Finding Our Values in UNESCO's Third Re|Shaping Policies for Creativity Global Report

By: Bridget Woodbury

In 2021, our annual campaign, Creativity for Good, focused on the reasons why young people are choosing to develop their creativity and apply it for the social good during the multiple pandemics communities faced and continue to face. We consistently saw young creatives at the forefront of problem solving, activism, and community resilience.

The headings for the third edition of UNESCO’s Re|Shaping Policies for Creativity Global Report hew closely to the theme of Creativity for Good, but on closer inspection, the report effectively combines all three of our most recent campaign themes.

I’m always thrilled to see our most important concepts in the wild and this report delivered:

  • Arts & cultural education is a fundamental, civil, and human right? Check.

  • Creativity for good? Check.

  • Building Creative Futures? Check.

There is so much good stuff in this report and a number of helpful summaries and infographics on UNESCO’s landing page and — as both the Director of Communications and Engagement at Creative Generation and as a practicing visual artist — I strongly recommend you find a little inspiration within. What follows is a quick preview of what you’ll find.

Context for the Report

UNESCO, in it’s latest Global Report, evaluates numerous criteria over four goals, paying special attention to the ways in which arts and culture positively impact the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals.

Since the publication of the last edition of the Global Report, in 2018, arts & cultural policy has been increasingly prioritized in sustainable development. In July of 2021, the G20 Rome Leaders’ Declaration indicated that culture is a policy area that would benefit from international cooperation. In particular, “the Declaration underlines the role of culture and creative professionals and enterprises as drivers of sustainable development and key actors in the resilience and regeneration of economies and societies.” Thus, it is essential to support cultural and creative professionals and organizations.

The Potential Role of Arts & Culture

The report encourages more dedicated attention to the contribution of culture and creativity to employment, and traditional development areas such as education and gender equality. It specifically reflects on three SDGs where culture’s contribution can be expanded and championed – reducing inequalities (SDG 10), combating climate change (SDG 13) and promoting dialogue and peace (SDG 16)

As they note in the report, arts and culture are an incredible tool for addressing a wide variety of issues, as “creativity is an inexhaustible source, participated in by societies and individuals around the world, and today’s creativity is tomorrow’s heritage. Culture is not just about institutions or economy, but also individual and collective imagination.”

The report argues — as we do — that arts & culture are a fundamental human right, that arts & culture can be employed as a global public good, and that the effective use of arts & culture must be inclusive of a wide variety of creatives to ensure that we’re building inclusive and equitable creative futures.

From the report: “What the COVID-19 pandemic teaches societies is that, in times of crisis, culture is a major resource for resilience, connection and recovery (even when the forms of engagement for creators, producers and audiences are in flux). … As culture is central to the development of our societies through its economic, social and environmental benefits and because of its vulnerability to global phenomena, it is a global public good that needs to be fully protected and promoted for the benefit of humanity as a whole.”

Read and explore the full report here.