All Steps | A Framework for Culture and Arts Education

Since the existing arts education framework was established, the world has changed, and with it new challenges and opportunities have emerged. In today’s global context, marked by increased human mobility, social fracture, systemic inequalities, climate change, and accelerated digital transformation, there is a need to revisit and reshape guidance in culture and arts education that is both relevant and responsive to these dynamics, and which can better support Member States and other stakeholders in shaping improved policies and actions. 

The future revised UNESCO global Framework aims to capture a broadened understanding of culture – from heritage to the cultural and creative industries – while taking into consideration the fast-evolving landscape of the cultural sector, including digital transformation. Digital and media technologies are ever more intertwined with the daily lives of learners, thus there is a need to both harness the opportunities it brings, but also strengthen the awareness of technology and how to use it responsibly.

Creativity, critical thinking, agility and resilience are the new generation of prerequisite skills for job creation – notably cultural entrepreneurship -, economic growth and environmental sustainability and adaptation. This means equipping learners with the set of knowledge, skills and competencies needed to nurture innovation and for the cultural and creative sector today and tomorrow. As societies around the world become increasingly diverse, the respect for cultural diversity and the ability to live together with other cultures have also emerged as crucial considerations for education systems, curricula and settings, and to ensure peaceful, inclusive societies. 

While the synergetic relationship between culture and education has been enshrined in numerous fora, from international declarations and normative instruments to national constitutions, in many countries culture and education are often considered as separate policy entities and trajectories. Moreover, culture and arts education often sit at the periphery of education policy and school curricula. The future Framework thus provides the possibility to re-evaluate how culture and education can be better approached in policymaking, to address gaps, and to strengthen education – its pedagogies, contents and settings – including in non-formal, lifelong learning, and technical and vocational education and training (TVET). It is an opportunity to expand on solutions to integrate culture in meaningful and practical ways in education. 

Given the essential role of culture and education in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 4 on quality education, the international community has called for bold educational transformation. This requires fundamental changes to how education is defined and implemented worldwide. The transition towards holistic and integrated approaches to development presents an opportunity for the Culture and Education Sectors to activate a stronger interdisciplinary engagement across its fields of expertise and resources to advance policy and practice for sustainable livelihoods. This should be anchored in a staunch commitment to addressing inequalities and discrimination, including for women and girls, youth, children, minorities, indigenous peoples, migrants, older persons, people of African descent and persons with disabilities. There is also a need to foster a deep understanding of what education means for culture and vice versa, factoring in the recommendations of the recent Futures of Education Initiative and the follow-up to the Final Declaration of Cultural Ministers adopted at the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development – MONDIACULT 2022.

A questionnaire was distributed to all 193 UNESCO Member States in March 2022 to map the state of play in the field of culture and arts education, including educational policy, approaches and pedagogies. The questionnaire addressed policy-makers and relevant professional stakeholders and partners, including the UNESCO Chairs/UNITWIN Network and partner civil society organizations.

UNESCO received a total of 89 responses to the questionnaire: 51% of these were Member States, representing a response rate of 23% of all Member States. Most Member States’ responses were from Europe and North America (52%), followed by Africa (21%), Latin America and the Caribbean (11%), Arab States (9%), and Asia and the Pacific (7%). Out of all the respondents, 13% were NGOs, 12% were public cultural institutions or organizations, 11% were public education institutions, 9% were a UNESCO Chair or Observatory, 2% were provincial ministries, and another 2% were private institutions or organizations.  

Summary

The respondents noted several key evolutions in culture and arts education that have taken place over the past decade : (i) greater awareness of cultural diversity, prompted by migration and digital technologies and media (ii) diversification of curricula, through more multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches, learning experiences and emerging art forms, including through the use of digital technologies and media, as well as the need for the diversification of skills; (iii) an increased focus on heritage education, notably on education on and through cultural heritage in its manifold dimensions, to sustain intercultural exchange; and (iv) broadened cooperation with a variety of stakeholders, through formal and non-formal education. 

Respondents highlighted that in the realm of policy, culture and arts education lacks a fundamental place in its own right. The identified challenges, which often echoed across regions, included ministerial buy-in and structural planning, a lack of budget and financing, as well as the low priority of arts and culture education within policy, schools and the community at large. Moreover, compartmentalization and fragmentation in the culture and arts education domain means that a dichotomy has emerged as to how arts education is understood and valued within the field of culture; issues which can also be mirrored within the various disciplines of arts education itself.

The meeting was held on 24 and 25 May 2022, in Seoul, Republic of Korea, and brought together 21 international experts from all regions and various academic and professional disciplines, including arts and heritage education, creative and cultural industries, museums, indigenous cultures, intercultural dialogue, TVET, and media and digital technologies. Participants shared insights on needs, gaps and priorities in the field of culture and arts education, while providing preliminary recommendations for shaping the revised Framework.

From January 2023 to February 2023, UNESCO is organizing a series of online regional consultations. Each consultation is being hosted by a Member State from the region, according to UNESCO Electoral Groups. The consultations provide a platform to bring forward nuanced and contextualized perspectives of regional concerns and priorities in culture and arts education. The outcomes of the six regional expert meetings will inform the strategic content of the Framework, and the preparations of the World Conference on Culture and Arts Education 2023.

• Group I (Western Europe and North America) and Group II (Eastern Europe) chaired by Spain and Lithuania on 30-31 January and 1^st February 2023
• Group III (Latin America and the Caribbean) chaired by Chile from 9-17 February 2023
• Group IV (Asia and the Pacific) : hosted by chaired on 13-14 February 2023
• Group V(a) (Africa) chaired by Kenya on 8-9 February 2023
• Group V(b) Arab States chaired by Oman on 7 and 8 February 2023

A Multistakeholder Dialogue was held on 25 and 26 May 2023 at UNESCO Headquarters allowing for exchanges between a wide range of actors working in culture and arts education to strengthen ministerial buy-in, and shape solid recommendations to feed into the final drafting of the Framework and the World Conference on Culture and Arts Education 2024 to be held from 13-15 February 2024 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

A series of thematic papers authored by independent experts explore in-depth thematic areas that have been identified as strategic priorities related to culture and arts education. The topics directly stem from the issues and priorities raised during the ongoing consultation process of the Framework. 

In the second semester of 2023 Member States will be consulted towards the finalization of the draft UNESCO Framework for Culture and Arts Education. The drafting process, led by a drafting group comprised of experts and the UNESCO Secretariat, will be informed by the ongoing technical consultation process, including the global survey, and recommendations stemming from the international expert meeting, regional consultations, thematic papers and multi-stakeholder dialogue forum. 

The UNESCO World Conference on Arts Education 2024 aims to reinvigorate and strengthen a global coalition for culture and arts education, as well as shape policies, ideas and practices to better equip all learners with the relevant knowledge and skills they need today and in the future.

Building on the legacies of the World Conferences on Arts Education in Lisbon in 2006, and Seoul in 2010, the intergovernmental conference will bring together policymakers, UN agencies, IGOs and UNESCO partners from around the world to share and generate new knowledge, practices and innovative ideas, as well as build creative alliances.