Culture for Development | September 2012

This Newsletter guides you to content relevant for international co-operation and economic development. Reposted from sources linked below. Feel free to circulate it to your network. Edited by Karsten Weitzenegger
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Special Edition: Culture for Development

CONTENT

1. The Meaning of Culture
2. The Culture-Development Nexus
3. The United Nations recognizes the role of culture for development
4. UNESCO’s Culture Diversity Programming Lens
5. UNESCO Culture for Development Indicator Suite
6. The European Commission’s cultural dimension of development cooperation
7. UNCTAD’s Creative Economy Reports
8. The MDG Achievement Fund#S window on Culture and Development
9. Training and Events on Culture for Development
10. Reading List on Culture for Development
11. Weblinks on Culture for Development

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‘No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive’ Gandhi
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1. The Meaning of Culture

Culture is an important dimension of social and human development, which contributes to identity-building and self-esteem, fosters economic growth and social cohesion, and helps to promote political participation and ownership. Culture enables people and societies to build an identity and to develop active citizenship. It can contribute to conflict prevention as well as to reconciliation processes.

As a repository of knowledge, meanings and values that permeate all aspects of our lives, culture also defines the way human beings live and interact both at local and global scales. Creativity, knowledge, diversity and beauty are essential premises for dialogue for peace and progress, as they are intrinsically related to human development and freedom. Cultural expression contributes to identity-building and self-esteem, fosters economic growth and social cohesion, and help to promote political participation and ownership.

A major part of the assets of the poor are socio-cultural and are composed of traditions, reciprocity, relationships, traditional knowledge and skills, but especially those traditional and informal support systems that deliver products or services in normal times and in times of crisis.

Brazil’s Gilberto Gil argues that we should avoid picking one definition over another when considering the inter-relationship between culture and development. Rather, he says, we need to take on board the sum value of all forms of cultural expression, not just contemporary creative arts. “Digital culture multiplies all this, pointing toward a degree of development unheard of for humankind,” adds Gil. He notes that the concept of development is a product of human culture, and the process of development can only happen within a given cultural environment. Culture, therefore, shapes development and the changes brought about by development are, necessarily, cultural. “Culture and development are concepts and processes that are naturally inter-twined and shared,” Gil says.Source: http://www.nyu.edu/voices/rsvp?action=4&projectid=7
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2. The Culture-Development Nexus

Culture was long regarded as being on the margins of the development process or listed lower down the hierarchy of needs but there has been a growing recognition in recent years of just how crucial culture is to humanity’s development and well-being. Culture is increasingly understood as a resource for economic and social development. When poor communities preserve and develop their cultural assets, they are also generating new economic opportunities.

Culture, in all its dimensions, is a fundamental component of sustainable development. As a sector of activity, through tangible and intangible heritage, creative industries and various forms of artistic expressions, culture is a powerful contributor to economic development, social stability and environmental protection. Culture can contribute to the MDGs by helping to build strong, self-reliant communities.

Culture determines the way societies and economies function. It is therefore crucial to the success of any development effort. Culture is an essential investment for peace and stability, and is a prerequisite for the success of human development. A more visible and effective inclusion of culture in development programmes at local, national, and international levels is critical for sustainable development.

Cultural projects fostering integration and social cohesion in developing countries. In addition to providing support for various cultural programmes and exchanges, it is thus also necessary to take the cultural dimension into account in development processes and to promote in-depth local, national, regional and continental inter-cultural dialogue.

Culture is a determining factor for the relevance, failure and success of development interventions. Efficient programming cannot anymore ignore that cultural diversity is a reality and an engine for development; furthermore respecting and promoting cultural diversity is also part of an international commitment, as highlighted in the 2001 Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity and in the related Conventions.

In its mainstreaming sense, culture is defined by specific values, traditions and behavioural patterns that need to be considered in all sectors of development.Specific values, traditions and behavioural patterns need to be considered in all sectors of development when working with partner countries.

Search the most relevant resources for the culture-development-nexus with Culture for Development Cruiser at http://culturecruiser.weitzenegger.de. The customised Google search concentrates on well selected Websites, libraries, blogs and newsletters.
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3. The United Nations recognizes the role of culture for development

On 20 December 2010, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on culture and development, which emphasizes the important contribution of culture for sustainable development and for the achievement of national and international development objectives, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Paragraph 16 of the final declaration emphasizes “the importance of culture for development and its contribution to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals”. And paragraph 66 affirms that “the cultural dimension is important for development. We encourage international cooperation in the cultural field, aimed at achieving development objectives”.http://www.un.org/en/mdg/summit2010/pdf/mdg%20outcome%20document.pdf

