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REVIEW OF PROGRESS TO ACHIEVE THE SDGS, 2015-19
SDG16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions • Under SDG 16, Buenos Aires recalls its commitment to Public Information Access and mentions article 134 of the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights: “Every individual has the right to freedom of thought and speech. This right includes the freedom to seek, receive and disseminate information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally or in writing, in print or in artistic form or by any other means of choice”. • Also under SDG 16, the city of Helsinki explains its “Participatory and parity plan of cultural and recreational services”, with the participatory budgeting as a mechanism to empower citizens (“reinforce the participatory opportunities of young people”), the “adoption” of historical monuments and the design of the City Museum’s new collection policy “for the first time interactively with Helsinki residents”. • San Antonio’s focus on living heritage ensures equity in cultural sustainability by focusing on participatory community engagement to identify tangible and intangible cultural resources important to underrepresented communities. SDG17. Partnerships for the Goals • Mexico City includes culture as one of the components of its international action. Sharing knowledge and expertise on cultural policies and programmes is seen as a contribution to promote a global partnership for sustainable development (Target 17.16).
f_ Means of implementation Some cities explain the activities planned (or put into practice already) for the actual localization and implementation of the SDGs, including the technical, economic and social means available or needed. In some cases, references to cultural aspects are included in this section. • Mexico City explains the participation in the campaign My World (in 2014), which used cultural actors and activities to raise awareness on the importance of sustainable development. • In Barcelona, the Observatory of Cultural Data appears as a key provider of indicators. Also in Barcelona, the “Policy to Promote the Participation of People with Diverse Origins and Contexts in Participatory Local Processes” is mentioned as a process to raise awareness. • New York’s VLR details the indicators used to monitor the achievement of the SDGs. Under Target 11.4, New York is currently using the number of “Individual landmarks and historic districts designated”, the “Total number of buildings designated” and the “Archaeology applications received” as well as the “Rate of cultural participation in key neighborhoods”. • In Los Angeles, the “Resilient LA” Plan includes a policy to “promote diversity in community leadership by pursuing policies and programs that develop more leaders reflecting the communities they represent” in the strategies to achieves SDGs 5, 10 and 17. • In San Antonio, the “Living Heritage Action Plan” includes numerous action items and steps to better manage cultural heritage (including intangible heritage) with sustainable development. Some cities explain the existence of events and festivals to raise awareness on sustainability. • The Convention for Sustainable Development in Oaxaca (in 2018) included talks, workshops, competitions, concerts, gastronomic exhibitions, solidarity economy fairs, theater plays, film projections and art exhibitions. • “Restored by Light” in San Antonio is a free public event illuminating two of the city’s 18th century World Heritage missions with laser lights. The event helps residents envision how the missions originally appeared without disturbing the fragile facades. The event features local music and food throughout the light show.
