Last week, Barcelona hosted MONDIACULT 2025, UNESCO’s flagship conference on cultural policy and sustainable development, convening over 160 nations, ministries, artists, and civil society actors.
At Aleph Strategies , we see as a turning point in how the world recognises culture as an essential enabler of peace. Here are a few reflections on why the culture–peace link matters — and how we might act on it:
1. Culture builds bridges of empathy & identity. In times of polarisation, conflict or identity fragmentation, cultural expression connects us to shared values and human stories. It reminds us that behind every political division or social cleavage lies a person, a memory, a narrative. At MONDIACULT, “Culture for Peace” was a focus area, embedded alongside other priority domains.
2. Cultural rights = foundations of just societies. You cannot build peace on exclusion. The recognition of cultural rights — the right to participate in, create, and sustain cultural life — is essential to trust, legitimacy, and social cohesion. The Conference reaffirmed culture’s status as a global public good and urged its integration into public policies.
3. Protecting heritage protects memory & reconciliation. Cultural heritage, in many contexts, carries collective memory of both suffering and resilience. In conflict zones worldwide, heritage sites are not just collateral damage — they are targets in symbolic warfare. At MONDIACULT, participants highlighted the role of heritage preservation in peacebuilding, and reinforced the importance of UNESCO cultural conventions to safeguard shared human history.
4. Culture in action demands resources, rights & multilateral backing. It’s not enough to affirm culture’s value conceptually. To make that link real, we need policies, budgets, protections for cultural work, and global cooperation.
Data presented at MONDIACULT show that while many countries now embed culture in development plans, 62 % of cultural professionals still report weak or no protection of their economic and social rights. The Conference’s outcome document urges states to mobilise stronger cultural policies and ensure artists and creators aren’t left in precarity.
Culture is not a “nice to have” in peacebuilding — it is core infrastructure. The decisions made at MONDIACULT 2025 echo loudly for all of us in the cultural, civic, and peace sectors.
At Aleph, we are ready to play our role — whether that’s strategic advising, designing cultural-peace initiatives, or convening partners to turn vision into practice.
Let’s connect, exchange ideas, and push forward this agenda together — because peace without culture is a hollow shell, and culture without peace risks becoming fragile.
Image: UNESCO
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