ICOR  international
 ICOR  council of museums RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY ICOM'S 34th GENERAL ASSEMBLY Kyoto, Japan 2019
Resolution No.1
“On sustainability and the implementation of Agenda 2030, Transforming our World” Considering humanity’s current demands on the planet are unsustainable; the planet and all its inhabitants, human and non-human are facing an entangled series of unprecedented environmental and societal crises, the impacts of which: rising inequality, wars, poverty, climate change and loss of biodiversity, are serving to amplify these crises. Recognizing the members of the United Nations have unanimously agreed to implement Agenda 2030, Transforming our World, to address the crises and to initiate the creation of pathways to a sustainable future. Understanding that museums, as trusted sources of knowledge, are invaluable resources for engaging communities and are ideally positioned to empower the global society to collectively imagine, design and create a sustainable future for all, The 34th General Assembly recommends that ICOM, its Committees, Alliances, Affiliated Organisations and Secretariat: • recognise that all museums have a role to play in shaping and creating a sustainable future through our various programmes, partnerships and operations; endorse the urgent call by ICOM’s Working Group on Sustainability for . museums to respond through rethinking and recasting their values, missions, and strategies; become familiar with, and assist in all ways possible, the goals and . targets of the UN SDGs and use the 2030 'Transforming our World' Agenda as the guiding framework to incorporate sustainability into our own internal and external practices and educational programming; and empower ourselves, our visitors and our communities through making . positive contributions to achieving the goals of Agenda 2030, Transforming Our World; acknowledging and reducing our environmental impact, including our carbon footprint, and helping secure a sustainable future for all inhabitants of the planet: human and non-human. NB: Drafted from a recommendation submitted by ICOM Norway and ICOM United Kingdom. Resolution No. 2 “Commitment to the Integration of Asia
into the ICOM Community”
Asia is a vast continent marked by diversity. Many of its countries and regions are multilingual with multi-ethnic populations and more than one religion. Asia's cultural heritage is accordingly rich and varied, reflecting manifold circumstances and histories. Some Asian countries have experienced colonization in their recent or distant past. The museums found in Asia include not only well-established institutions but also numerous newly constructed facilities. While helping to bring museums to more Asian regions than ever before, this increase has been unavoidably accompanied by inconsistent levels of experience in museum administration, conservation, collections management, and research. Some Asian museums are sorely lacking in even basic resources and infrastructure; in contrast, others utilize highly sophisticated practices and policies that remain little-known to the outside world due to language barriers or a lack of international interchange. Likewise, museums with Asian holdings in other parts of the world often have limited access to the specialized or traditional knowledge of their Asian colleagues. In order to better integrate Asian countries with the international museum community, the 34th General Assembly recommends that ICOM commits to strengthening mutual understanding among Asian museums while at the same time respects the autonomy, distinctiveness and diversity of the region. More specifically, we recommend the following for supporting further enhancement of museum professionalism: i) the promotion of Asia-related exhibitions in accordance with the 2016 ICOM Milano resolution “Promotion and Protection of Cultural Objects on International Loan"; the creation of more robust Asian art databases and digital content with ii) broad, international reach; iii)  the fostering of international scholarly exchange among specialists within Asia and around the world; and finally, iv)  the establishment of specialist networks with a focus on Asian art and culture, in order to share knowledge and experience and to enrich the presentation of Asian content in museums around the world. NB: Drafted from a recommendation submitted by ICOM Japan and endorsed by ICOM ASPAC, ICOM Bangladesh, ICOM China, ICOM Pakistan and ICOM Mongolia.
Resolution No. 3
“Commitment to the Concept ‘Museums as Cultural Hubs’”
The theme "Museums as Cultural Hubs" is particularly relevant for having been the unifying theme of the 25 th General Conference of ICOM, held in the  same  venue  as  the  1997  Kyoto  Protocol  to  the  United Nations   Framework Convention on Climate Change. The concept of "Cultural Hubs" suggests the role of museums as central axes for the exchange of information that transcends time, be it centuries, political eras, or generations. This long-term conceptual framework fostered a meaningful General Conference with ground breaking discussions on the museum definition, sustainability, and the correlation between museums and local development. "Cultural Hubs" also encompasses the ability of museums to traverse national and geopolitical boundaries. As a concept, it suggests how museums can play a generative role in forging transverse connections across divergent fields. Museums can help us discover the integral relationship between the humanities and the sciences. In this sense, it is highly significant that the discussions at ICOM Kyoto, the third-ever General Conference in East Asia, included such interdisciplinary subjects as disaster risk management and archives. To meet the trans-temporal, trans-national, and trans-disciplinary needs of a new era, the 34th General Assembly recommends that ICOM asserts its commitment to flexible, integrative discourse through an adaptation of the conceptual framework "Museums as Cultural Hubs". NB: Drafted from a recommendation submitted by ICOM Japan and endorsed by ICOM ASPAC, ICOM Bangladesh, ICOM China, ICOM Pakistan and ICOM Mongolia.
