After the landmark Summit of the Future last year, 2025 is in some ways a case of ‘back to normal’. But with the start of discussions on the post-2030 Agenda in sight, we need to seize opportnities to underline how central libraries, knowledge and culture are to successful sustainable development.

IFLA engages with the United Nations’  Sustainable Agenda given the opportunities it offers to reframe the way others see libraries, and indeed the way we see ourselves.

They offer a structure for thinking through, and reinforcing, our role in delivering a wide range of policy goals, covering all of economic, social and cultural development, alongside the safeguarding of our environemnt and climate.

Better understanding this potential should not only lead to better recognition by governments, but also more focused and faster innovation for impact within the field.

So what are the key moments for advancing this work in 2025?

Global and regional events

The year will see a similar regular calendar of meetings and conferences as in every year. These are valuable as a means of maintaining focus and momentum, and bringing together relevant actors.

IFLA has worked in recent years to build the community of librarians who are experienced and confident in working in these spaces, globally and regionally.

The main event is the High-Level Political Forum, taking place from 14-23 July in New York, with the theme: Advancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs for leaving no one behind.

In addition, there will be five regional sustainable development fora, from the end of February to the middle of April. If one is taking place near you, get in touch with us if you would like to participate.

The emphasis on the role of science and evidence is a promising one for us, given that these are central to our work as libraries. We will be sharing more about how you can get involved.

In addition to the High-Level Political Forum, we are already well engaged in preparation for MONDIACULT 2025, to be held in September in Barcelona.

This follows up from the 2022 MONDIACULT conference in Mexico City, and provides a strong opportunity to underline the role of libraries both in achieving cultural goals, but also in mobilising culture to deliver on wider objectives.

Find our more about how we’re engaging in regional consultations already, and see below for more about upcoming plans through the Culture2030Goal campaign.

Finally, we are following preparation for the World Social Summit, to be held in Doha, Qatar, in November. This will build on the UN’s previous key social declaration, dating back 30 years, this will draw together initiatives and efforts around social inclusion and equity.

Voluntary National Reviews

Currently, 39 countries have come forwards to report on their work towards achieving the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals through a Voluntary National Review (VNR).

These are: Angola, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Czechia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Finland, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Lesotho, Malaysia, Malta, Micronesia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Qatar, Saint Lucia, Seychelles, South Africa, Palestine, Sudan, Suriname, and Thailand.

We already have resources available about VNRs, which can be a great way to build new contacts and recognition of libraries in your countries.

We have already reached out to contacts from most countries, but if you are from one of these and would like to be involved, please let us know!

Towards a culture goal

A particular area of work this year is through our participation in the Culture2030Goal campaign, which brings together partner organisations to make the case for a dedicated culture goal in any future development agenda, as well as greater integration of culture now

More news will be available shortly, but a big focus will be the MONDIACULT conference, and the development of a revised draft culture goal in time for this. With the conference as a whole likely to dedicate significant attention to this topic, we hope to shape discussions positively.

Watch this space for more!

Delivering systemically

Finally, we also want 2025 to be a year where we intensify our work not just to talk about how libraries can deliver on different policy goals, but also to help make this happen, at scale.

One contribution has been the report from David Baker Consulting on what enables library fields to make change happen at the regional or national level. This offers useful insights into the key functions that need to be fulfilled to partner with others.

We are also working closely with our regional offices to explore possibilities for partnerships, while the evaluation of the Building Strong Library Associations initiative will offer ideas on what associations need to be able to drive work here.

The result, we hope, will be a virtuous circle of growing capacity and growing connections across the sustainable development policy agenda.

 

We will continue to share news about all of this work on our webpages, and you can sign up to our SDGs mailing list for more.