These principles were already enshrined in the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and the Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. The UNESCO Convention, which entered into force in March 2007, highlights the dual nature of culture as a value in its own right and as a tool for economic progress, whilst preserving its unique character which means that it may not be considered in the same manner as any other good, and formalises the decision taken by the international environment propitious to the development of cultural and creative expressions and activities. http://tinyurl.com/qm4e9y
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4. UNESCO’s Culture Diversity Programming Lens

The cultural diversity lens is a tool to systematically analyze and evaluate whether programmes, policies and practices do in fact incorporate and promote the principles enshrined in the 2001 Declaration. It guides programme officers and decision-makers in understanding the cultural context in which they operate, identifying gaps and shortcomings of interventions and in identifying alternative programme designs.
http://www.unescobkk.org/culture/cultural-diversity/the-cultural-diversity-lens/
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5. UNESCO Culture for Development Indicator Suite (CDIS)

An operational tool of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, the UNESCO Culture for Development Indicator Suite (CDIS) is an innovative advocacy tool that illustrates with quantitative data and statistics how culture contributes to economic growth at the national level, how it enlarges people’s choices, and how it offers a sustainable means of achieving other key development goals, including the MDGs. The CDIS is the first tool to clearly demonstrate the role culture plays in promoting sustainable development, creativity and knowledge-based societies. It provides governments with an evidence-based leverage to inform policymaking and to justify greater investment in culture within national development policies and strategies.

Its 23 indicators examine seven key dimensions of development: economy, social participation, education, governance, gender equality, heritage and communication, which when cross-analysed generate unprecedented insights into the ‘culture and development DNA’ of countries.

Supported by the Spanish Government, the CDIS entered its first operational phase in March 2011 in six countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ghana, Uruguay and Viet Nam. It is currently in its second test phase in an additional five countries: Burkina Faso, Egypt, Cambodia, Ecuador and Namibia. The participatory process at the national level has brought together for the first time stakeholders such as representatives from ministries of economy or industry, research institutes and national statistical agencies to discuss how to maximise culture’s impact for development.

More information on this project and results from the ongoing test phases can be found here: http://www.unesco.org/culture/CDIS
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6. The European Commission’s cultural dimension of development cooperation

The European Commission believes that any successful development must build upon an appropriate cultural dimension as an element of social cohesion and inclusion, social stability, empowerment of youth, women and the disabled, and promotion of democracy and human rights. Culture also plays an important role in conflict and postconflict zones, for inter-cultural dialogue is a key element in bringing about peace and reconciliation between communities. Finally, culture and cultural industries have a great economic potential, either through heritage and responsible cultural tourism, or through economic revenues of cultural products. The link between culture, development, and social stability is therefore clear and has different dimensions. Culture can be either a tool for dialogue and social inclusion or a powerful driving economic force. (Stefano Manservisi in http://tinyurl.com/99t5zr4)

Following the spirit of the UNESCO Convention, the aforementioned European Agenda for Culture (http://ec.europa.eu/culture/our-policy-development/european-agenda-for-culture_en.htm) further developed the idea of integrating and mainstreaming culture in the EU development policies and of reinforcing inter-cultural dialogue in European external relations.

The EC and its Member States have a strong mandate to support culture in ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific countries) under Article 27 of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement, which creates a comprehensive framework for cultural cooperation that ranges from the mainstreaming of culture in development activities to the promotion of intercultural dialogue, the preservation of cultural heritage, support to cultural industries and improved access to European markets for ACP cultural goods and services.

Beyond the ACP framework, and for all developing countries with whom cooperation is taking place, the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) includes, in its Thematic Programme “Investing in People”, provisions on culture, which foresee support for promoting intercultural dialogue, cultural diversity and respect for other cultures, for international cooperation between cultural industries, for support for the social, cultural and spiritual values of indigenous peoples and minorities and for culture as a promising economic sector for development and growth.

Article 151 of the Lisbon Treaty requires the EC and its Member States to promote cultural aspects in its international relations with partners countries and regions; within the EU enlargement, as well as in the context of development and trade policies, as a contribution to a world order based on sustainable development, peaceful coexistence and dialogue between cultures. The use of cultural expressions has to become operationalin the context of post-2013 instruments and programming. http://tinyurl.com/8b254y6

EuropeanCouncil Conclusions on the promotion of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue in the external relations of the Union and its Member States

Click to access icd_external_relations_en.doc.pdf

Culture and Development in the European Union’s external policy

Culture and Development in the European Union’s external policy


European External Actions related to culture: http://www.weitzenegger.de/content/?p=20311
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7. UNCTAD’s Creative Economy Reports

The creative and cultural industries (CCIs) are one of the most dynamic sectors worldwide. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), trade in creative goods and services currently amounts to 592 billion US dollars and accounts for almost 3.7% of global trade. Even during the financial crisis, CCIs have proved exceptionally resilient compared to the classic sectors.

