Day 3
To ensure that all human beings can enjoy prosperous and fulfilling lives and that economic, social, and technological progress occurs in harmony with nature.
Key questions
How can we understand and measure prosperity beyond economic wealth? How can the non-economic value of collections, culture and heritage be measured and communicated, and considered in valuation exercises?
How can collections-based organizations help promote quality education, decent work and economic growth? How can they support sustainable industries, innovation, and infrastructures? How can they promote social justice and a decent standard of living for everyone? How can we ensure that they do not over-serve a high consuming part of society, while leaving under-served people and communities ‘behind’?
Prosperity and Heritage Collections: Moving Beyond GDP in Development
This presentation focuses on the intersection between prosperity and collections. Three milestones are discussed: first, a discussion of the current geopolitical and geoeconomic turbulence and what it means for the United Nations and for those of us working on sustainable development; second, a sketch of how “beyond GDP” thinking is emerging; with lessons from around the planet, from SDGs, but also donut economics, planetary boundaries, multidimensional poverty and well-being and a different conversation about ends and means of progress, third, perhaps most important, a discussion of how cultural heritage and collections will help redefine prosperity in the future.
Chief Economic Advisor and Head of the Inclusive Growth Team, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Mr. Gray Molina is a Bolivian economist and policy specialist who has conducted applied research on poverty and prosperity, fiscal policy and political economy reforms. He currently works on the G20 finance track, addressing global economic trends, debt, and finance for development. He contributed to the UN Secretary-General’s Beyond GDP, SDG Stimulus and International Financial Architecture reform proposals. Mr. Gray Molina earned a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in Politics from the University of Oxford (Nuffield College), a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Economics and Anthropology from Cornell University. He taught public policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA).
12:20 – 12:50 (CEST)
From Collections to Change: How Youth and Communities are Driving Sustainability in African Museums
This presentation will explore how youth-led museum leadership is transforming heritage collections into catalysts for sustainable development across Africa. Through ICCROM’s Youth.Heritage.Africa (YHA) programme, young heritage professionals are reimagining museum collections as tools for community empowerment, innovation, and economic opportunity. It will highlight how cross-sector and cross-border partnerships, driven by youth and local communities are enabling both traditional and unconventional African museums to position collections as living assets for SDG-aligned action, including education, decent work, sustainable communities, and global partnerships. The session will feature initiatives from Iziko Museums of South Africa, showcasing the integration of a youth-led innovation hub and partnerships with unconventional museums, and the Ileret Fossil Footprint Heritage Site in Kenya, which combines citizen science, community engagement, and prehistoric heritage collections to strengthen local livelihoods. These examples demonstrate how creative and community-based approaches can activate collections, connect diverse audiences, and generate lasting social impact.
Programme Officer, Youth.Heritage.Africa, ICCROM
Espéra Donouvossi is a cultural manager currently working as Programme Manager for the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) based in Rome, Italy. With more than 15 years of experiences in managing international cultural projects and programmes in Africa and in Europe, Espéra currently manages the Youth.Heritage.Africa program which goal is to create economic value, invest in social and human capital and foster innovation and creativity within the heritage and creative industries sectors in line with the Sustainable development goals and the African Union 2023 agenda, with a focus on youth and local communities. He holds master degrees in Linguistics, cultural policy and project management and has completed his PhD between Ghana and Germany, exploring participatory approaches in cultural policy design for a more effective protection and promotion for cultural heritage in Benin.
Cultural Wealth: Leveraging Collections and CCIs for Sustainable Development
In 2024, a global survey was carried out to explore what professionals in the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) expect from collection-based organisations (CBOs) and how they can contribute to the preservation, management, and use of cultural collections. The survey gathered 151 responses across all five UNESCO regions, with most participants aged between 31 and 50—an age range representing active professionals from diverse creative fields. The findings highlight the significant educational value of heritage collections, showing how they serve as tools for design students and CCI professionals to engage with the past in critical and imaginative ways, fostering the creation of new meanings and future heritage. Furthermore, the partnership between CBOs and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is seen as a crucial opportunity to test new approaches and encourage concrete actions aligned with the 2030 Agenda. The survey results provide CCIs with insights into how they can strengthen their role as agents of creativity and innovation, enhancing their collaboration with cultural heritage institutions. This presentation shows the key outcomes of the survey and outlines the initial steps taken to design inclusive, impactful cultural and artistic initiatives that actively support sustainable development objectives.
Senior researcher, University of Valencia, Spain
Dr. Mar Gaitán is a senior researcher at the University of Valencia with an interdisciplinary profile. Her work focuses on cultural heritage management, gender studies, and sustainable development. She has worked at institutions such as INAH (Mexico) and ICCROM (Rome), contributing to regional, national, and European projects. Currently, she serves as the technical manager of the EU project Towched, applying her expertise in heritage conservation and protection.