Resolution No. 4
“Measures to safeguard and enhance collections in storage throughout the world” The 34 th General Assembly urges ICOM, its National Committees, International Committees, Regional Alliances, Affiliated Organisations and Secretariat; relevant intergovernmental bodies; international and national museum professional associations; national institutions responsible for museums; national and international conservation institutions; museum directors; and all heritage professionals to: take all measures to reduce risks for collections in . storage  throughout the world. This includes allocating funds and making use of all available tools and methodologies at their disposal, ensuring museums' mission for research, education, and enjoyment by present and future generations; recognise the importance of culture in its various forms in time and space, . and the need to adopt appropriate methods to preserve natural and cultural testimonies, in their diversity, in national and international development policies, in the interest of communities, peoples and countries; reaffirm that different kinds of institutions of memory have a . fundamental value as custodians of heritage, and that their role involves preserving the material characteristics and documentation of their collections for further study, exhibition, and access; consider the fundamental mission of museums, libraries, archives and . other institutions of memory to preserve, produce knowledge and give access to material culture, thereby contributing to the wide diffusion of culture and the education of humanity for justice, freedom and peace; further affirm that the preservation of collections contributes to the . enhancement of human rights, as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; . commit to strengthen the role of Conservation Science and Heritage Science in the production of specialized knowledge for the preservation and conservation of collections in favour of the protection of cultural and  natural heritage, considering their role and related social responsibilities; and . rethink the management of cultural heritage, and in particular the policies, practices and exhibiting criteria of collections stored in deposits. - - - - - - - In addition, ICOM entrusts a Standing Committee with the analysis of the situation of the deposits in museums around the world, conducted with the cooperation of National and International Committees. NB: from a recommendation submitted by ICOM-CC, Drafted ICAMT, COMCOL, ICMS and ICOM Italy and endorsed by ICOM Azerbaijan, ICOM Belgium, ICOM Denmark, ICOM Estonia, ICOM Finland, ICOM France, ICOM Greece, ICOM Latvia, ICOM Lebanon, ICOM  Norway,  ICOM  Romania,  ICOM  Serbia,  ICOM  Slovenia,  ICOM Sweden, ICOM SEE, ICFA, CIPEG, CAMOC, CECA, ICOFOM, COSTUME and UMAC.
Resolution No. 5
“Museums, Communities and Sustainability”
Noting the Declaration of Santiago de Chile (UNESCO, 1973), reconfirming ICOM's Resolutions relating to communities, sustainability and cultural landscapes, and noting that the ICOM Resolution concerning the "extended museum” adopted in Milan in 2016 underlined that museums are more than traditional buildings, collections and established curatorial practices, having value for social, cultural, environmental and economic development, thereby furthering the aims of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, and, The 34th General Assembly recommends ICOM to: ● provide greater recognition of, and support for, the vast number of community-led organisations that do not currently fulfil the ICOM Definition of a Museum (2007) but that further the goals of safeguarding and promoting access to natural, cultural and intangible heritages and their sustainable use for environmental, social and economic development of communities, towards achievement of the UN 2030 goals and climate justice; • remain sensitive to local and regional differences, and demonstrate awareness of the geo-political dimension of the concept of the Museum, especially relating to the resource needs of community-based museums in lower to middle income countries; recognize the value of community-based museums for the promotion of . ICOM, UNESCO and international charter instruments and their values of human rights and peace, and sustainable community development in general, especially in the contexts of indigenous and ethnic minority communities, and in the face of the challenges posed by migration; encourage collaborative work with and between community-based . museums on national and bi-regional levels; contribute to building the capacity of community-based museums and . ecomuseums in their transformative approaches towards sustainable living communities and territorial development and the protection    and    enhancement of cultural landscapes; and strengthen, enable and mobilise ICOM National and International . Committees, as well as Regional Alliances and Affiliated Organisations, to act as mediators for cultural understanding at the community level and between regions to achieve the above goals. NB: Drafted from a recommendation submitted by ICOM Europe and ICOM LAC. MEMBERS OF THE RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE FOR THE 2019 KYOTO GENERAL CONFERENCE Chair: Marlen MOULIOU (Greece) Members: Alec COLES (Australia) Luc EEKHOUT (The Netherlands) Lamia FERSI (Tunisia) Martina LEHMANNOVA (Czech Republic) Luisa de PEÑA (Dominican Republic) José Alberto RIBEIRO (Portugal) Johei SASAKI (Japan) Ex officio Members: Suay AKSOY (ICOM President) Peter KELLER (ICOM Director General)