211 EX/39 Executive Board Job: 202101028 Two hundred and eleventh session PARIS, 30 March 2021 Original: English Item 39 of the provisional agenda A FRAMEWORK FOR CULTURE AND ARTS EDUCATION SUMMARY This item has been included in the provisional agenda of the 211th session of the Executive Board at the request of the United Arab Emirates. The present document is intended to support harnessing culture in education by expanding learning outcomes, capacities and skills for all through the broad spectrum of opportunities provided by culture, from heritage to cultural and creative industries (CCI) in formal and non-formal education, including lifelong learning, encompassing the digital technologies. This proposal builds on UNESCO’s efforts as well as the outcomes of the two World Conferences on Arts Education convened by UNESCO in 2006 and 2010 respectively, and aims to update the UNESCO Roadmap for Arts Education and the UNESCO Seoul Agenda: Goals for the Development of Arts Education with a view to addressing contemporary challenges, in line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The corresponding explanatory note and draft decision are included in this document. Decision required: paragraph 17.211 EX/39 EXPLANATORY NOTE INTRODUCTION 1. Culture and education are two fundamental and complementary dimensions that enable people to lead more fulfilling lives, be equipped with the skills to make positive changes, and to be more adaptable in the face of the increasing complexity of contemporary challenges. 2. Education is the foundation for knowledge and talent development. It is rooted in the learners’ identities and cultures which help them shape their future. Culture enriches the contents of education, notably through cultural heritage in all its dimensions from monuments to living heritage and expressions, museums as knowledge hubs, arts education, the cultural and creative industries (CCI). Target 4.7 of the United Nations Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development acknowledges the contribution of culture in education for sustainable development (ESD). 3. Our increasingly multicultural societies require a set of expanded abilities, skills and competences to engage with the fast-evolving environment in which education has to be both content and context-relevant. Against this background, education on and through culture, including heritage, arts and creativity, plays a vital role to equip learners with the ability to face the challenges and seize the opportunities of our times, including with regard to digital technologies, and to develop fully their potential. Equally, educators and policymakers are increasingly confronted with the need to ensure and develop adequate guidance, supporting policies, strategies and pedagogical approaches and tools to meet the evolving demand for specific skills and abilities that must be nurtured from childhood. 4. Furthermore, culture and the arts support the development of cognitive skills such as creativity, critical-thinking, and multiple intelligences, thereby enhancing adaptability and agility. Culture and Arts Education equally nurture imagination and innovation. Culture and the Arts are important vehicles to engage with the world at the national, and global levels. In addition, Arts Education improves the quality of education and enhances the development of social and emotional skills (SEL) such as empathy and perspective-taking. As such, Culture and Arts Education can accelerate the achievement of the SDGs and SDG4 on Education in particular. 5. For culture to be appreciated and preserved, both in its tangible and intangible forms, knowledge related to history, society, and cultural practices must be taught and valorized, as well as transmitted on to younger generations through schools and educational institutions. 6. At the same time, CCI are fully acknowledged for their contribution to the global economy. CCI are generating jobs, businesses, and contribute to national GDPs. The United Nations declared 2021 as the International Year of the Creative Economy for Sustainable Development building on the weight of the latter in economic and social terms and its potential for building a sustainable future through broadened opportunities for all. With a view to consolidate such a growth of the sector, knowledge and skills in the CCI sector must be harnessed, taught and nurtured as early as possible, and embedded in educational approaches aimed at talent development. 7. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic, while disrupting the culture sector across the world, also gave rise to rapid digital transformations across all sectors. During the crisis, many have turned to cultural and creative content as a resource during lockdowns, creating heightened demand for online content and platforms. The pandemic has also presented unprecedented challenges and caused major disruptions in the production, dissemination, and consumption of cultural goods and services, emphasizing the need for digital migration or new business models for many small-and- medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This trend is calling for the rethinking and restructuring of Culture and Arts Education in the digital age. 8. Culture and Arts Education is an excellent example of where cooperation is necessary between two of UNESCO’s main sectors, Education and Culture. Joint efforts between the two sectors are211 EX/39 – page 2 required to initiative development of a revised global framework of action on Culture and Arts Education building from the existing framework provided as a result of the two UNESCO-led International Conferences on Arts Education. 9. Across diverse fora, Member States have called for the importance of reflecting on existing frameworks on education and culture, with a view to adapting them to the cotemporary evolutions and the challenges of the 2030 Agenda, so as to provide useful guidelines and tools for the Member States to integrate culture-related dimensions and contents into schools, extra-curricular activities, non-formal education and lifelong learning. BACKGROUND 10. At the 30th session of the General Conference of UNESCO in 1999, Member States endorsed an appeal made by the Director-General to promote arts education and creativity at school. In response to that appeal, UNESCO initiated six regional consultations on arts education with the aim of harnessing the arts for the strengthening of education curricula and creating the conditions for the integration of arts education programs into national education systems. 11. Since the appeal, UNESCO and its Member States have taken significant strides to promote and support the importance of arts education. In 2003, the Portuguese Republic hosted the first World Conference on Arts Education which produced the Road Map for Arts Education. Moreover, the Republic of Korea hosted the 2010 Second World Conference of Arts Education which produced the Seoul Agenda: Goals for the Development of Arts Education as the main outcome of the conference. In 2011, the General Conference, at its 36th session, proclaimed the fourth week of May as the International Week for Arts Education (36 C/Resolution 38), and in 2019 the General Conference, at its 40th session, adopted Promoting Awareness of Arts Education and the International Arts Education Week (40 C/Resolution 51). 