector it presented an opportunity to innovate and boost its attractiveness - from experiential virtual training to remote placements with employers. These experiments built bridges across and between countries, whilst increasing inclusiveness of provision and work experience. As a result, countries are increasingly looking towards international experiences to inspire and inform national reforms in education and skills systems.

Some Member States also flagged up that their intangible cultural heritage, particularly in the form of crafts, provides a source of inspiration for creativity, and that the transmission of such knowledge and know-how should be reinforced. However, there were concerns that these living heritage practices could be commercially exploited without the prior and informed consent of the communities who are the bearers, raising questions about the relationship between education and existing intellectual property frameworks.

Culture and arts education was widely acknowledged by participants as helping learners develop the necessary competences in creativity, critical-thinking and emotional intelligence to be engaged and responsible members of their societies. In today’s increasingly interconnected and multicultural societies, intolerance and threats to freedom of expression are on the rise, challenging peace and human rights. Some countries have already introduced cultural and artistic activities in the overall learning programme of young people, both in and outside of schools, due the global movement towards the greater recognition of cultural diversity.

Several Member States expressed their desire to deepen international dialogue on culture and arts education strategies to share experiences. Approaches that mainstream culture and arts education into school curricula are key to learning in the arts, as well as through the arts, for enhanced learning outcomes, more holistic education of the individual and a greater sense of civic responsibility. Furthermore, there is also interest in advancing strategies in culture and arts education in non-formal settings - museums, galleries and heritage sites in particular - to fully harness the role of cultural institutions as “spaces for cultural transmission, intercultural dialogue, learning, discussion and training, also play an important role in education (formal, informal, and lifelong learning), social cohesion and sustainable development, in line with the UNESCO 2015 Recommendation.

As a global community, we have entered a new historical phase characterized by the interconnectedness and interdependency of societies and by new levels of complexity, uncertainty and tensions. This requires a radical rethinking of past strategies in order to address an uncertain future and the role of culture and of education is being reimagined. The vision of the UNESCO Constitution that “the wide diffusion of culture, and the education of humanity for justice and liberty and peace are indispensable to the dignity of man” is as relevant today as in 1945. For over four decades, parallel – albeit linked – developments in cultural policies and educational policies have reinforced the synergies in purpose and practices between the two sectors that now warrants a deeper reflection with a view to creating new frameworks for future generations. Culture and arts education should no longer be seen as a luxury but the foundation of quality, inclusive and equitable education systems and of ensuring the right to access to culture, and in so doing, build more sustainable futures.

Policies that strengthen the intrinsic linkages between cultural and education, as the foundation of resilient societies, are increasingly being embraced – although not fully implemented - as a strategy to step forward in our uncertain future on a more stable footing. In the first instance, culture provides content and context-relevant education, adapted to the environment, values and needs of the learner in his or her community. This echoes with human rights commitments both to provide quality education and access to culture. In addition, a broader spectrum of knowledge systems, based on local, traditional and Indigenous knowledge, is increasingly acknowledged as playing a vital role in building socially and environmentally sustainable development: robust approaches in education are the vital link to transmitting this knowledge. From an economic perspective, the cultural and creative sector is recognised as a key sector, particularly providing decent employment opportunities to the world’s burgeoning youth population. Yet, here is a persistent mismatch in skill sets adapted to the requirements of this sector, hindering progress in some countries. Again, education is the bridge, particularly through TVET, as well as higher education. More broadly, creativity and innovation are becoming increasingly sought-after competencies in the world of work in the 21st century. Finally, culture and arts education is a powerful conduit for mutual understanding, greater appreciation of the natural world and enhanced dialogue.

Within the United Nations system, UNESCO fulfils its role as the specialized agency for both culture (from heritage to arts and creativity) and education (from formal and non-formal education, to TVET and lifelong learning) by advancing international cooperation and supporting its 193 Member States to implement policy action in these fields, firmly anchored in the advancement of human rights and sustainable development. This, along with its capacity as an international laboratory of ideas and a platform for dialogue, means that it can engage a wide range of partners in addressing a variety of cross-cutting issues faced by Member States, and contributes to building peace through capacity-building, policy advice, knowledge-sharing and operational tools. Whilst a number of processes are already underway, strengthening the role of culture and arts education, as well as the role of education in securing progress in human rights, MONDIACULT 2022 is a prime opportunity to expand the reflection and deepen dialogue on the crucial culture-education nexus, that is the heart of our human development.

ResiliArt was launched by UNESCO in April 2020 as a global movement to highlight the resilience and concerns of artists and culture professionals in the face of COVID-19 crisis through virtual debates. In the run-up to MONDIACULT 2022, the ResiliArt movement has evolved, inviting the cultural and creative communities, leaders and thinkers to reflect deeply on the current state of culture. The recommendations, data and results of the ResiliArt x MONDIACULT 2022 debates are gathered through an online survey and analysed by UNESCO to inform the high-level discussions by identifying needs, gaps and opportunities on the ground. All debates are organised independently and views reflected are those of the organisers and participants.