At #COP30 in Brazil, we proudly presented the Amazon Creative Corridor's agenda.
- Philip Ibrahim Khan
- 7 days ago
- 4 min read
At Center for Advocacy and Global Growth we brought together a group of government agencies, international development cooperation agencies, and civil society organizations.
Together with Fundo do Festival Amazonas de Ópera y Munay Group, we discussed and analyzed key actions that Amazonian cities can take to promote urban development without compromising the rainforest.
We co-organized four working groups of the #AmazonCreativeCorridor at COP30 Brazil on November 11, 12, and 13. The goal was clear: to promote and raise awareness of good practices in the new circular, creative, and sustainable economy.
The first three round tables took place during the conference "Creative Corridor of the Amazon: Culture, Environment, and Resilient Cities" at the Faciola Palace on November 11 and 12.
In the fourth activity, the #corredorcreativoAmazonas joined the roundtable "Living Culture, Living Forest: The Role of the Creative Economy and Sociobiodiversity Chains," a program organized by OEI - Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos
November 11th
The first panel of the day, "The Creative Economy as a Driver of Sustainable Development in the Amazon," made it clear that culture is vital to the creative economy and that the goal is to create culture with personality.
Flávia Furtado, General Coordinator of the Amazon Creative, moderated the discussion. The following participated: Cândido Jeremias, Executive Secretary of Culture and Creative Economy of Amazonas (SEC); Úrsula Vidal, Secretary of State for Culture of Pará (SECULT); Gilmar Pereira da Silva, Rector of the Federal University of Pará (UFPa); and Jean-Paul Ferreira, Vice President of the Territorial Collectivity of French Guiana (CTG).
The roundtable made a strong case for culture as a catalyst for sustainable development and the circular economy, promoting networking and public-private cooperation.
The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) established Culture and the Creative Economy as the fourth pillar of sustainable development, alongside social, economic, and environmental pillars.
In Brazil, cultural and creative activities generate 3.11% of the Brazilian GDP and are responsible for 7.4 million formal jobs, according to data from the Itaú Cultural Observatory for 2023. This does not count the direct and indirect temporary jobs generated.
The sector currently has some 250,000 active companies and institutions.
The second session, "Structuring and financing creative economy and sustainability projects," brought together Cláudia Leitão, Secretary of Creative at the Ministry of Culture (MINC); Vanessa Grazziotin, Executive Director of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO); and Lawrence Sachs, from the External Communications Department of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
The roundtable highlighted the difficulties and obstacles faced by women leaders in the cultural sector. They face challenges accessing decision-makers and being understood as agents of environmental preservation.
November 12th
The second day of the event featured a panel titled "The crisis is cultural." So is the solution!" presented examples of cultural management projects focused on environmental preservation.
Some initiatives are small, but they're making a difference in communities. Ecomuseums and museums are seeking alternatives and redefining their role in this new dynamic of the 21st century.
The panel included the following participants: The panel included the participation of Márcio Tavares, Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Culture. Other participants included Julia Froeder, producer of Virada Sustentável Porto Alegre/Mural del Clima – Festivals and Public Mobilization; Vanda Witoto, President of the Witoto Foundation; Flávia Furtado, General Coordinator of the Amazon Creative Corridor and President-Director of the FFAO; Renata Aguilar, Coordinator of the Amazon Ecomuseum; and Djamila Delannon, professor at the University of French Guiana and co-curator of the Regards Créoles project.
The panel was led by Lucimara Letelier, Director of Regenera Museu – Culture, Museums, Sustainability, and Climate Action.
November 13th
On November 13, the Amazon Creative Corridor took part in the roundtable discussion, "Living Culture, Living Forest." The Role of the Creative Economy and Sociobiodiversity Chains," sponsored by the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI) OEI - Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos.
The panel was expertly moderated by Úrsula Vidal, Secretary of State for Culture of Pará. It included Flávia Furtado (FFAO), Cláudia Leitão (MINC), Cândido Jeremias (SEC Amazonas), Alexander López (CLAD), and Telma Teixeira (OEI Brazil).
The Creative Corridor confidently presented its data, emphasizing its vital role as a structuring climate agent for the urban Amazon, particularly highlighting its impact on urban peripheries.
Secretary Úrsula Vidal recently made this clear when she quoted a statement by the governor of Pará, Helder Barbalho. "At the COP, we have a mantra: there is no climate justice without social justice."
She also presented systematized data from the Pará Secretariat of Culture, emphasizing the need for more indicators in cultural policy management and the creative economy.
Jeremías spoke about the actions of the Amazonas government, such as the Amazonas Opera Festival, and its responsibility for culture and environmental preservation.
Alexander López of CLAD proposed a meeting between finance secretaries and ministers and culture secretaries and ministers to consolidate the understanding of culture as a sustainable climate axis and to ensure that culture can access national and international climate funds.
Úrsula Vidal, Cláudia Leitão, and Telma Teixeira were the first to commit to this mobilization. They suggested that the Amazon Creative Corridor, as a transnational project, invite all the secretaries of culture and economy of Brazil and the countries of the Legal Amazon to a large meeting during the Amazon Opera Festival in Manaus.
Flávia Furtado emphasized: "The Creative Corridor is proposing a new paradigm. It is not about culture imitating industry and planting trees to neutralize its carbon footprint. We are a green industry. We don't dig up the earth to extract minerals or drill for oil at the river's mouth. We are working with the peripheries, promoting social inclusion and boosting the local economy, creating jobs."
Finally, the director of the Amazon Creative Corridor emphasized: "We are offering a real alternative to the ecosystem of destruction."
