On April 28, 2022, On April 28, 2022, ICCSD held the Third Session of the First Advisory Committee in the form of an online dialogue on the "cloud".

The meeting introduced the basic information of ICCSD's annual work, announced the new members of the First Advisory Committee, and discussed the strategic planning at the next stage. Members and participants focused on diverse creative approaches to equitable recovery and low-carbon development as COVID-19 infections gradually started leveling off.

The meeting was hosted by Hans d'Orville, Chairman of Advisory Committee of ICCSD and Former Assistant Director-General for Strategic Planning of UNESCO. Xiao Lan, Executive Director of ICCSD, delivered an important speech. Twelve experts and scholars from different countries were present and gave keynote speeches, including Dechen Tsering, Regional Director and Representative, Asia and the Pacific Office, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Mei Song, Chief Expert of the Beijing Academy of Cultural Industry Development, Mehri Madarshahi, President of Global Cultural Networks, and Former Senior Economist and Management Analyst, UN Secretariat, Guan Chenghua, Professor of Beijing Normal University (BNU) and Dean of China Institute of Innovation and Development, BNU, Charles Landry, Founder of the Creative City concept, Li Youwen, Associate Professor of Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) and Vice Dean of Academy of Regional and Global Governance, BFSU, Geir Orderud, Senior Researcher, OsloMet, Oslo Metropolitan University, Institute for Urban and Regional Research, Wen Chunying, Dean and Professor for School of Foreign Studies, Communication University of China, and Director for the Center of City Branding, Yang Baozhen, Expert for International Projects of China Women's Development Foundation and Former Chinese Consul to France, and Zhang Xiaoming, Researcher of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and Vice Director of China National Center for Culture Studies.  

Xiao Lan, Executive Director of ICCSD, noted that with the gradual recovery of economic, production and social activities, we must once again examine the relationship between development and the environment, and the relationship between development and equity. The pandemic has varying impacts on different social groups, geographical regions and economic sectors. Workers in tourism, retail and manufacturing have been hit hard by the pandemic, with women and young people seeing a particularly sharp drop in income, while workers in the informal economy face greater barriers in applying for grants and benefits. Xiao Lan believed that we should talk more about an inclusive, sustainable and resilient people-centered recovery. In this special period, ICCSD hopes to fully play its role as a bridge of cross-cultural communication, better publicize and promote the concept of creative sustainable development, contribute its ideas to achieving equitable recovery and low-carbon development.

At the meeting, Hans d'Orville, Chairman of Advisory Committee of ICCSD and Former Assistant Director-General for Strategic Planning of UNESCO, announced the appointment of three experts as the new members of the Advisory Committee, namely Yang Baozhen, Expert for International Projects of China Women's Development Foundation and Former Chinese Consul to France, Wen Chunying, Dean and professor for School of Foreign Studies, Communication University of China, and Director for the Center of City Branding, and Li Youwen, Associate Professor of Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) and Vice Dean of Academy of Regional and Global Governance, BFSU.

Hans d'Orville reviewed in detail ICCSD's main work over the past year, noting that ICCSD has conducted diverse work and achieved fruitful results, continuing to promote publicity and exchange, investigation and research, international cooperation. For example, it has consolidated and expanded the multi-media matrix including ICCSD website and WeChat public platform, continuously enhanced its communication capacity, influence and authority in the creative field, published more than 50 articles of cutting-edge ideas on the creative industry, organized the compilation of the Chinese version of the 2021 Application Guidelines for the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) and professional journals, provided flexible solutions for promoting sustainable development, held eight thematic salons and six exhibitions to demonstrate the best practices in creative economy and sustainable development. Moreover, ICCSD has extensively participated in industry seminars and innovative activities, deepened cooperation and contact with relevant enterprises, in order to boost industrial development empowered by the creative economy.

Please click The Third Session of the First Advisory Committee.pdf to view the newsletter of this issue.