12. The present initiative also intends to strengthen the education dimension of cultural conventions as reflected in the existing approaches developed by UNESCO to support the understanding, promotion and implementation of these conventions. 13. The proposal also supports the aims of UNESCO’s Education normative instruments which underlines the value of the visual arts and music as factors conducive to understanding between different cultures and effective educational approaches. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES 14. This proposal aims to build on and broaden the aforementioned efforts made by the Organization and its Member States, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and technological advancements, and provide a clear guiding reference for Member States by leading consultations with the UNESCO Member States across all regions with a view to update existing frameworks on Culture and Arts Education within and beyond school curricula towards the development of revised guidelines and tools thereon. Therefore, the objectives of this initiative are as follows: (a) To launch a consultation process across all regions on Culture and Arts Education; (b) To produce a report on the consultations identifying trends, gaps and needs, with a view to develop a revised framework on Culture and Arts Education, as well as Guidelines and Policy Recommendations on Culture and Arts Education for schools and beyond, that can guide UNESCO Member States at policy and implementation levels. The aim is to ensure the integration of effective Culture and Arts Education in relevant culture and education policies, strategies, curricula, and programmes, including with regard to regulation, teacher qualifications, extracurricular programmes, non-formal education, lifelong learning and talent development.211 EX/39 – page 3 (c) To provide practical guidance on the incorporation of new technologies and artificial intelligence in the development and delivery of Culture and Arts Education, and provide alternatives based on different realities and environments. (d) To encourage international and national partnerships and collaborations between cultural and educational institutions, and relevant stakeholders for the implementation of qualitative Culture and Arts Education. (e) To support UNESCO Member States in ensuring synergies and complementarity of the Culture and Arts Education Guidelines and Policy Recommendations with social and economic development strategies and plans, notably as regards the CCI sector. 15. Moreover, this initiative will directly contribute to two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” (Goal 4), “Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all (Goal 8)”. 16. The proposed draft decision intends to encourage UNESCO to ensure that efforts made for intersectoral cooperation between the Culture and Education Sectors in the digital age. In addition to ensuring that special attention is paid to the specificities of the cultural ecosystem and how its potential could be harnessed. Proposed draft decision 17. In light of the above, the Executive Board may wish to adopt a decision along the following lines: The Executive Board, 1. Having examined document 211 EX/39, 2. Considering the importance of education and culture, in all its dimensions, to achieve sustainable development, in particular in the cultural and creative sector, 3. Recalling 40 C/Resolution 51, which requested the Director-General to devise an intersectoral mechanism with a view to ensuring an integrated approach to arts education, through appropriate intersectoral cooperation between UNESCO’s Culture and Education Sectors in promoting and fully integrating arts education in Major Programs I and IV in line with the respective Sector’s priorities for quality education and for promoting cultural diversity and the diversity of cultural expressions, 4. Also recalling the provisions contained in the cultural conventions to promote education on heritage and other culture-related dimensions, and in particular provisions contained in the objectives of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, which reaffirms the fundamental role that education plays in the protection and promotion of cultural expressions, 5. Further recalling the value of learning through the arts, 6. Recalling with appreciation the efforts spearheaded by Portugal and the Republic of Korea, respectively in 2006 and 2010, notably by hosting two World Conferences on Arts Education, 7. Encourages Member States and UNESCO to review their approach to culture and arts education with a view to encompassing contemporary advances and seizing the opportunities of the digital era to support and promote reflection and initiatives in this211 EX/39 – page 4 domain, in particular to the benefit of the cultural and creative sectors, as well as organizing activities at the national, regional and international levels; 8. Requests the Director-General to review the existing frameworks on arts education to include culture and arts education, with a view to producing a revised framework to serve as a comprehensive guiding reference, best practice manual and toolkit for all Member States based on a global consultation on culture and arts education of the Member States to be initiated in 2021, aimed at identifying trends and gaps to be filled in this area and establishing “Guidelines and Policy Recommendations on Culture and Arts Education” in 2022, and also requests the Director-General to report to it at its 215th session on the analysis and findings of the consultation process; 9. Invites Member States to contribute financially to support the development of the consultation process aimed at establishing “Guidelines and Policy Recommendations on Culture and Arts Education” in 2022; 10. Further requests the Director-General to invite Member States to express their interest in hosting an online, or in-person, world conference on culture and arts education as an intergovernmental meeting in 2023, building on the “Guidelines and Policy Recommendations on Culture and Arts Education” with the aim of adopting a revised framework on culture and arts education, and requests the Director-General to report to it at its 214th and 215th sessions on the steps taken for the Conference; 11. Invites the Director-General to take further action, drawing on lessons learned during the COVID-19 crisis and the momentum built from the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development to support synergies between the culture and education sectors, especially in the digital age, and also requests the Director-General to report to it at its 214th session on the steps taken by the Organization in terms of intersectoral cooperation in this regard; 12. Also invites the Director-General to pursue the mobilization of partners and stakeholders, including by drawing on the strong partnerships developed through the Global Education Coalition, with a view to supporting activities related to culture and arts education. Printed on recycled paper