{"id":4764,"date":"2026-08-18T14:12:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T13:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogg.lnu.se\/unesco\/?p=4764"},"modified":"2026-08-18T14:12:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T13:12:35","slug":"unesco80-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogg.lnu.se\/unesco\/?p=4764","title":{"rendered":"UNESCO80 Initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cornelius Holtorf listened to a first dialogue<\/a> of the Director-General (DG) of UNESCO, Professor Khaled El-Enany with some 600 UNESCO Chairs (more than half of the total!), held in two sessions on 29 January 2026. El-Enany emphasized the significance of the UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN networks as well as the need for UNESCO of utilizing the “priceless” expertise, knowledge, and research of the UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN networks. This important meeting was intended as the beginning of a series of meetings during the DG:s entire mandate. In the framework of the UNESCO80 initiative: Shaping UNESCO\u2019s Future Together<\/em>, El-Enany asked the Chairs for observations, aspirations, ideas and suggestions to build together the strategy for the future of UNESCO, at the same time identifying or improving synergies between UNESCO and the Chairs. The DG concluded by calling for a more efficient and better coordinated way of collaborating with the UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN networks, offering them a win-win deal: “Lets start a new era of a real partnership between UNESCO and every one of the Chairs.”<\/p>\n\n\n

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I submitted the following suggestions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Professor Khaled El-Enany<\/strong>
Director-General of UNESCO<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

7 July 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Professor El-Enany,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During your first dialogue with UNESCO Chairs at the end of January, you invited Chairholders, in a spirit of intellectual collaboration, to contribute ideas and aspirations for UNESCO\u2019s future role in an evolving world. You encouraged us to reflect on how UNESCO can respond to emerging realities, including climate change, digital inequalities, threats to human rights, and other global challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2017, I have held the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures at Linnaeus University in Sweden. The Chair explores the role of heritage in shaping relationships between present and future generations. I was also pleased to meet you briefly during your much appreciated participation in the Chair\u2019s reception on World Futures Day in Paris on 2 December 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to your invitation, I would like to offer a few reflections that may contribute to UNESCO\u2019s work in the context of UN80 and support greater effectiveness, coherence, and impact across the United Nations system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Strengthening long-term thinking<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2024 UN Pact for the Future highlighted the importance of long-term thinking in addressing global challenges. UNESCO is uniquely positioned to advance this agenda. The cultural heritage sector as well as the humanities and social sciences offer rich resources for understanding long-term societal change, while futures literacy and foresight provide tools for imagining and preparing for alternative futures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Closer collaboration between these domains could strengthen UNESCO\u2019s contribution to anticipatory governance and intergenerational fairness, while also fostering synergies across the UN system. The UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures would be pleased to contribute to such efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Understanding our shared human heritage<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Culture shapes how people make sense of the world and relate to one another. Addressing global challenges, including climate change, emerging technologies, pandemics and nuclear risks, requires trust, solidarity, and a sense of shared responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNESCO could further strengthen its leadership by promoting awareness of humanity\u2019s common heritage and shared destiny, complementing its important work on cultural diversity. Greater attention to what unites human beings across cultures, histories, and regions may help foster mutual understanding and strengthen global cohesion for the benefit of people living now and in the future. This effort could draw productively on expertise from both the social and natural sciences, including research on our shared human origins and our genetic heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Reimagining heritage and change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a world increasingly characterized by rapid change and transformation, heritage remains an important resource for individuals and communities seeking continuity and resilience. Yet heritage is not only something to be safeguarded against identified threats; it can also be a catalyst for desirable positive change and transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNESCO could lead a broader conversation on how changing and emerging heritage practices can contribute to human happiness, equality, justice, and human rights. This may involve complementing traditional preservation approaches with perspectives that recognize heritage as a dynamic concept reflecting past and present people\u2019s choices while informing future ones in pursuit of both human well-being and people’s own aspirations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Expanding UNESCO\u2019s leadership on human\u2013environment relations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNESCO emerged from intellectual traditions grounded in humanism and cooperation between peoples. Today, all of humanity faces planetary challenges associated with environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, and climate change that affect both human and non-human life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building on UNESCO\u2019s recent leadership in areas such as the ethics of artificial intelligence, the Organization could further advance reflection on human\u2013environment relations through fields such as the environmental humanities and interdisciplinary approaches on planetary cohabitation, interspecies care, and related topics. UNESCO is exceptionally well placed to foster dialogue on the wider implications of post-human thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would be pleased to elaborate on any of these ideas, adapt them in light of UNESCO\u2019s priorities, or contribute to future initiatives in these areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you for inviting UNESCO Chairs to share their perspectives and suggestions in the framework of UN80. I greatly appreciate this opportunity to contribute to UNESCO\u2019s future work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yours sincerely,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cornelius Holtorf<\/strong>
Chairholder, UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Linnaeus University, Kalmar Sweden<\/p>\n\n\n\n

P.S. As a Chairholder based at a university, I may not always be fully aware of the institutional and political considerations that shape UNESCO\u2019s priorities and programmes. It is therefore possible that some of the ideas outlined above overlap with ongoing initiatives. If so, I would welcome opportunities for stronger communication and exchange between UNESCO and its Chairs, helping us better understand and contribute to the Organization\u2019s work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cornelius Holtorf listened to a first dialogue of the Director-General (DG) of UNESCO, Professor Khaled El-Enany with some 600 UNESCO Chairs (more than half of the total!), held in two sessions on 29 January 2026. El-Enany emphasized the significance of the UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN networks as well as the need for UNESCO of utilizing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":414,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[72437,28283,72334,72460,72372,28264,72462],"class_list":["post-4764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogg","tag-change","tag-cultural-heritage","tag-long-term-thinking","tag-shared-human-heritage","tag-un-pact-of-the-future","tag-unesco","tag-unesco-director-general"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nUNESCO80 Initiative - UNESCO<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogg.lnu.se\/unesco\/?p=4764\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UNESCO80 Initiative - UNESCO\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cornelius Holtorf listened to a first dialogue of the Director-General (DG) of UNESCO, Professor Khaled El-Enany with some 600 UNESCO Chairs (more than half of the total!), held in two sessions on 29 January 2026. 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