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The Green World Cities of Tomorrow: Culture and Sustainability – Special Report Prepared for WCCF Global Conversation

The report on how global cities tackle climate change with cultural policies and programmes. Insights from the World Cities Culture Forum's latest report.

Paul Owens

Co-Founder and Director

Paul Owens is a leading international advisor and practitioner in cultural policy and creative economy. He is Co-Founder of BOP, and alongside his fellow directors he has pioneered now well-established methods to measure the impact of cultural policy.

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LOCATION

Global

CLIENT

World Cities Culture Forum (WCCF)

SECTOR

Projects Sectors

EXPERTISE

Research, Data and Insight, Strategy and Policy Design

This report looks at how major cities around the world are responding to climate change through cultural policies and programmes, and shares expert insights into the key climate challenges we face.

As cities recover from the impact of Covid-19 issues of sustainability must be at the heart of this – it is not enough to get back to where we were, but rather we must put the policies in place that will ensure that cities are thriving places to live and work for decades to come.

While the World Cities Culture Forum’s partners recognise this – more than half have declared a climate emergency and 57% have cultural policies that reference environmental challenges – and are taking actions such as investing in low-carbon cultural venues, commissioning artworks with environment themes, and providing relevant training for the sector, more needs to be done.

Climate change action must be embedded strategically and within management processes, including dedicated budgets, working across departments and monitoring and reporting requirements.

The report identifies five imperatives for cultural policy in a climate emergency:

Climate Change is everyone’s job: all arms of government must take action. Institutional barriers need to be overcome, and cultural leaders need to find new ways of working across administrations so that sustainability is embedded in their policies and investment programmes.
Hardwire climate impacts into every decision: use the tools and methods for measuring the energy efficiency, carbon emissions and long-term environmental impacts of culture, so the environmental footprint of every major cultural decision and investment is clear.
Big cities need big ambition: City governments are ideally placed to identify innovations and best practice taking place at the local or neighbourhood level and scale it up across the city region to have a substantial impact.
Tell the right stories: city governments need to tell strong and optimistic stories, to maximise participation and ensure that the cultural sector is fully engaged and enthused with delivery.
Green infrastructure is cultural infrastructure: Urban culture is not distinct from the natural environment, it is part of it. Cultural planning and infrastructure must reflect the values of good stewardship and appreciation for the natural world, and be based around long-term considerations for a city’s future.

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The report published by the World Cities Culture Forum looks at how major cities around the world are responding to climate change through cultural policies and programmes.