Results of the Cultural Summit-2021

From September 9 to 11, 2021, the Culture Summit organized by the World Organization "United Cities and Local Governments" (UCLG) was hosted by Izmir (Turkey). Representatives of local and regional governments, academia, activists, key stakeholders involved in global debates on culture and development gathered together in Izmir to discuss the place of cultural policy in sustainable development.

Previous culture summits were held in Bilbao in 2015, Jeju in 2017 and Buenos Aires in 2019 and became the basis for the event in Izmir. Culture summits show that cities are leading the way in recognizing the absolute need for culture as a key dimension of sustainable development. Thus, IV UCLG Culture Summit was held on the theme "Culture: Shaping the Future".

The Eurasia delegation visited Izmir in person. It included Mayor of Bishkek Aybek Dzhunushaliev, Deputy of the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan Vugar Iskandarov, Vice-Mayor of Kazan Evgeniya Lodvigova, Secretary General of UCLG-Eurasia Rasikh Sagitov, Chief Archeologist of Moscow, President of the Russian National Committee of ICOMOS Leonid Kondrashev, Head of the Yekateringofsky District of St. Petersburg Oleg Smakotin and other representatives of Bishkek, Kazan, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sviyazhsk, Shymkent, etc.

Besides, President of UCLG-Eurasia and Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin, Mayor of Magadan Yury Grishan, Vice-Mayor of Osh Zhasur Azimov and Chairman of the Committee on Culture of the Volgograd Administration Dmitry Polyanin delivered a speech at the sessions of the Summit online.

Evgeniya Lodvigova told about the growing interest in cultural heritage and the need to introduce new rules in a changing world. Historical, architectural and cultural monuments directly affect the quality of life, and it is very important that citizens participate in all cultural projects. She noted that various types of associations and non-governmental organizations make it possible to convey needs of local citizens and can be efficient tools in implementing different types of activities.

The first session of the Summit was concluded with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between UCLG and ICOMOS.

"The partnership between UCLG and ICOMOS builds on the years of collaboration among local and regional governments and heritage practitioners to ensure that we preserve our heritage, hand it to the next generations, and develop creative societies", Emilia Saiz, Secretary General of UCLG, said.

Rasikh Sagitov made a report on "The Role of Heritage in Local Development" talking about the recognition of cities, the intangible heritage preservation, as well as tourism and partnerships with the Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC).

"Next year, the 45th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee will be held in Kazan. As part of this event, we are also planning to organize a meeting for municipalities. The work on preserving and raising awareness of the heritage of cities is one of the key priorities of Eurasia", Rasikh Sagitov shared in his speech.

The main topics of the second day were the role of cities and local governments in international cooperation in the field of culture, as well as the establishment of a balance between the need to study foreign experience in the field of culture and the need to preserve local identity and well-being.

"As many participants of the summit noted, COVID-19 has reminded society of the most important role that culture plays in human life. Having found themselves at home in self-isolation, people turned to it as a source of restoring peace of mind and psychological equilibrium, and cultural products for a significant part of the population have acquired the status of essential products", Ilsur Metshin said in his speech.

To sum up, it could be said that the Summit allowed to draw attention to international discussions about culture, cities and sustainable development defined by the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, the New Urban Agenda (which celebrates its 5th anniversary in 2021), as well as about the importance of culture in local development.

10.09.2021

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