The ICRRA Conference 2023 will take place on October 30th and November 2nd.
To the programme on November 2nd
Culture and international cultural relations are integral to global efforts to tackle the interconnected challenges of sustainable development.
The 2023 ICRRA conference focuses on the role that cultural relations can play in supporting multilateral and regional organisations to deliver – and think beyond – the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
Multilateralism and culture play a key role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is evidenced by the aims of the 2024 UN Summit of the Future: Multilateral solutions for a better tomorrow to “reaffirm existing commitments including to the SDGs” as well as by the key result of the UNESCO 2022 MONDIACULT World Conference calling for a “stand-alone goal for culture in the post-2030 development agenda”.
On Day 1 of the 2023 ICRRA conference we will explore what this means in practice for multilateral organisations (e.g. UNESCO), regional organisations (e.g. EU, AU, ASEAN, CELAC) and regional commissions of the UN and other global organisations (e.g. CEPAL). And we want to discuss how cultural relations – as a practice and approach based on mutuality, trust and reciprocity outside of formal diplomatic state-to-state relations – can inform and engage with these stakeholders and ways of working.
What is the role of multilateral organisations in delivering the sustainable development agenda? What could be the impact of the standalone goal for culture for sustainable development in the post-2030 period?
Alexandra Xanthaki was appointed UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights in October 2021. She is a professor of law at Brunel University London. As an expert on cultural rights, Alexandra Xanthaki has published widely on the cultural rights of minorities and indigenous peoples, cultural diversity, cultural heritage, the balancing of cultural rights with other rights and interests, and multicultural aspects of international human rights law.
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Yudhishthir Raj Isar has been Education Director for the Aga Khan Trust for Culture since 2017. At UNESCO from 1973 to 2002, Isar was notably Editor-in Chief of the journal Museum, Secretary of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation, and Executive Secretary of the World Commission on Culture and Development.
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Jordi Pascual holds a PhD in Cultural Rights in Sustainable Development from the University of Girona and teaches Cultural Rights and Globalization at the Open University of Catalonia. He is the coordinator of the Committee on Culture of the World Organisation of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG). The work of the Committee is based on Culture 21 Actions, a complete cultural rights-based toolkit on culture in sustainable cities. As coordinator of the Committee, he is involved in the global campaign #culture2030goal that advocates for the role of cultural factors and actors in the UN Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals, including the need of a Culture Goal.
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Venka Purushothaman is deputy president and provost at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. He is an award-winning art writer, and holds a PhD in Cultural Policy and Asian Cultural Studies from The University of Melbourne.
Venka founded the Asia-Pacific Network for Culture, Education and Research (ANCER) and co-founded the Global Design Initiative. He chairs the Strategy Board of Zurich-based Shared Campus, a consortium of arts universities developing new art and design educational paradigms. And he chairs the International Advisory Board of the New York-based Living Arts International and is a member of ICRRA.
Venka’s research focuses on contemporary art, cultural policy and relations, and cultural and educational leadership. He is the author of several publications, including The Art of Sukumar Bose: Reflections on South and Southeast Asia (2013).
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The conference language is English with simultaneous interpretation in Spanish.
The conference continues with a second day of panel discussions and case studies on 2nd November 2023
Researchers and practitioners exchange views on questions of international cultural relations through the International Cultural Relations Research Alliance (ICRRA) network. The network sees itself as a bridge builder between practical cultural work, academic reflection, policy advice and the media. It supports the transfer of research-based knowledge into politics and society and promotes evidence-based discourse. Find out more on the ifa website.
Project Coordinator Dialogue and Research Culture and Foreign Policy
Charlottenplatz 17
D-70173 Stuttgart
