On 11 July 2024, the Dance and the Child international Ljubljana Declaration was signed at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. The declaration was proposed by Dance and the Child International (daCi) under the auspices of the Slovenian National Commission for UNESCO.
The declaration was signed during the sixteenth Dance and the Child International I – BODY, I – DANCE conference, which took place in Ljubljana from 7 to 12 July 2024. The signatories of the declaration were the Minister of Culture Dr Asta Vrečko (Slovenia), the Minister of Education Dr Darjo Felda (Slovenia), daCi Chair Dr Jeff Meiners (Australia) and the conference convenor from the Faculty of Education and future daCi Chair Dr Vesna Geršak (Slovenia).
The declaration emphasises the importance of dance education and creative movement in education and refers to the Framework for Arts and Cultural Education adopted by Education and culture ministers from around the world at the UNESCO World Conference in Abu Dhabi in February 2024.
The Dance and the Child international Ljubljana Declaration refers to the principles of inclusion, equality and human rights. It calls for respect for the diversity of cultures, plural identities and cultural expressions and for the promotion of intercultural and intergenerational dialogue and lifelong learning. It provides a framework for dance education and forms the basis for the daCi Strategic Plan 2024-2027.
Dance and the Child international Ljubljana Declaration
1. We the delegates and national representatives of Dance and the Child international (daCi), meeting in Ljubljana, 7 to 12 July 2024, propose this Dance and the Child international Ljubljana Declaration as per the following statutes:
1.1 We recall the UNESCO Constitution affirming that the wide diffusion of culture, and the education of humanity for justice and liberty and peace are indispensable to the dignity of humanity. We also recall Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, asserting that “everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.”
1.2 We note commitments made by the international community for culture and arts education, notably enshrined in relevant UNESCO international Conventions, Recommendations, Declarations and initiatives in the fields of education and of culture, as well as the three World Conferences on Arts Education in Lisbon in 2006 in Seoul in 2010 and in Abu Dhabi in 2024 whose respective documents, the Road Map for Arts Education, the Seoul Agenda: Goals for the Development of Arts Education and the UNESCO Framework for Culture and Arts Education (CLT-ED/WCCAE2024/1) laid the foundations for addressing challenges and articulating shared and evolving understandings of culture and education and fostering policy and dialogue.
1.3 We recognize that education systems must be strengthened and transformed by taking decisive steps in order to rethink the purpose, content and delivery of education to promote equity and inclusion, quality and relevance, as echoed in United Nations efforts, such as the Education 2030: Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action for the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 and the Transforming Education Summit (2022).
1.4 We also recognize that culture and the arts are integral to the holistic and inclusive development, resilience, and overall well-being of individuals and societies. Culture is at the heart of what makes us human, and provides the foundation of our values, choices and relationships with one another and with nature, endowing us with critical thinking, a sense of identity, and the ability to respect and embrace otherness. We further recognize that the arts play a vital role in the flourishing of human imagination, creativity and self-expression, which nurtures exploration, curiosity, and expands the possibilities of creation, while opening up social and economic prospects for all learners, particularly in the cultural and creative industries.
1.5 We recall that on 10 July, 2015, the occasion of the Dance and the Child International conference, ‘Twist and Twin: Exploring Identities in Dance’, the daCi Executive Council, Congress participants, and with respect to the Danish National Commission for UNESCO 2014-2017 Strategy, adopted ‘The Copenhagen Declaration’ providing a dance agenda for young people and educators across the globe; that on 12 July 2018, the occasion of the World Joint Dance Congress between Dance and the Child International and the World Dance Alliance, ‘Panpapanpalya: Dance, Gathering Generations, Learning,’ the daCi and WDA Executive Councils, with Congress participants, youth delegates of the congress, and with respect to the Australian National Commission for UNESCO 2016-2020 Strategy adopted ‘The Adelaide Declaration’ providing strategies for accessible and inclusive dance education across the globe.
1.6 We endorse the UNESCO Framework for Culture and Arts Education grounded on a humanistic and empowering vision of culture and education, and we support the implementation of the Framework by its Member States and Associate Members, notably by providing operational guidance, as relevant; undertaking advocacy and facilitating policy dialogue, knowledge sharing and standard setting, as relevant; convening global, regional, national and civil society stakeholders for the implementation of the Framework; and monitoring progress towards the strategic goals.
1.7 Recognizing the shared responsibility of researchers, practitioners, learners, policy makers in arts education and education for sustainable development and the capacity of arts education to effect social and cultural change.
2. Dance and the Child International (daCi):
2.1 Calls upon dance and all educators to foster learners’ inclusion and equity in and through dance education in formal, informal and non-formal contexts;
2.2 Calls upon dance and all educators to be guided by human rights, be responsive to global challenges, and foster global and local citizenship;
2.3 Calls for dance education curriculum and pedagogies that respect diverse cultures and a plurality of identities and cultural expressions;
2.4 Calls for dance and all educators to promote intercultural and intergenerational dialogue for lifewide and lifelong learning;
2.5 Calls upon dance educators and all educators to provide dynamic, creative, safe spaces and opportunities for all learners to engage in, about and through dance, developing skills to shape resilient, just and sustainable futures;
2.6 Calls upon dance and all educators to promote interdisciplinarity through the integration of creative movement as a learning approach for teaching academic subjects;
2.7 Calls upon dance and all educators to broaden concepts of dance learning environments and to develop partnerships with museums, galleries, dance companies, and local community organizations;
2.8 Calls upon dance and all educators to advocate for all learners to be taught by professional, competent, committed, and well supported teachers at all levels of education who are able to respond to diverse learning needs;
2.9 Calls upon dance and all educators to promote peer-to-peer learning;
2.10 Calls upon dance and all educators to support the creative, ethical, and critical use of digital technologies that respects diversity and that enables participation;
2.11 Calls for research that may empower teachers at all levels of education to better provide dance education and support evidence-based policy making, implementation and advocacy;
2.12 Declares its intention to actively promote the shared goals of arts education and education for sustainable development in cooperation with UNESCO. Proclaimed in Ljubljana, 11 July 2024, on the occasion of the Dance and the Child International Conference ‘I-body I-dance’ in consultation with the daCi Executive Council, Conference participants and with respect to the Slovenian National Commission for UNESCO´s support for the UNESCO Framework for Culture and Arts Education.