Mondiacult

World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development – MONDIACULT 2025 is the world’s biggest cultural policy conference. Hosted by the Government of Spain in Barcelona from 29 September – 1 October 2025, this event will set the global agenda for culture in the years ahead. IFLA is excited to participate and bring the perspective of the global library field into this critical debate.

IFLA on the Programme

UCLG Culture Summit Session: “Why We Need a Culture Goal Now”

27 September | 11:30 – 13:00 | CCCB (Sala Teatre)

  • IFLA Secretary General Sharon Memis is participating in this pre-conference session, alongside partners from the Culture2030Goal Campaign, to help launch the Campaign’s proposal of a Culture Goal, version 1. She will speak to the importance of strengthening cultural institutions as an enabler of sustainable development across the agenda.
Achieving Cultural Policy Goals through Coordinated Action and Dialogue: a conversation with Civil Society and UNESCO National Commissions

Official Side Event | 29 September | 18:00 – 19:00 | CCIB Sala 118-19

  • IFLA is co-moderating this official MONDIACULT Side Event with the Culture2030Goal Campaign and National Commissions for UNESCO, including Polandand the UK. The Campaign will speak to the importance of a stand-alone culture goal for creating a common language and a shared framework for action.
Libraries for development: access to culture and cultural participation

Official Side Event | 30 September | 18:00 – 19:00 | CCIB Sala 131-132

  • IFLA will join the Chartered Community of Navarre and Library Cooperation Council of Spain in this side event, exploring the role of libraries as the minimum cultural service with great transformative power. It will help lay foundations for a shared library and information strategy that provides a roadmap toward a library policy that leaves no one behind.

Our Key Messages

At MONDIACULT 2025, we are calling on Ministers of Culture and all stakeholders to recognise the role that libraries play in upholding commitments made at MONDIACULT. Across the dimensions of culture in sustainable development, connecting to people is critical. Connecting with the libraries and library associations in one’s country and integrating them into national strategies and development planning can amplify their efforts and sustain their impact.

We emphasis the importance of a rights-driven approach, and in terms of culture, ensuring that all people can enjoy their cultural rights through access and participation in cultural life is critical. Libraries are champions of access to information, knowledge, and culture. Working with them across the dimensions of sustainable development is a powerful way to centre human rights in development.

Finally, we call on policymakers in the culture sector to strive to work with those in other ministries. Connecting with policymakers in education, environment, finance, internal and external affairs and beyond is essential for unlocking the role of culture on achieving better outcomes for all. Towards this, IFLA re-affirms our conviction that the adoption of a dedicated culture goal within the international development agenda is critical.

Get in touch

Are you in touch with your National Commission for UNESCO, or colleagues within the Ministry of Culture? Will representatives from your country be active at MONDIACULT 2025? Reach out and share these messages!

Contact: Claire McGuire, [email protected]