On May 28, 2025, the conference "Localizing the Sustainable Development Goals through Museums and Libraries III" took place via livestream from the Lviv Culture Hub in Ukraine. The event focused on peace within local communities as a cornerstone of sustainable development.
Since 2020, the conference series "Localizing the Sustainable Development Goals through Museums and Libraries” has been jointly organized by the Latvian Museum Association, the Latvian Library Association, and the Latvian National Commission for UNESCO. In 2025 it was organized with the support of the Lviv Culture Hub. The goal of this initiative is to strengthen the role of museums and libraries in fostering community resilience and contributing to sustainable development.
From its beginning, the project has been supported by the UNESCO Participation Programme and is based on cooperation among non-governmental organizations representing museums and libraries in the Baltic States, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.
The May 28 conference focused on three main themes:
- peacebuilding through cultural heritage and education,
- the role of museums and libraries in community resilience,
- peacebuilding through heritage before, during and after conflict.
The conference was opened with remarks by Ernesto Ottone, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture; Agnese Lāce, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Latvia and President of the Latvian National Commission for UNESCO; and Mariana Betsa, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and President of the Ukrainian National Commission for UNESCO, and Iryna Kulynych, Deputy Mayor of Lviv for Humanitarian Affairs. All speakers emphasized the crucial role of cultural and memory institutions in strengthening local communities’ sense of belonging, identity, and resilience. Mariana Betsa highlighted, in particular, Ukraine’s struggle to protect its cultural heritage under wartime conditions and called on other nations to support Ukraine in this critical area of conflict as well.
Keynote presentations were delivered by international experts. Linda Norris (founder of Creative Futures) and Peggy Nzomo (International Library Initiatives Specialist- Senior Associate at the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs, University of Illinois) provided comprehensive insights into the global contributions of museums and libraries in promoting peace and community resilience. Maria Rita Acetoso (Senior Project Officer at the UNESCO Antenna in Kyiv) and Ihor Poshyvailo (General Director, National Museum of Revolution of Dignity (Maidan Museum), Co-Founder of Agency for Cultural Resilience) presented Ukrainian initiatives focused on both protecting heritage during war and using it to strengthen and unite communities.
Museum and library professionals from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine shared their experiences implementing projects in which memory institutions act as agents of positive social change – even under conditions of war and occupation. Several presentations addressed the war in Ukraine, highlighting how museums and libraries have deliberately adapted their roles not only within Ukraine but also in neighboring countries.
The conference was moderated by Diana Walters, a heritage consultant with extensive experience in peace-building initiatives, and Henry McGhie consultant at Curating Tomorrow, committed to understanding and unlocking the potential of collection-based institutions to contribute to sustainable development.
The recording of the conference is available on the Latvian Museum Association's YouTube channel. The full recording is not available due to significant technical difficulties at the beginning of the livestream.
Presentations by the conference speakers can be accessed here.
The conference conclusion document, summarizing the key insights and reflections of participants, is available here.
The conference was part of the project “Fostering peaceful and resilient communities through museums and libraries”, supported by the UNESCO Participation Programme 2024–2025. As part of the project, a webinar series led by Diana Walters and Henry McGhie will take place in autumn 2025, offering training for museum and library professionals on developing peace-building initiatives tailored to their local communities.
For more information contact:
Inga Surgunte, Latvian Museum Association
E: inga.surgunte@skaidrs.org
