A Meeting Place for Creation, Academia, and Sustainable Societies
The UNESCO Chair in Arts, Creative and Cultural Industries for Sustainable Societies is an academic initiative of Universidad de las Américas Puebla and forms part of the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme, which seeks to strengthen international cooperation, knowledge creation, and training in response to contemporary challenges related to culture and sustainable development.
The Chair proposes an approach that places artistic creation and cultural production at the starting point for the analysis of the arts and the cultural and creative industries, recognising creators as key actors in knowledge creation, cultural diversity, and social transformation.
From this perspective, the Chair promotes interdisciplinary research, training in arts and culture, and dialogue among academia, the cultural sector, and public policy, in line with the 2030 Agenda and UNESCO’s strategic priorities.
Its lines of action include knowledge creation; recognition of creators and cultural workers as key agents in knowledge creation and social transformation; engagement in cultural governance; and the development of training processes connected to artistic and cultural practice as tools for human development and social cohesion. Through these lines of action, the Chair seeks to contribute to building more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable societies by placing culture and creativity at the heart of development.
MISSION
The mission of the UNESCO Chair in Arts, Creative and Cultural Industries for Sustainable Societies is to strengthen the contribution of the arts, culture, and the cultural and creative industries to building more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable societies through knowledge creation and the establishment of collaborative networks among creators, universities, cultural institutions, civil society, and public bodies.
Through research, training, international exchange, interdisciplinary dialogue, and the development of cultural and audiovisual projects, the Chair promotes cultural diversity, arts education, regional cooperation, and cultural governance, contributing to the strengthening of cultural ecosystems and the development of cultural policies.
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the Chair are to:
- Strengthen interdisciplinary research on the arts, the cultural and creative industries, and their relationship to sustainability through academic collaboration and the creation of spaces for collective reflection and learning.
- Develop training programmes connected to artistic and cultural practice, cultural governance, and public policy for sustainable societies.
- Promote knowledge exchange and open access through publications, collective volumes, and other academic and educational resources.
- Contribute to the implementation of UNESCO’s 2005 Convention by strengthening the diversity of cultural expressions, creative economies, and dialogue among academia, artists and creators, civil society, and public institutions. • Promote international cooperation by working closely with UNESCO, other UNESCO Chairs, UNITWIN Networks, universities, and cultural institutions in Mexico, Ibero-America, and other regions.
THEMATIC AREAS
The academic, training, and artistic activities of the Chair are developed around six interconnected thematic areas:
- Cultural Diversity
Projects aimed at recognising, protecting, and promoting a plurality of identities, memories, languages, knowledge systems, and artistic and cultural expressions.
- Inclusion and Cultural Participation
Initiatives that promote access, representation, and participation in cultural life, with particular attention to individuals and communities facing exclusion or inequality.
- Gender Equality
Actions aimed at increasing the visibility of the contributions made by women and people of diverse gender identities, while promoting equitable conditions and safe environments within the artistic and cultural sectors.
- Culture of Peace
Programmes that recognise the arts and creative expression as means of fostering empathy, intercultural dialogue, human rights, peaceful coexistence, and the non-violent transformation of conflict.
- Creativity and Sustainability
Projects exploring the relationships among artistic creation, territory, biocultural diversity, and the social, cultural, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainability.
- Artistic Freedom and Cultural Rights
Initiatives aimed at promoting freedom of artistic creation and expression, the right to participate in cultural life, and the social and economic rights of artists, creators, and cultural workers. The articulation of these objectives and thematic areas enables the Chair to connect knowledge creation, training, artistic practice, and international cooperation with the contemporary challenges facing cultural ecosystems and public policy.