Collections and Māori Prosperity
This presentation explores how heritage collections can play an active role in shaping prosperity – not only in economic terms, but in ways that strengthen cultural vitality, social cohesion, environmental responsibility, and community resilience. Drawing on the recent exhibition Ko Au, Ko Ngāti Whātua – I am Ngāti Whātua at Auckland Museum, the session highlights how iwi-led curation reframes prosperity through four dimensions of wellbeing: cultural, social, economic, and environmental. The case study demonstrates how empowering Indigenous voices in collections work transforms museums from places of preservation into vehicles of intergenerational knowledge transfer, local economic participation, and ecological stewardship. By aligning Indigenous perspectives with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, this talk proposes a broader, more meaningful definition of prosperity – one that values revitalised language, strengthened relationships, and living connections to place. As we look toward Collections 2030 and Beyond, the challenge is to measure prosperity not just by numbers, but by what collections make possible for people, communities, and futures.
Tumuaki Māori, Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland Museum, New Zealand
Te Arepa leads the delivery of strategic Māori projects, activities and outcomes at the Auckland Museum as the Tumuaki Māori (Māori Director). His focus is to grow aspects including the Māori language, Māori protocols and Māori knowledge.
Te Arepa is extremely passionate about te ao Māori (The Māori worldview) and is focussed on being a voice for community and the taonga (treasured items) of his tūpuna within Tāmaki Paenga Hira.
Documenting sustainable prosperity through the Ikorodu Cultural Heritage Trail
The Ikorodu Cultural Heritage Trail exemplifies how heritage collections can drive sustainable prosperity through strategic intersectoral partnerships. This initiative in Ikorodu, Nigeria, integrates cultural preservation with economic and social development, aligning with Agenda 2030’s vision of harmonious progress. By showcasing historic sites, community festivals, traditional crafts, and local narratives, the trail fosters community pride and economic opportunities through sustainable tourism. Collaborative efforts among local stakeholders, diaspora communities, and international organizations have revitalized cultural assets, creating jobs and promoting environmental stewardship. This lightning talk explores how the trail’s model of inclusive governance and community engagement enhances individual and collective prosperity. It highlights innovative approaches, such as digital storytelling and eco-friendly tourism practices, that preserve Ikorodu’s heritage while addressing modern challenges. The presentation proposes scaling this model through cross-sector partnerships, leveraging technology and global networks to amplify impact. By documenting and sharing Ikorodu’s success, we aim to inspire collections-based organizations worldwide to reimagine their role in fostering sustainable development, ensuring cultural heritage catalyzes economic growth, social cohesion, and environmental sustainability.
Co-founder / Managing Director, IGA Nigeria Limited, Nigeria
Mogbolahan Idris Ajala is a Nigerian architect and urban planner with 16+ years’ experience in public infrastructure, cultural tourism, and heritage policy. As Co-Founder/MD of IGA Nigeria Limited, he leads projects integrating heritage preservation with creative economy growth. He advises governments on cultural asset management, tourism design, and UNESCO-aligned partnerships, with a portfolio spanning festivals, heritage trails, and tourism reform across national, state, and community levels.
Harnessing heritage collections for responsible, inclusive and accessible tourism
Heritage collections are at a critical crossroads, where their future depends on building partnerships, fostering innovation, and ensuring long-term sustainability for the prosperity of future generations. This sustainability must place local communities at the center, particularly by engaging traditionally marginalized groups. Tourism plays a key role in this process, yet the survival of heritage collections cannot rely solely on visitor numbers. Like cultural tourism itself, heritage collections must become more inclusive, accessible, and responsible, contributing equally to urban and rural development. UN Tourism has advanced this vision by promoting greater access to heritage collections for people with disabilities and others with specific access requirements, while ensuring that accessibility improvements respect conservation standards. It has also encouraged the recognition of Indigenous peoples’ narratives—often absent or misrepresented in the past—and supported innovative approaches to manage visitor flows and mitigate the risks of the so called “overtourism”. We call for strengthened partnerships to generate research and compendia of good practices, advancing sustainability solutions tailored to diverse heritage collections. These efforts align closely with the ICCROM mandate and highlight the importance of collaborative, inclusive, and forward-looking approaches to safeguard heritage for all.