UNCTAD says that in 2005 the cultural industries accounted for 7%, or $1.3 trillion of the world economy. These industries include music, film and television, textile design and fashion. In Britain, at least 2m people have jobs related to culture and top auditing firm KPMG reported to the British government that employment in the creative sector would in the 20 years up to 2015 grow by 46%. Tessa Jowell, a former UK culture secretary, reckons that 20% of Britain’s GNP can now be attributed to the creative industries, with music alone worth £5bn. The British film industry employs 47,000 people, the computer games industry 22,000 and the design industry 70,000.The great advantage that creative industries have over, say, shoe manufacturers is that their raw material – talent – is potentially abundant in all countries, however poor.

UNCTAD’s Creative economy report (series)
http://www.unctad.org/en/pages/publications/Creative-Economy-Report-%28Series%29.aspx
Creative Industries Country Studies Series
http://www.unctad.org/en/pages/publications/Creative-Industries-Country-Studies-Series.aspx
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8. The MDG Achievement Fund#S window on Culture and Development

The UNDP/Spain MDG Achievement Fund (MDG-F) supports 18 joint programmes with a financial allocation of US$95.6 million in the framework of the Fund’s thematic window on “Culture and Development”.These efforts contribute to the MDG goal of halving proportion of people whose income is less than $1.00 a day by 2015 giving special attention to the participation of women in these efforts. The work in this area focuses on cultural rights, social inclusion and increasing the cultural heritage and tourism potential of country’s with the aim of reducing poverty, increasing employment and improving socio-economic opportunities for the marginalized segments of the population. The Fund works with indigenous and ethnic groups and governments to increase cross-cultural understanding within countries notably at the community level. See all project at http://www.mdgfund.org/content/cultureanddevelopment
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9. Training and Events on Culture for Development

Culture. Market. Development.
Stimuli from the Creative Industry for International Cooperation
http://tinyurl.com/8zh75om
International conference, 25.09.2012 – 26.09.2012 , Bonn, Germany
Can the creative and cultural industries (CCIs) be considered a job creation machine that can guarantee many people a steady income even in a difficult economic environment? Can their potential be leveraged for the purpose of international cooperation? What social, economic and political frameworks need to be in place so CCIs can contribute to sustainable development?

African Creative Economy Conference 2012
http://www.arterialnetwork.org/form/african-creative-economy-conference
Dakar, Senegal, 14 -16 November 2012
The aims of the conference are to provide practical analysis and reflective overview of the current status of African creative economy. This should help consolidate emergent African expertise in this area while providing critical thought necessary in navigating the unfolding realties the sector is faced with. The 2012 Creative Economy conference is a rare opportunity that will mark the coming together of powerful debate from across the continent, live and rich provocation from pioneering international practitioners and thinkers, and the unprecedented collaboration of arts institutions from 40 African countries to shape dialogue and a shared experience.

ACCS 2013 – The Third Asian Conference on Cultural Studies
http://www.accs.iafor.org/
Osaka, Japan, 24-26 May 2013
The aim of this conference theme is to open up discussion, critical reflection and analysis about emerging social and cultural identities that are formed at the intersection of multiple and multi-sited belongings.

IETM – Calendar
http://www.ietm.org/?p=information&q=events
A global network to stimulate the quality, development and contexts of contemporary performing arts.

The International Seminar on Culture and Development, Girona May 2010
http://www.culturaydesarrollo2010.es/eng/documentacion.asp
This section provides access to various types of documentation on culture and development as well as seminar content.

Art4Development.Net’s art’ishake learning series on Creative Capacity Building
http://www.art4development.net/lecturesandguestspeakers.html
A multidisciplinary and multisectoral approach in development with arts” provide insights to issues and ways of making positive difference in communities through creativity.

ArtsProfessional Events Calendar
http://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/calendar/index.cfm
A calendar of forthcoming professional development opportunities – including training, meetings and conferences – provided by ArtsProfessional magazine.
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10. Reading List on Culture for Development

A large list of culture and development publications is stored for you at http://www.weitzenegger.de/content/?p=20431. You can use Weitzenegger’s Culture for Development Cruiser http://culturecruiser.weitzenegger.de to access them quickly.

Weitzenegger’s Culture4dev Reader http://culture4dev.weitzenegger.de
This page displays recent news and links on culture and development from the sources mentioned here. Do you have a newsletter related to culture for development? Please send it to culture4dev[at]weitzenegger.de to appear on this page.
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11. Weblinks on Culture for Development

A large list of culture and development sites, libraries and networks is stored at http://www.weitzenegger.de/content/?p=20381

You can use Weitzenegger’s Culture for Development Cruiser http://culturecruiser.weitzenegger.de to access them quickly. Use your own search terms. It’s as easy as Google.