Nordic Countries Host a Side Event at MONDIACULT 2025

MONDIACULT, the world’s biggest cultural policy conference, will be held in Barcelona, Spain from September 29 until October 1, 2025. In co-operation with the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Nordic countries will host a side event with the theme "Access to culture and cultural heritage bolsters societal development and resilience in times of crisis". Freedom of expression and artistic freedom will also be discussed to hear how they help equip regions better in times of crisis.

The Nordic countries promote and support the diversity of cultural expressions and cultural heritage, as cultural heritage is a pillar for vibrant and democratic and resilient societies. However, in armed conflicts, culture and cultural heritage are deliberately targeted as means to erode identity and weaken the resilience of people and countries. This underscores the importance of intensified contingency planning to secure and protect cultural heritage and maintaining cultural activities in the event of crisis and conflicts.

In the Nordic co-operation there is a focus on establishing more formal exchange of experience within preparedness and the cultural sector. Therefore, the Nordic side-event will bring together people with expertise and different backgrounds to exchange best practices and address challenges on how to ensure and safeguard cultural heritage as well as artistic freedom during conflicts and crisis.

The event will take place during the lunch break of the MONDIACULT conference  from 13:30 to 14:30 on Tuesday, 30 September, in the room Sala Multiusos in Barcelona International Convention Centre (CCIB).
Agenda for the Event

•    13.30-13.40 Welcome and Opening Remarks by Mari-Leena Talvitie, Minister of Science and Culture of Finland and Lubna Jaffery, Minister of Culture and Equality of Norway
•    13.40-14.00 Panel discussion on the theme “Access to culture bolsters the development, resilience, and reconstruction of society in times of crisis”
•    14.00-14.20 Panel discussion on the theme “Freedom of expression and artistic freedom help equipping the region better in times of crisis and threat”
•    14.20-14.30 Closing Remarks by Karin Svanborg-Sjövall, State Secretary, Ministry of Culture of Sweden and Eirikur í Jákupsstovu, Minister of Social Affairs and Culture of the Faroe Islands

Moderator: UNESCO Youth Delegate Iina-Lotta Kuisma

Panelists: 

• Abdullah Alkafri, Executive Director and Co-founder of Ettijahat–Independent Culture
• Kristin Danielsen, Director of Nordic Culture Fund
• Deeyah Khan, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador
• Denis Krivosheev, Deputy Regional Director, Research. Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Office, Amnesty International

The discussion will be in English.