The cultural landscape of 2024 has reflected both strength and fragility, marked by significant milestones, tangible actions and ongoing challenges. While international cooperation strengthened, the cultural ecosystem's underlying structure remained fragile. As referenced by Kristin Danielsen, Director of Arts and Culture Norway and Chair of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA) at the Artists and Culture after COVID conference in April in Prague, Czech Republic, the sector continues to grapple with complex issues—from rising inequality and geopolitical instability to technological advancements and climate change. Yet, despite these obstacles, 2024 also demonstrated remarkable resilience and progress in addressing the structural deficiencies and challenges. Here, we provide some key policy actions and global developments that occurred in 2024 and identify key events for 2025.
Culture as a Public Good
In 2024, Culture is increasingly viewed as a public good—a concept more widely discussed, building upon the UN Secretary General declaring ‘culture as a global public good’ last year, and the G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration, which emphasised the urgency of recognising culture as a sustainable development goal. This year, IFACCA published a pivotal report, Culture as a Public Good: Navigating its role in policy debates, which seeks to start an inclusive conversation - to unpack its terminology and context - that reminds us of culture’s power and strength in difference, as we approach milestones that will help frame and reinforce its position, to then address it at the global level. The report presents a series of recommendations and proposes an interplay between the notion of culture as: a public good, an irreducibly social good; a common good; a shared good; especially in its duality as a dimension of humanity and as a sector. Governments, such as the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage in Chile, took steps to delve into this concept, hosting an international seminar on Culture as a Public Good in October 2024 that explored culture's role in social development, creativity, and digital transformation and emphasised culture as a non-rival, inclusive resource that impacts social cohesion, sustainable development, and community-led participation.
From recognition to implementation and action
Building on the momentum of previous years, 2024 also saw continued international efforts to support the sector through tangible actions. In the area of intellectual property, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) adopted a groundbreaking new treaty on intellectual property, genetic resources, and associated traditional knowledge, recognising Indigenous peoples' invaluable cultural contributions. In the area of education, UNESCO Member States adopted a new global Framework for Culture and Arts Education that advocates for the integration of culture and the arts into education policies, curricula, and programmes. National governments made key policy and implementation developments, and highlights include: the Malawi Parliament passed the National Arts and Heritage Bill, which establishes the first-ever comprehensive legislative framework recognising arts and heritage sectors as vital contributors to the economy and cultural identity. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Government issued the Federal Decree by Law No. (29) of 2024 on Empowering the Art Sector that aims to establish unified policies to regulate art institutions, enhance the creative environment, and stimulate the economy through arts and creativity. The historic Law No. 7140, a milestone for culture and education in Paraguay, promotes reading, books, and culture through policies implemented by the National Secretary of Culture and key institutions. The Philippines ratified the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, and for our part, the IFACCA Africa Chapter adopted the Seychelles Declaration on the advancement of arts and culture in Pan Africa – for Africa and by Africa.
Addressing structural deficiencies in the cultural ecosystem
The cultural ecosystem remains fragile, highlighting the urgent need to address its structural deficiencies. This year, greater attention was paid to the precarious working conditions of cultural professionals, further exacerbated by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. The Fair Culture Charter launched a global movement inspired by Fairtrade principles to improve working conditions and the European Parliament has called for a new EU legal framework for the sector and fairer compensation for artists in the music streaming sector, to address the current revenue imbalance, where most creators receive low compensation. While in Central America and the Caribbean through its coordinating body CECC/SICA, discussions were held to discuss better protections for artists and cultural professionals.
National Governments continue efforts to improve conditions for cultural professionals and conduct important research. In Singapore, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth outlined supports to improve salaries for arts workers, while the Kenyan Government published its Creative Economy Support Bill 2024 which aims to establish a legal framework to support cultural workers. Key reports released this year include Cultural Freelancers Study 2024, commissioned by Arts Council England (the first large-scale investigation into freelance cultural workers' lives and working conditions) and Cultural and Creative Industries in Cambodia: Mapping Human Resources and Socio-Economic Conditions provides data on the status of artists and cultural workers in Cambodia. In Sweden, a Pilot study on the income of artistic professionals was published and in Northern Ireland, an Artist Economic Study, highlights artists struggles to make a living and revealed that only 29% of artists work full-time in their practice.
Data and statistics as a tool for policymaking
Understanding the impact of culture through data and statistics emerged as essential for shaping effective policies. In 2024, the global consultation on the revision of UNESCO’s Framework for Cultural Statistics (FCS) underscored the need for more robust cultural data. The revised framework aims to help national governments, ministries of culture, and other stakeholders better assess culture’s social and economic contributions. In Ghana, the Minister-designate for Tourism, Arts and Culture recognised the need for comprehensive cultural data to inform policy decisions, while India’s Ministry of Culture launched the National Mission on Cultural Mapping (NMCM), to gather cultural data for policymaking. UNCTAD released its Creative Economy Outlook for 2024 and key national cultural statistics and reports were published in Estonia, Finland, Hong Kong SAR China, New Zealand, Panama and Uruguay.
Navigating technological transformation
The rapid pace of technological transformation presented both opportunities and challenges for the cultural sector. While digital technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), present opportunities, they also pose complex challenges, such as in terms of cultural heritage and equitable access. Farai Mpfunya’s essay 'A Public Good Paradigm for Whose Culture? An African Perspective' within IFACCA’s report Culture as a Public Good: Navigating its role in policy debates provides an important lens through which to examine how digital tools intersect with local cultural values, particularly in Africa. Mr Mpfunya argues that Africa’s rich cultural diversity and heritage are at risk of being overshadowed by global technological forces. As digital technologies shape how cultures are represented and consumed globally, a key question is highlighted: whose culture is being prioritised, and who controls the narrative?