Coordinator for Accessibility, Cultural Tourism and Indigenous Peoples, UN Tourism
Igor Stefanovic started his career at the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina at the age of 19 in 1998. Igor worked for 7 years in human rights policies, prior to joining UN Tourism in Madrid (known as “UNWTO”) in 2007. With his undergraduate degree in Geography, Masters in Tourism Planning and Masters in Cultural Management, Igor has been coordinating research, guidelines and conferences in the realm of cultural tourism at UN Tourism since 2010, especially in the spheres of intangible cultural heritage, indigenous tourism, creative industries and universal accessibility to monuments and sites. He has closely collaborated with UNESCO in the preparation of two editions of the World Conference on Tourism and Culture and the drafting of the Istanbul and Kyoto Declarations calling for sustainability, shared responsibility and inclusivity in planning and management of cultural tourism. Igor also worked with UNESCO during the pandemic to produce a set of inclusive recovery guidelines geared towards the recovery of the cultural tourism ecosystem. He worked closely with the ICOMOS Cultural Tourism Committee to suggest practical steps in making cultural heritage more accessible for all people. Lastly, Igor was the UN Tourism Lead in the preparation of the Compendia of Indigenous Tourism good practices focused on the Americas (published in 2023), as well as on the Asia and the Pacific regions (to be published by end July 2025).
El fruto de la justicia es la paz
Los tapices elaborados por las mujeres de Mampuján y que se pueden concebir como la colección que dio origen a la necesidad de un museo en el que se conservara la memoria de esta comunidad golpeada por la violencia, pasaron de ser una forma de exorcizar el dolor a obras de arte.
Con sus tapices, las tejedoras de Mampuján han dignificado a las mujeres montemarianas que llevan en sus memorias y cuerpos, las huellas del conflicto y la violencia que azotaron la región, y continúan construyendo maravillosas obras que han participado en exposiciones a nivel nacional e internacional, pero, sobre todo, tapices y museo se han convertido en elementos para el desarrollo socioeconómico de la comunidad. A través de la aplicación de tapices a prendas de vestir bajo el modelo de “moda circular” y comercio justo, al desarrollo de experiencias de turismo cultural en las que se explora el territorio plasmado en la colección del museo y el restaurante que ofrece en su menú la memoria gastronómica del territorio, el Museo de Arte y Memoria de Mampuján se convierte en un modelo de sostenibilidad en el que las colecciones no solo importan, sino que construyen comunidad.
Directora Museo y Lideresa de las Tejedoras de Mampuján, Museo de Arte y Memoria de Mampuján, Colombia
Juana Alicia Ruíz es una mujer afrocaribe, profesora, aunque es mejor definirla como una maestra, lideresa social, defensora de derechos humanos, líder de la sentencia de justicia y paz de Mampuján, ganadora del Premio Nacional de Paz junto al grupo conocido como Tejedoras de Mampuján, conferencista, investigadora de las cocinas tradicionales de los Montes de María, Premio Defensora de Derechos Humanos 2024, otorgado por el Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos y hoy, directora del Museo de Arte y Memoria de Mampuján.
12:50-13:05 (CEST)
13:15 – 14:00 (CEST)
Director, Rwanda Art Museum, Rwanda Cultural Heritage Academy, Rwanda
Vivaldi Ngenzi is the Director of the Rwanda Art Museum under the Rwanda Cultural Heritage Academy. Since 2018, he has led curatorial and administrative work, including major exhibitions, renovations, and the re-installation of the permanent collection. Currently pursuing a Master’s in Cultural Policy and Management at the University of Arts in Belgrade, Ngenzi advocates for Rwanda’s cultural industries and was a 2022 participant in TheMuseumsLab platform.
Coordinator, Culture, Creative Industries and Global Events, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCDE)
Ekaterina Travkina leads cross-country comparable analysis on the economic impact of culture and related policies across the OECD and the OECD contributions to the G20. She has initiated and co-authored major OECD publications, including The Culture Fix: Creative People, Places and Industries, the OECD-ICOM Guide for Local Governments, Communities and Museums, and series of country and city reviews on cultural and creative sectors.
Head of Social and Economic Research, Historic England, UK
Adala Leeson leads a small team of analysts undertaking and commissioning social, economic and environmental research. The team produce the Heritage Counts publication series and work closely with the UKs DCMS on the Culture and Heritage Capital programme. Adala is the Principal Investigator for a AHRC/DCMS funded project developing a taxonomy for arts, culture and heritage. Prior to joining Historic England, Adala worked as an Associate Economic Consultant for 10 years, advising public and private clients. She previously worked in academia as a researcher at the London School of Economics.
President, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
Leslie Weir is the Librarian and Archivist of Canada, leading Library and Archives Canada since August 2019. Leslie is overseeing LAC’s work on Reconciliation with First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation and the implementation of Vision 2030 with a focus on transformation of service and IT infrastructure, as LAC looks forward to the upcoming move of its public services into Ādisōke in 2026, in partnership with the Ottawa Public Library, all in support of achieving LAC’s mandate with a focus on people and access. She is taking on the role of IFLA President in August 2025.
14:10-15:15 (CEST)
15:15-15:30 (CEST)
Collections 2030 and Beyond supports the Sustainable Development Goals