The Potential of Creativity in a Local Agenda 21 Process

Experiences from Vienna`s Zentrum Favoriten

Abstract

In scientific debates and international documents on sustainable development, creativity, art, and culture hardly play any role. Consequently, in the Local Agenda 21 framework on strengthening civil society initiatives creative forms of expression are not mentioned. In this article, we explore the process of the Agenda group ‘Favoriten for Girls, Girls for Favoriten’, which successfully increased the visibility of girls in public space. For the success of this initiative, creativity was important in two ways: First, different forms of artistic expression were used, such as music, painting, dance, theatre, e.g., in a creative competition or in different festivities. Second, the exchange between members of the Agenda group, other persons involved in the process as well as people outside the Agenda process enabled forms of co-creation – such as the renaming of a Favoriten square or the decision to build a Girls’ Stage. We conclude that more attention should be paid to the potential of creativity to achieve a sustainable future and that creativity, arts, and culture should be included in future versions of the Agenda 2030 framework.