In this context, the importance of digital strategy and policy becomes evident. As highlighted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) the development of national strategies that expand digital creative industries can help developing countries tap into the creative economy. The ADB’s report offers policy recommendations for harnessing cultural heritage while driving economic growth through digital transformation. This year, Azerbaijan launched its e-Culture Digital Development Strategy (2024-2026), while Zimbabwe conducted a baseline study on its digital music sector to support the National Music Strategy 2022-2027 goal of a sustainable, adaptive industry.
On international AI policy developments, the UN General Assembly adopted a landmark AI Resolution, promoting ‘safe, secure and trustworthy’ AI systems. The European Parliament adopted the Artificial Intelligence Act to safeguard the use of AI systems. In Africa, the Continental AI Strategy is guided by the principles of ethics, inclusion and diversity, human rights and human dignity, people's well-being, peace and prosperity and prioritises the adaptation of AI systems to Africa's context. At a national level, in Spain, the Ministry of Culture issued a guide of good practices to safeguard creators' rights amidst the increasing integration of AI in cultural processes, and Creative Australia introduced principles to for using generative AI in creative work. These efforts reflect a shift towards digital governance that upholds cultural values. As digital tools evolve, cultural policy must find delicate balance—ensuring that technological advancement supports, rather than dilutes, local cultural identities.
Strengthening international cooperation
This year, international cooperation has been key to address the complex challenges and opportunities shaping the global arts and cultural landscape. At the United Nations Summit of the Future held in September 2024, world leaders adopted the Pact for the Future. Under Action 11 of the Pact for the Future, it states that ‘we will protect and promote culture and sport as integral components of sustainable development’. And goes further to commit to: ‘…ensure adequate public investment in the protection and promotion of culture’. These results do not affirm the standalone goal for culture in the post-2030 agenda for sustainable development; however, provide an opportunity to policy makers and international organisations like IFACCA to assess the concrete impact this action can have as we chart the future of arts and culture. Furthermore, the recently published UNESCO policy brief supported by the Nordic Culture Fund titled Acting for the recognition of culture as a global public good and a standalone goal, states that ‘…anchoring culture as a standalone goal in the post-2030 sustainable development agenda is therefore a strategic policy investment that would encourage governments to reinforce capacities to effectively harness culture for development by and beyond 2030, while attracting necessary policy attention and investment to address structural issues that hinder the flourishing of the sector.’
Another major agreement was achieved at G20 Culture Ministers meeting in Brazil, where the Ministers of Culture from the G20 nations adopted the Declaration of Salvador da Bahia. And at the G7 Ministerial meeting on Culture in Italy, G7 Culture Ministers adopted a Ministerial Declaration that states in the way forward: ‘…we will promote the inclusion of culture as a standalone goal in future discussions on how to advance sustainable development beyond 2030.’ Additionally international organisations adopted the Naples Statement on Culture for sustainable development of Africa and the world.
At the 16th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16) in Colombia a landmark agreement was reached giving Indigenous Peoples and people of African descent and their communities recognition as key stewards in conservation efforts. However the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) held in Baku, Azerbaijan, fell short of expectations to advance culture’s role in climate action, despite the landmark Emirates Declaration on Culture-based Climate Action, adopted during the High-Level Ministerial Dialogue in the previous year at COP28. Even with concerted efforts by cultural advocates, the conference's final conclusions notably sidelined comprehensive discussions on culture's role in climate mitigation strategies. Culture was referenced in the Mitigation Work Programme (MWP) decision – serving as the only reference to Culture in COP29's conclusions. Considering the limited emphasis on culture in the conclusions of COP29, we will continue to monitor progress in international cooperation at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, next year.
Looking ahead to 2025: Charting the future of arts and culture
In 2025, the international community anticipates dynamic conversations on arts and culture at key international forums, discussing the sector’s future as well as its role as a dimension of society. As we celebrate this milestone, the 10th World Summit on Arts and Culture, taking place in Seoul, Republic of Korea from 27–30 May 2025 co-hosted with Arts Council Korea (ARKO), will be a crucial moment for the international community to convene and continue discussion on culture’s important role in community as well as a wide range of topics.
With the theme Charting the future of arts and culture, the Summit will draw on diverse contexts and systems to explore tools for futureproofing. The discussions will have three focus areas: knowledge systems and agency; participatory systems and connectedness; and digital systems and technology. It will engage in forward-thinking discussions on critical global issues, alongside in-depth explorations of the pressing concerns for the cultural and creative sectors at a local level. Big picture issues on the agenda include the philosophies of technology, the governance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and knowledge systems as well as culture as a global public good and momentum for a standalone goal for culture in the post-2030 UN sustainable development agenda.
In addition, the Summit is also an important gathering on the road to MONDIACULT 2025 hosted by UNESCO and the Government of Spain taking place in Barcelona 28 September to 1 October 2025. The 10th World Summit report will convey key findings and recommendations to UNESCO and the Ministry of Culture, Spain for the development of the MONDIACULT 2025 programme and deliberations.
As we move into the new year, the international community has an important chance to chart a sustainable, inclusive path forward for the arts and culture sector, recognising culture as a source of resilience, innovation, hope and solidarity.
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