Paris France

Local and Regional Governments towards RIO+20

This post comes to you from Cultura21

A briefing on preparations for the Rio +20 Summit is available from the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), focusing on culture as key element of sustainability: “We believe that the paradigm of sustainable development needs a cultural pillar, and its implementation deserves cultural content. The Agenda 21 for culture (2004), the Policy Statement of Mexico on “Culture: the Fourth Pillar of Sustainable Development” (2010) and the local actions undertaken by our members and partners are the best evidence of progress.

UCLG is preparing its strategy for the Rio+20 Summit. The key messages put forward by UCLG are:

  • Making Culture as fourth pillar of sustainable development
  • Tackling climate change
  • Contributing to international governance in sustainable development field
  • Making cities resilient”

To read the briefing (PDF file): Click here

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)

– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)

– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)

– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Values of Environmental Writing

This post comes to you from Cultura21

The Values of Environmental Writing Research Network raises levels of critical academic exchange and public debate about the possible relations between reading habits and preferences, levels of environmental literacy, and wider patterns of pro-environment behavioural and lifestyle change.

Network activities take place between September 2010 and June 2011, centring on three ‘Conversations on Environmental Change’ that use Creative Environmental Writing to investigate precisely:

  • what communities and individuals value
  • why they value it
  • how they value it
  • how values are defined, identified and transmitted

The Network Convenors are based in the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, and the School of Critical Studies (English Literature), University of Glasgow.

Read more at http://www.valuesofenvironmentalwriting.co.uk

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)

– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)

– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)

– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Two environmental philosophy blogs

This post comes to you from Cultura21

The following two environmental philosopher’s blogs provide regular posts with interesting views and analyses on themes such as emergence, ecocriticism, ecocinema and others:

  • Adrian J Ivakhiv’s blog “immanence – thinking the form, flesh & flow of the world: ecoculture, geophilosophy, mediapolitics”: http://blog.uvm.edu/aivakhiv/

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)

– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)

– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)

– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Arts & Democracy audio transcript on the role of Culture in Revolutionary Times

This post comes to you from Cultura21

Reposted from freeDimensional

Arts & Democracy Project’s most recent nation-wide conference call was focused on recent events in Egypt and the extraordinary pro-democracy movements sweeping across North Africa and the Middle East.  The call highlighted how artists, art spaces and cultural organizers in the region and in the U.S. are participating or responding, and how more cultural workers can engage in positive ways. With Dalia Basiouny, writer & theatre artist (Egypt); Ahmed Issawi, Alwan for the Arts (Egypt/NYC); and Khaled Mattawa, poet & professor (Libya/Michigan), among others.

A recorded transcript is available.



Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)

– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)

– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)

– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Societies, Systems and Swarms

This post comes to you from Cultura21

A publication is now available online, from the “2nd Sustainable Summer School”  that took place in Jüchen (Germany) in September 2010 (cf. our earlier post about the event). The theme of that summer school was “Societies, Systems and Swarms”.

Download the PDF file: Click here

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)

– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)

– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)

– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Nurturing Nature

This post comes to you from Cultura21

There are still some weeks left to visit the exhibition Nurturing Nature which runs through April 16th at OSilas Gallery on the campus of Concordia College in Bronxville NY.

Artists in the exhibition include: Eva Bakkeslett, Norway; Vaughn Bell, Seattle; Susan Benarcik, NYC; Michele Brody, NYC; Jackie Brookner NYC; Linda Bryne NYC; Xavier Cortada, Miami FL; Sonja Hinrichsen, Germany; Basia Irland, CO; William Meyer, Westchester, NY; Maria Michails, NYC; Roy Staab WI; Joel Tauber, CA.

