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It is no coincidence that the Sustainable Development Goal 17 focuses on partnerships. Rather, it is an explicit recognition that sustainable development cannot be achieved in isolation. Collaboration across countries, sectors, and stakeholders is essential to mobilize resources, share knowledge, and build collective capacity. In many ways, SDG 17 is the “glue” that binds the other 16 Goals. Just as progress in one area of the 2030 Agenda reinforces progress in others, no single actor—be it governments, corporations, or civil society—can meet global challenges on their own.

At Charlotte in red, the role of artists and creatives in this context is particularly significant. It is precisely this conviction that gave birth to our initiative “The Art of Change – Creatives (on the) Move”.

Partnerships at the Heart of Sustainable Development

The recognition of creativity’s role is not new. In 2021, the United Nations declared the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development, underscoring that creativity is not only cultural but also economic and developmental. Positioned as a strategic sector for the SDGs—especially in the wake of COVID-19—the creative economy was framed as a driver of economic growth, gender equality, and social inclusion.

Yet while valuable, this framing primarily emphasized creativity’s economic and labor dimensions. At Charlotte in red we sought to go further: to position artists and creatives as full-fledged partners in the ecosystems of change needed to tackle sustainability challenges holistically.

Why Creativity Matters for the 2030 Agenda

But what does it actually mean to build an ecosystem of impact, and how can creativity play a role?

An ecosystem can be understood as a network of diverse actors—people, organizations, institutions, technologies, and policies—working together in mutually reinforcing ways. While Impact translates into positive, measurable change, ideally aligned with the SDGs.

Thus, building ecosystems of impact is about cultivating the conditions in which stakeholders can co-create, experiment, and scale solutions that no single player could achieve independently.

Core elements of such ecosystems include:

• Multi-stakeholder collaboration: NGOs, corporations, governments, artists, academia, and communities each bring distinct strengths—resources, creativity, knowledge, and legitimacy.
• Shared purpose and alignment: A unifying vision (climate neutrality, circular economy, or the SDGs themselves) creates synergies rather than siloed efforts.
• Infrastructure and platforms: Whether physical hubs, incubators, or digital networks, these spaces allow collaboration to flourish and ensure measurement, transparency, and accountability.
• Finance and resources: Blended finance models—public, private, philanthropic—are essential for scalability and long-term sustainability.
• Scalability and replication: Pilot projects must be nurtured but also embedded systemically so that successful solutions spread regionally or globally.
• Culture and creativity: Perhaps the most underestimated element, this “glue” helps build identities, shift narratives, and inspire collective ownership of change.

Artists as Catalysts for Change: Learning from Precedents

History offers powerful reminders of how cultural production can change the trajectory of global challenges. For example, the artist collective Gran Fury, active from the late 1980s, was instrumental in shaping the public discourse on HIV/AIDS. As the artistic branch of ACT UP, their striking visual campaigns—like the widely circulated “Kissing Doesn’t Kill” posters—disrupted stigma and forced decision-makers to confront the crisis. By blending art with activism, they blurred the boundaries between cultural expression and public health advocacy, ultimately contributing to policy reforms, faster drug approvals, and increased funding for research.

More recently, initiatives such as those launched by ART 2030, a Danish non-profit, continue to showcase the power of creativity within the 2030 Agenda. Their project “Future Ours” (2024) placed thought-provoking works by artists such as Otobong Nkanga and Maya Lin across New York and the UN Headquarters, sparking reflection during the UN Summit of the Future. Another project, “Interspecies Assembly” (2021), saw the collective SUPERFLEX project climate and ocean-related art on the UN building itself, merging ecological narrative with cultural intervention.

These examples demonstrate how artistic interventions can shift perception, inspire empathy, and create political momentum—all vital components of societal change.

“It is important to take action and to realize that we can make a difference, and this will encourage others to take action and then we realize we are not alone and our cumulative actions truly make an even greater difference. This is how we spread the Light. And this, of course, makes us all even more hopeful.”- Jane Goodall

When Art Meets Business: Inspiring Partnerships

Equally compelling are examples where creatives partner directly with corporations, financial institutions, or galleries to drive systemic change.

Take Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres Tour, where a collaboration with BMW produced the first-ever mobile rechargeable concert battery. By innovating around LED technologies and touring logistics, the partnership cut CO₂ emissions by half, setting a new industry standard for sustainable live music.

Similarly, Hauser & Wirth Gallery aligned its operations with Agenda 2030 sustainability goals and collaborated with renowned artist Jenny Holzer on limited editions, directing proceeds toward climate-focused NGOs. This illustrates how commercial galleries—often seen primarily as cultural intermediaries—can shape sustainability patterns within their industry.

These cases reinforce why artists, corporations, and financiers must work hand in hand. Together they can:

• Push the boundaries of innovation while ensuring feasibility and scalability.
• Build public trust by linking cultural integrity with corporate commitments.
• Integrate sustainability’s technical, cultural, and political dimensions.

The Art of Change – A Project in Motion

It is this conviction—that artists and creatives are essential partners for systemic change—that drives our flagship project, “The Art of Change – Creatives (on the) Move.”

The project documents female[1] artists across global cities who contribute to the achievement of one or more SDGs. Each edition highlights three local artists through a short documentary, followed by a public roundtable discussion where artists and business leaders explore collaboration opportunities.

Our objectives are threefold:

1. Showcase the work of artists to a wider audience through freely accessible documentaries, inspiring others by example.
2. Launch a broader debate on the importance of integrating the creative sector into impact ecosystems.
3. Catalyze collaborations between artists, corporate leaders, and other stakeholders by creating a growing international network committed to co-creation.

Central to this mission is the power of dialogue. Too often, sectors understand challenges only from their own vantage point. By creating spaces for honest conversations, The Art of Change promotes positive “activism” or “artivism”—an approach that aims at bridging differences without deepening polarization.

[1] Charlotte in red’s work is focusing on female artists as part of their charter