ICOMOS Sustainable Development Goals Working Group (SDGWG)
The ICOMOS Sustainable Development Goals Working Group coordinates ICOMOS’ response to the UN 2030 Agenda, its Sustainable Development Goals, and their implementation. As such, the working group conserves, protects and engages with all types of heritage.
What is the Sustainable Development Goals Working Group?
SDGWG promotes cultural, social and economic development for communities, while limiting environmental impact on heritage, promoting peace and advocating for strategic partnerships.
Heritage is a crucial element of sustainable development because it is a part of identity, historical, cultural and social memory, and as such, an authentic sense of place. Therefore it is fundamental to social fabric and well-being, as well as enhancing regions’ attractiveness and creativity, for example through long-term tourism development.
Today, the cultural and natural heritage of societies around the globe face emergencies, which this same heritage holds the potential to address. This is the situation that the United Nations Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development addresses with a transformative framework for cultural heritage protection.
The Story of ICOMOS Sustainable Development Goals Working Group
As the leading voice worldwide in cultural heritage and sustainable development, ICOMOS had been advocating for constructive integration of cultural heritage into urban development plans and policies as a route to sustainability even before the UN Agenda 2030, or the World Heritage and Sustainable Development Policy (2015) and New Urban Agenda (2016). ICOMOS has long been at the forefront of sustainable development, for example with the Historic Urban Landscape Approach (HUL), and the Paris Declaration on Heritage as a Driver of Development, adopted by the 2011 ICOMOS General Assembly. This Declaration humanises development, promoting tangible and intangible cultural heritage as a vital aspect of sustainability in development processes.
Following the 2011 Paris Declaration, the Sustainable Development Goals Working Group was established as an interdisciplinary task force by the ICOMOS Scientific Council during the 2014 General Assembly.
What is the ICOMOS Sustainable Development Goals Working Group’s role?
The Sustainable Development Goals Working Group not only demonstrates the importance of cultural heritage as an effective driver of sustainable development, but contributes to making this a mainstream belief and practice.
Sustainable Development Goals Working Group Task Teams
- Policy Guidance on Heritage and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
- Engagement with the UN High Level political Forum and the Culture2030Goal Campaign
- National Liaisons and Localizing Heritage and the SDGs
- World Heritage and Sustainable Development Policy
- Partnerships and the New Urban Agenda
- Heritage Evaluation Criteria and Indicators
- Funding, Human Resources and Internships
- Heritage and Gender Equality
- Communications