Naples Declaration approved at first Mediterranean conference

The first Conference of Mediterranean Ministers of Culture concluded in Naples: “MedCulture” (this is the informal name of the important event) brought together at the Royal Palace and the San Carlo Theater in the Campania capital over sixty delegations representing the 23 countries of the Euro-Mediterranean region. Participants included the European Parliament represented by President Roberta Metsola, the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, the Secretary General of the European External Action Service, Stefano Sannino, and delegates from Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Germany, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Montenegro. They were joined by representatives from UNESCO, ICOM, ICOMOS, ICCROM, World Customs Organization, Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, WCO, Union for the Mediterranean, ALIPH, The Antiquities Coalition, Europa Nostra, The Blue Shield, Anna Lindh Foundation, and Petra National Trust.

The two-day event ended with the approval, in plenary session, of the Naples Declaration, an initiative for cultural collaboration in the Mediterranean, called by Culture Minister Dario Franceschini, who did the honors, “a mechanism for permanent dialogue in the Euro-Mediterranean region for all Ministers of Culture.” “This initiative,” the minister added, “will be declined within the institutional and regulatory framework and foreign policy instruments of the European Union and the Mediterranean Partnership. The common goal is to arrive at a permanent Mediterranean Ministerial of Culture that will have a regular cadence and have among its objectives the definition of shared criteria to identify cyclically the city to be designated Capital of Culture of the Mediterranean.”

“We want to use this new framework,” the minister continued, “to call on European institutions to invest additional resources on cultural cooperation in the Euro-Mediterranean region to achieve ambitious goals. The declaration approved today was the result of a lot of work, which took weeks and ended a few minutes before the unanimous consensus expressed by all ministers with applause. This important action of cultural diplomacy was done in a terrain that did not exist. A meeting of all Mediterranean Ministers of Culture is unprecedented. It is important that at such a difficult time to have so many countries even far apart, sometimes with complicated relations, agreed to discuss common issues and share a final declaration. This shows that if you invest in culture, the road to peace is first and foremost made up of dialogue and mutual understanding.”

What the Naples Declaration says

The Declaration of the ministers of culture and representatives of the institutions listed above was adopted within the framework of the European Commission’s new European Agenda for Culture, the Mediterranean Agenda (in which culture is among the areas of close cooperation), the EU Council Conclusions on Enhanced Cooperation in Culture, the EU Strategic Policy Framework for International Cultural Relations, the EU Council Resolution on the Cultural Dimension of Sustainable Development, the Council Conclusions on the EU Approach to Cultural Heritage in Conflict and Crisis Situations, the EU Compass Strategy for Security and Defense, and the results of the 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage.

There are eight key principles recognized by the Declaration: the cultures, languages, cultural heritages and landscapes of the Euro-Mediterranean region as shared sources of memory, understanding, identity, sense of belonging, knowledge and creativity; culture and creativity as key factors and facilitators for the Sustainable Development Goals; protection and enhancement of the Euro-Mediterranean region’s cultural heritage from disasters, conflicts, crises and climate change; the key role of culture in the new Mediterranean Agenda; cultural and linguistic diversity as a common heritage of humanity, to be appreciated and preserved in order to flourish a framework of democracy, tolerance, social justice and mutual respect among peoples and cultures, which are indispensable for peace and security; cultural cooperation as a key to the revitalization and prosperity of the Euro-Mediterranean area; need for for more coordinated and integrated action to unlock the potential of culture-driven regeneration processes in the Euro-Mediterranean area; importance of civil society actors in developing meaningful cooperation related to culture and cultural heritage in the region.

These eight principles led the signatories of the Naples Declaration to welcome the development of cooperation and joint actions on three axes. The first: culture as a key resource for peace and security. Along this axis will be joint response mechanisms and coordinated regional actions to safeguard cultural heritage in disaster and crisis scenarios (“Promoting a more coordinated and cross-sectoral strategic approach to the protection of cultural heritage in disaster and crisis scenarios, aligned with a crisis management approach, taking into account all relevant actors involved at all stages,” the text of the Declaration reads), and combating illicit trafficking of cultural property: cross-cutting actions in the Euro-Mediterranean area (“confronting theft in cultural heritage institutions or private collections, looting of archaeological sites, removal of artefacts and the subsequent illicit trafficking of cultural property in the Euro-Mediterranean region,” “enhancing measures to counter the illicit trafficking of cultural property through a multi-faceted / cross-sectoral approach that takes into account its criminal, financial and social dimensions,” “engaging all key stakeholders for increased capacity of relevant authorities in combating illicit trafficking in cultural property.”

