The members of United Cities and Local Governments share the vision that culture is the fourth pillar of sustainable development.
United Cities and Local Governments calls on cities and local and regional governments around the world to:
- integrate the dimension of culture into their development policies;
- develop a solid cultural policy;
- include a cultural dimension in all public policies;
- promote the idea of culture as the fourth pillar internationally, in particular in international policy making.
United Cities and Local Governments calls on national governments to:
- bring a cultural perspective to national development plans as a whole;
- establish concrete objectives and actions concerning culture in areas such as education, the economy, science, communication, environment, social cohesion and international cooperation;
- promote the idea of culture as the fourth pillar internationally, in particular in international policy making.
United Cities and Local Governments calls on the United Nations, development agencies and the international community to:
- explicitly integrate culture into programmes on sustainable development;
- promote the international debate on the implications of the inclusion of culture as fourth pillar of development;
- foster the inclusion of culture in international policy making.
Agenda 21 for Culture
Agenda 21 for Culture – United Cities and Local Governments’ policy statement on cultural development 
Agenda 21 for Culture is the first document with a worldwide mission to support the cultural development role of cities and local governments. It was developed by the
Commission for Culture of United Cities and Local Governments (the international peak body for local government) in 2006 and adopted by the Executive Bureau of UCLG
It advocates culture as the ‘Fourth Pillar’ of sustainable development, adding a fourth dimension to the three already existing pillars of economic viability, social inclusion and environmental balance.in November 2010. Agenda21
The Cultural Development Network seek to promote this conception of cultural development as a significant role of local government in Victoria and Australia, and our activities focus around this goal.
Culture: Fourth Pillar of Sustainable Development – Policy Statement
Find out more about the UCLG Policy Statement on Culture on these websites:
Agenda 21
United Cities & Local Governments
Download the PDF: Fourth Pillar UCLG Policy Statement
These further documents are available from the Agenda 21 website:
Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development
Millennium Development Goals, local govermments and culture
Document 1: Agenda 21 for culture
Document 2: Advice on local implementation of the Agenda 21 for culture
Document 3: Cultural indicators and Agenda 21 for culture
Report 1: Local policies for cultural diversity
Report 2: Culture, local governments and Millennium Development Goals
Report 3: Agenda 21 for culture in France. State of affairs and outlook