“Can humanity survive if the diverse ways of life, knowledge and aspirations existing around the world, which imply diverse paths towards sustainability, are not properly acknowledged?” — Mayors’ Declaration on Cultural Rights
From 26 September to 1 October 2025, Barcelona hosted the UNESCO’s World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development — also known as MONDIACULT 2025 — the largest world summit on culture, from now on held every four years. The Conference coincided with the “1925–2025 Centenary of Cannabis Prohibition” memorial date of 29 September.
The Cannabis Embassy coordinated the action of allied civil society stakeholders from around the world, bringing the joint message of grassroots cannabis communities: Cannabis-related cultural practices are part of a living and diverse Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). After 100 years of prohibition and bio-cultural erasure, the time has come to safeguard and uphold traditional & legacy living cannabis cultures.
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On 26–28 September, ahead of the official UNESCO MONDIACULT 2025 conference, the Civic Agora – Cultura y Ciudadanía brought together +8000 attendees including NGO representatives, intellectuals, researchers, artists, cultural actors, government representatives, and UN experts (among them, Alexandra Xanthaki, the UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights).
On 28 September, the Cannabis Embassy and its partners launched the “Living Cannabis Cultures” campaign, during a parallel event to MONDIACULT 2025 and the Civic Agora. The discussion reviewed specific elements of cannabis-related cultural practices in seven countries, featuring the following panelists:
- Catalonia (Spain): Hemp as Heritage and Popular Culture in Catalonia: 7000 Years of Cultivation, 10 Centuries of Smoked Hash — Kenzi Riboulet-Zemouli (FAAAT-FDM; Catalonia)
- France: Living Cannabis Cultures in the Country of the “Chanvre Narcotique” (France) — Florent Buffière (NORML France / UCáñamo; France / Peru)
- Sweden: From Ancient Viking Cultivation to Modern Prohibition (Sweden) — Jay “Slimte” (Sweden / Catalonia)
- Southern Italy: Cannabis Culture & Nature: Journey to the Land of the “calabrese rossa” and other Italian landraces — Marco Renton (La Crème Gràcia; Catalonia / Italy)
- Japan: Cannabis Traditions, Religion, and Rituals — Sébastien Béguerie (FAAAT-FDM / Alpha-Cat; Marseille / Czechia)
- South Africa: Between Afrikaners and Zulus: Multicultural Cannabis in a Megadiverse country — Ami Heysek (Fields of Green for ALL; South Africa) — online.
- Academic perspective: Participative Processes of Intangible Cultural Heritage Documentation by Cannabis-related Communities — Lila Torre (Universidad de La Plata, Chair on Intangible Cultural Heritage: Memories and Social Collectives; Argentina) — online.
During the Civic Agora, dozens of Sustainable Cannabis Policy Toolkits were distributed to participants, as well as leaflets “Living Cannabis Cultures” — introducing the four ongoing consultative processes started on local cannabis-related intangible cultural heritage (Chile, Catalonia, France, South Africa).
As the Civic Agora closed, the Barcelona Declaration on Cultural Rights was adopted by participants; building over the Fribourg Declaration, the Barcelona Declaration not only emphasised cultural rights as human rights in and of themselves, but also the cultural dimension of other human rights. A declaration of Mayors and local authorities from around the world was also adopted. These two declarations strongly reaffirm the importance of safeguarding cultural rights, particularly for cultural diversity and minority cultural practices, and the role of civil society and local governance in the process:
“Culture is a common good, which requires protection and sharing. Cultural diversity goes hand in hand with Universal human rights and fundamental freedoms. Culture can only enable sustainable development if every person can fully exercise their human rights, free from discrimination, and leaving no one and no place behind.” – Mayors and other local authorities
Together with the MONDIACULT 2025 outcome document, the Barcelona Declaration and other outcome of discussions held during the Civic Agora provide an essential normative framework and policy guidance to inform Cannabis policy reform, as well as strategic tool for communities to reclaim their heritage and protect their lives and cultures at the local level.
