The implementation of the UNESCO Culture|2030 Indicators was officially launched in Barbados during a kick-off workshop held from 19 to 21 November 2025 in Bridgetown. The workshop was organized by the Division of Culture, Prime Minister’s Office of Barbados, in close collaboration with UNESCO, thanks to the financial contribution of the European Union.
The workshop aligned with UNESCO’s commitment to advocating for the essential role of culture in sustainable development, and brought together 65 participants, including representatives from local and national institutions, academics from the University of the West Indies, and other key stakeholders and competent entities whose work is informed by culture and heritage.
The conceptual and methodological framework, developed with the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, aims to assess culture both as a sector of activity and also as a transversal enabler across multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and policy areas, measuring and monitoring the contribution of culture to the national and local implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
The methodology, involving 22 indicators across several thematic dimensions, seeks to make culture visible in development processes while providing a comprehensive thematic overview, strengthen advocacy and policy messaging, informing national and local decision-making, enhancing knowledge-building, and monitoring progress on culture’s relevance for the SDGs.
Through a series of structured technical discussions and participatory exercises, stakeholders were able to assess the feasibility of indicators measurement and evaluated the availability and adequacy of required data inputs and clarified institutional roles and responsibilities for data collection and reporting, which led to the implementation of the first data mapping.
During the workshop, national and local implementation teams, together with the UNESCO regional expert, defined the project work plan and contributed to a preliminary policy review. The initiative enabled the development of context-appropriate hybrid definitions, adapting indicator concepts to local institutional and data realities while preserving international comparability.