The Etxepare Basque Institute joins the European multicultural dialogue as part of MONDIACULT 2025

On September 30th, Etxepare Basque Institute director Irene Larraza will participate in a conference organised by EUNIC Barcelona, the cluster of European cultural institutes in the Catalan capital, with the aim of promoting cultural dialogue and international cooperation between European and global institutes.

The meeting is part of the Civic Agora programme, a space to debate and share experiences and ideas about the role of culture in shaping contemporary societies. It is held within the framework of MONDIACULT 2025, the UNESCO-promoted intergovernmental conference on cultural policies in Barcelona.

The event will be held at the Institut d´Estudis Catalans and will gather representatives from cultural, academic, and political institutions to discuss the new challenges facing culture and the importance of languages and intercultural understanding in today’s world.

The programme includes two roundtable discussions. The first, titled “New Challenges in Foreign Language Teaching in the Age of AI”, will focus on the impact that artificial intelligence-based technologies are having on language learning, as well as their ethical, cultural and pedagogical implications. Moderated by Pere Almeda, director of the Institut Ramon Llull, the event will feature presentations by Nicky Hockly, director of pedagogy at The Consultants-E, and Ares Llop Naya, linguist and professor at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC).

At noon, the second roundtable, titled “Cultural Dialogue and the Role of Cultural Institutes in a World in Conflict,” will take place. This session will focus on how cultural institutes can promote culture as a tool for cohesion, sustainable development, and peacebuilding, particularly wherein socio-political conflicts abound. The discussion will be moderated by EUNIC President Kirsten van den Hul and will include contributions from Nikita Dhawan, Professor of Political Theory and History of Ideas at Dresden University of Technology, and Volodymyr Sheiko, Director General of the Ukrainian Institute.

Irene Larraza´s participation in this international forum highlights the Etxepare Basque Institute’s dedication to promoting the Basque language and culture worldwide, as well as its active engagement in international cultural networks. Participation in this meeting also underscores the role of minority languages and non-hegemonic cultural identities in the current global debate on diversity, sustainability and cooperation.

Organised by EUNIC Barcelona, this event is also part of the celebrations for the European Day of Languages, which aims to promote linguistic diversity and language learning across Europe.

Euskadi at MONDIACULT 2025

The Etxepare Basque Institute´s involvement in this programme adds to the Basque Country´s broader institutional participation in MONDIACULT 2025, UNESCO´s World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development, to be held in Barcelona from September 29 to October 1, 2025.

On September 27, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Culture and Language Policy, Ibone Bengoetxea, led the Basque delegation and participated at the international plenary session “Why We Need a Culture Goal Now”. In that forum, she advocated for the inclusion of culture as a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) in the post-2030 international development agenda and presented the so-called Goal 18, a pioneering initiative of the Basque Government devoted to cultural and linguistic diversity, developed in collaboration with UN Etxea, social partners and various institutions.

The Deputy Minister for Culture, Andoni Iturbe, also participated in the session on  September 26 dedicated to legislative frameworks surrounding cultural rights, alongside representatives from the Canary Islands, Catalonia and Navarra.

In addition, the Basque Country will host an official side event entitled ‘Culture in the Global Agenda: Localisation, Diversity, Community’, co-organised by the Basque Government and UN Etxea. This meeting will focus on how the 2030 Agenda is implemented at the local level, emphasizing the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity. It will feature prominent international speakers, including representatives from Wales, Hawaii, and the United Nations Local 2030 Coalition.

By participating in MONDIACULT 2025, the Basque Country aims to boost its international profile and showcase its approach to sustainable human development, where culture and identity are central to public policy. Culture, understood as a driver of cohesion, equity and sustainability, is thus presented as a central theme in global debates on the future.

MONDIACULT 2025: a key event for global culture

Organised by UNESCO, MONDIACULT 2025 will bring together more than a hundred cultural leaders, international institutions and cultural actors in Barcelona to update the global cultural agenda. This is the second edition of this conference following the milestone event in 2022, where culture was recognised as a ‘global public good’.

Over the course of the three-day conference, speakers will discuss current trends, challenges, and opportunities in the sector. The event will also present the first publication of the World Report on Cultural Policies, providing an evaluation of how culture influences all aspects of development.