Cultural relations work plays an essential and often overlooked role in climate action. Through networked action at international level, collaboration between EUNIC members at cluster level, and through people-to-people connection and relationship building with local organisations and communities, international cultural relations work contributes to innovative, inclusive and locally-grounded climate responses and solutions.

EUNIC has worked to articulate and demonstrate this intersection in a recent publication. This new body of work was initially developed to support EUNIC members engaging in the COP30 in Belém, Brazil, and is also intended to support members more broadly in demonstrating not only why cultural relations matter for climate action, but how they contribute in practice.

Explore the full body of work here.

The resource sets out 10 key ways in which international cultural relations support meaningful climate action. Each is illustrated with concrete examples from EUNIC-supported projects led by EUNIC clusters working in diverse local contexts around the world.

10 ways international cultural relations contribute to climate action:

1 - Connecting on an emotional level and expressing the urgency of the climate crisis

2 - Observing, understanding, and processing the world around us

3 - Engaging underrepresented communities and amplifying diverse voices on climate topics

4 - Shifting attitudes on environmental issues and transforming how we live

5 - Sparking hope and empowering people to take climate action

6 - Building community and collaborative approaches to the climate crisis

7 - Platforming local knowledge and traditional sustainable practices

8 - Creating space for mutual learning and skills development required for climate action

9 - Bringing local perspectives into the global climate conversation

10 - Imagining possible futures and alternative ways of doing

What this body of work does:
• Demonstrates the essential role of international cultural relations in climate action
• Makes the case for the unique power of networked cultural action in shaping a sustainable future
• Maps EUNIC’s recent climate journey, from the ClimateCulture(s) Creative Lab in Berlin to coordinated engagement at COP30 in Brazil
• Sets out 10 ways in which international cultural relations support climate action
• Provides concrete examples from EUNIC-supported cultural relations projects around the world

This publication marks just one milestone in EUNIC’s wider climate journey - further information on EUNIC’s climate work and additional resources can be found on the Sustainability section of the website.