The second axis is culture and cultural heritage as an engine and enabler for sustainable development and green transition: it will thus be about improving the integration of culture and cultural heritage into the broad agenda of sustainable social and economic development in the Euro-Mediterranean region, unlocking the potential of culture as an engine and enabler of all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and further integrating culture, cultural heritage and creativity in the implementation of the SDGs, as well as recognizing and encouraging the key role of cities and regions in the realization of culture- and heritage-driven sustainable development, which also includes promoting the exchange of good norms among local policymakers and stakeholders in the region. The Naples Declaration, under this axis, also promotes the acceleration of action to increase resilience and promote disaster risk reduction and adaptation planning to the impacts of climate change and climate-related disasters on cultural heritage and cultural diversity in the Euro-Mediterranean area. It will also be important to “raise awareness about cultural heritage, tangible and intangible, as a repository of knowledge and resilience lessons learned from the past to adapt to a changing climate and as a resource to help people and communities rediscover sustainable environmental management practices while supporting low-carbon and nature-based solutions,” and “promote the principles of the new European Bauhaus and engage cultural heritage and culture practitioners, including designers, artisans, artists, creatives, architects, conservators, and cultural institutions, including museums and libraries, to accelerate the changes needed for a successful transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient future by promoting lifestyles and behavioral patterns in harmony with nature and more beautiful, inclusive and sustainable.” Space is also given to local knowledge, traditional know-how, climate action within cultural policies, and “green cultural diplomacy.”

Third axis is culture as a key player in a world in transition. The first guiding action is to harness the power of culture for resilience, prosperity, and digital change. Objectives: To restore and sustain international cultural relations in the Euro-Mediterranean region, affected by the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, by nurturing our common cultural space, strengthening the capacity of national administrations, cultural institutes, and cultural and creative practitioners to practice international cultural relations in the Mediterranean; to support education for a culture of peace and solidarity based on the concept of multi-level identity from an early age, as well as the promotion of cultural and linguistic diversity, particularly through art and heritage education in schools and beyond and international exchanges in the Euro-Mediterranean area, as well as by rethinking the role of education in light of the New European Bauhaus initiative, with a focus on vulnerable groups; supporting cultural co-productions, mobility of artworks and cultural products in the framework of a renewed partnership between the EU and its member states and Mediterranean countries; supporting the socio-economic resilience of the cultural and creative sectors, overcoming the fragility of the Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries (CCIS) in the Mediterranean area and facilitating their recovery, enabling operators to seize trends including the green and digital transition, accelerating sustainable and balanced growth; promote joint cultural research initiatives related to culture, cultural heritage and landscape across the Mediterranean; collect and widely disseminate best practices in the field of culture and cultural heritage from cultural cooperation initiatives across the Mediterranean to support knowledge sharing, peer learning and networking.

Finally, the mobility, upskilling and retraining of artists and cultural professionals will need to be promoted: This will be done by supporting mobility and cross-border exchanges as key factors for the sustainability of cultural professionals, civil servants and civil society, trainees, businesses and organizations, and then again by supporting the qualification, retraining and employability of culture, creative and cultural heritage and civil servants in the Mediterranean, promoting multilingualism.

The Declaration closes with an invitation to all stakeholders in the Euro-Mediterranean region, including relevant EU institutions and departments, national governments and international and regional organizations and nongovernmental organizations, as well as private actors and foundations, to jointly explore how public policies at the Mediterranean, European national, regional, and local levels could be better coordinated so that the contribution of culture for a green, digital, just, and focused on realistic goals can be highlighted, help better integrate the EU’s strategic framework for international cultural relations with the EU’s foreign policy objectives, help promote dialogue and cooperation between national and international actors in order to protect and increase the security of cultural heritage in the face of crisis and conflict and in combating illicit trafficking, learn from what that works in existing programs and increase options and access to training, mobility and capacity-building opportunities for artists, cultural and heritage workers; promote the circulation of culture, art of cultural heritage across the Euro-Mediterranean area; and better safeguard cultural heritage. “We will work jointly,” the final lines of the text read, “on recommendations and actions to promote the principles and actions proposed in this Declaration and to develop the Naples Initiative.”

Naples Declaration approved at first Mediterranean conference

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