Curated by Amy Lipton, ecoartspace and Patricia Miranda, Director OSilas Gallery

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:
– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

JALAN JATI (Teak Road) Or the Secret Lives of Forest Products

This post comes to you from Cultura21

A Contemporary Art & Ecology Exhibition on Tropical Forests, Wood & Humans, Using DNA Timber Tracking Technology

By the Migrant Ecologies Project, Singapore

The project traces the “memories” of a teak bed purchased in 21 century Singapore back to the site in the region from which the teak tree originated with the help of DNA timber-tracking technology. Where the project as a whole carries with it a message about the international consumption of illegal forest products, the art works (photography, woodprint collage and stop motion) explore the secret lives of teak trees and timber as materials, metaphors, magic, ecological resources and historical agents.

More info: www.migrantecologies.org

Picture on the left: RANJANG JATI. The Teak Bed That Sent Four Humans to Muna Island Sulawesi and Back Again. By Lucy Davis. Photo Shannon Lee Castleman.

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)

– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)

– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)

– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

New artist call “Cool Stories For When The Planet Gets Hot III” launched

This post comes to you from Cultura21

Richard Jochum: Halt (video still), 2007 (finalist COOL STORIES II)

ARTPORT_making waves, an international art project which raises awareness of current social and political issues worldwide through theme-oriented exhibitions, residency programs and artists collaborations, proudly presents the third edition of its video contest “Cool Stories For When The Planet Gets Hot” on global warming.

After two successful editions, for the third edition ARTPORT collaborates with CINEMA PLANETA, the award-winning International Environmental Film Festival in Cuernavaca, Mexico. We invite video artists worldwide to participate with works that explore global warming, focusing on forests in honor of the United Nations International Year of Forests 2011. Artists are encouraged to tell us their stories about deforestation or tree planting and its positive effects; they may also opt to approach the topic of symbolic, psychological or socio-political significances of forests. Our aim is to present a convincing survey of the current artistic exploration of this topic worldwide with 20 etablished and emerging artists, edited into a visually and conceptually coherent compilation by ARTPORT_making waves. The final winner will be awarded an artist residency.

Deadline for submitting proposals is May 9, 2011.

For more information: www.artport-project.org

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)

– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)

– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)

– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

FCForum conclusions – sustainable economic models for the creative sector

This post comes to you from Cultura21

“We can no longer put off re-thinking the economic structures that have been producing, financing and funding culture up until now. Many of the old models have become anachronistic and detrimental to civil society. The aim of this document is to promote innovative strategies to defend and extend the sphere in which human creativity and knowledge can prosper freely and sustainably.

This document is addressed to policy reformers, citizens and free/libre culture activists to provide them practical tools to actively operate this change.”

Download the Declaration and “How-to” guide to new models of sustainability in the digital era at http://fcforum.net/sustainable-models-for-creativity

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)

– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)

– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)

– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Culture and Sustainable Communities

This post comes to you from Cultura21

NEW PUBLICATION: Special Double Issue of Culture and Local Governance on “Culture and Sustainable Communities”

http://oa.uottawa.ca/journals/clg-cgl

Vol. 3, No. 1-2

Guest editors: Nancy Duxbury, Centre for Social Studies (CES), University of Coimbra, Portugal; M. Sharon Jeannotte, Centre on Governance, University of Ottawa, Canada

The wide-spread shift to a sustainability paradigm for city planning makes this an important point in time to explore the integration of cultural considerations into broader sustainability policy and planning initiatives and the alignment of cultural planning with community sustainability approaches and goals. The diverse articles in this special issue of Culture and Local Governance highlight the value of a ‘wide lens’ in understanding how culture and sustainability fit together in a variety of settings. The articles examine the subject from multiple perspectives, providing insights and examples from Europe (Catalonia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Germany), North America (Canada), South America (Brazil), Oceania (Australia), and Africa (South Africa). The special issue is intended to provide food for thought and, perhaps, guidance for the many communities throughout the world who are currently grappling with the challenge of integrating culture into community sustainability planning.

This post is also available in: French

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)

– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)

– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)

– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21