Minister of Culture Kairys: “Culture must be a part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda”
Minister of Culture Simonas Kairys, together with the other Ministers of Culture of the European Union at a meeting held in Cáceres (Spain), emphasised that culture is properly regarded as an essential and global public good, and committed to work toward making it part of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda.
“Culture improves our quality of life and increases the well-being of individuals as well as communities. Health care, social care and education have long been recognised to be global public goods. The time has come to take another step forward. Culture is a global public good. It is our duty as Ministers of Culture to seek that culture would be included as part of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda from 2030 as a separate, specific goal,” Minister Kairys said during the informal meeting of EU Ministers of Culture.
The Minister noted that Lithuania began to go down this road in 2020, when the ten-year National Progress Plan was approved. Culture was identified as a separate strategic objective, and synergies between culture and other public policy areas were defined. Culture’s added value in strengthening social integration, cohesion and competitiveness was recognised. As an example, Minister Kairys mentioned the newly-launched Social Prescribing Project, which offers senior citizens experiencing light symptoms of anxiety or depression the opportunity to visit cultural institutions and in this way to improve their mental health.
Speaking at another session devoted to sustainable management of cultural heritage, Minister Kairys noted that Lithuania is choosing as a strategic approach to invest more in cultural heritage. According to the Minister of Culture, a sharper focus on this area and better funding opens the door to engaging communities and improving dialogue and awareness. The European Heritage Label and UNESCO are two catalysers that unite local communities and inspire people to love their heritage and to preserve it for future generations. One example of this is Kaunas Modernist Architecture, which in mid-September was endorsed for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Minister Kairys also emphasised that we live in a Europe united by shared values and a shared destiny, so the loss of one country’s cultural heritage or landscape is a loss for all of us. “We all have the opportunity to open our hearts and to extend a hand to Ukraine to help it rebuild and recover from Russia’s aggression. Restoration of cultural infrastructure should be included among the objectives of aid to Ukraine,” the Minister stated.
As the meeting of the EU Ministers of Culture was concluding, the Cáceres Declaration was approved, affirming that culture must be considered an essential public good, a global public good, at the highest policy level. The Declaration proclaimed that culture is a right of citizens that public authorities and all individuals have an obligation to safeguard.
Photograph courtesy of the meeting’s organiser
Last updated: 06-10-2023