UNESCO expands its support for sustainable cultural and creative industries (CCIs) in the digital environment. With contributions from France, Canada and the government of Quebec, projects from 14 different countries will receive national and regional technical assistance to be carried out in 2025 and 2026.
Anuvith premakumarAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
18 June 2025Last update:15 October 2025
" In the digital age, policies for cultural and creative industries are not just a necessity. They are a commitment to safeguarding diversity, empowering creators, and ensuring equitable access to culture. "
UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture, Ernesto Ottone R.
This new phase of UNESCO’s proramme “CCIs in the digital environment” will provide targeted support to each beneficiary: Lesotho and Malawi will work towards integrating the CCIs in the digital environment in their cultural policies, whereas Mozambique intends to revise the copyrights law to reflect the realities of the digital environment. Moldova and Peru will produce guidelines for public cultural organizations and professionals so that they can fully benefit from opportunities in the digital environment. In the Central America region, guidelines for policy measures for artificial intelligence will be elaborated through the intergovernmental regional organization CECC-SICA.
UNESCO received over 25 project proposals following a call launched in December 2024. Projects were evaluated by a group of independent experts from each region, with priority given to Africa, as well as projects focusing on youth and gender equality. This programme is a concrete follow-up to the request of Parties to the UNESCO 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions to operationalize the Open roadmap for the implementation of the 2005 Convention in the digital environment. This renewed effort also responds to the recent Recommendations of the UNESCO expert reflection group on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions in the digital environment.
The CCIs are major drivers of economic development and social cohesion. However, the digital transition has presented various challenges and opportunities for cultural and creative industries and cultural diversity, notably with the use of Artificial Intelligence. As reported in Re|shaping policies for creativity: addressing culture as a global public good, the digital environment has transformed the CCI value chain drastically. While artists and creators can reach global audiences, they also face challenges such as digital piracy and inadequate compensation as they share their work through digital platforms. Guided by the 2005 Convention, governments are working to develop laws, policies, strategies and measures to protect and promote the CCIs in the digital environment.
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