People

As the preamble to the 2020 Rome Charter states, “Culture is the expression of values, a common, renewable resource in which we meet one another, learn what can unite us and how to engage with differences in a shared space”. Culture enriches our lives, shapes our actions, and shapes how we see the world. The Pact for the Future needs to build on the work of the Rome Charter in affirming the social value of culture. Culture that is people-centred, that is built through cultural democracy, that builds new ways of thinking for current and future generations.
 
The construction of peaceful, inclusive and sustainable environments where all the members of our communities can thrive further commands us to continue galvanising the role of culture as the fourth pillar of sustainable development and a core component of local and regional identity.
 
Culture has been critical in this pandemic to connect with one another, and is a critical aspect of the work of UCLG in the phase of defining what is essential as we have strong avenues that link culture with challenges of humanity. A strand of global solidarity that protects communitary memory, heritage, creativity, diversity and knowledge. Culture is different in each city, in each territory, but it shares the same ultimate mission: creating an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy, and creative lives, leaving no-one and no place behind in the process.