BOOK Introduction In January of 2010, the organization Creative City/Cultural Transformations, wanting to actively participate in the moment of reconstruction

n being heralded in Rio de Janeiro, began to convene diverse groups to discuss about which environments could encourage imagination, creativity, diversity and entrepreneurial spirit, what conditions could generate, transform or affirm cities as creative cities, and what would be the role of arts and culture in the transformation of organizations, neighborhoods and cities. While we were looking for acting in line with innovative parameters of contemporary politics, which include culture as a fundamental and inseparable dimension of our collective future, faithful to our activities in the field of the performing arts, we felt important to act in the city based on certain competencies that we collectively exercise on stage, transporting them to the scene of the city: System thinking, to understand and appreciate the city as an organic interdependent system; Spatial perception, in order to perceive and establish relations between the assets, the aspirations and the needs of its various collectivities; Knowledge of relational patterns, to optimize connections, engage and inspire collaborative action; and Cultural knowledge, to be able to understand, analyze, and appreciate both the main culture and all of its subcultures. In addition, the recognition that urban practices are structured according to forms of repeated and socially sanctioned behavior justified the possibility of considering any human interaction as performance. After all, the creation of a professional persona, the way one behaves according to or against expected roles in relation to gender and race and, especially, all the practices that shape an individual identity, ultimately create performative social realities. The architect Lewis Mumford (1895-1990) went to the point of proposing the city as a "theatre of social action and an aesthetic symbol of collective unity" and Augusto Boal (1931-2009), dramaturge and performing arts theorist, has left us, in his latest text, a vision which we share: Even unconsciously, human relations are structured in theatrical form. Weddings and funerals are spectacles, as well as everyday rituals: the breakfast, the goodmornings we exchange, the timid courtships and the great passionate conflicts, a senate session or a diplomatic meeting - all is theatre. We are all artists. We are all actors. Being a citizen is not living in society - it is changing it. - Augusto Boal, 2009 Our work immediately resonated worldwide, mainly because other cities around the world understood that Rio was beginning to work on its Agenda 21 for Culture. And we were! In the first International Forum Rio Creative City, held at the Museum of Modern Art - MAM RJ, in October 2010, the last day was dedicated to the proposal of starting a participatory process of creation of an Agenda 21 for Culture for the city of Rio de Janeiro. Motivated by the issue of culture as the fourth pillar of sustainability and excited about the repercussion of the Forum, in the following year we continued to search for partnerships and establish local and international dialogues, now more focused on the participatory construction of the Agenda 21 for Culture/RJ. Believing that "the time had come to build a new and coherent paradigm. One in which the different social actors shape together development paths that are sensitive to all the social

issues and recognize them as such", as stated in the document Our Creative Diversity" (UNESCO, 1995), our second Forum, held at MAM RJ, in November 2011, was moved by the deep conviction that culture was the missing link to a strong, flexible, and sustainable development structure. In it, we took a step forward in the collective construction of an Agenda 21 for Culture for the city of Rio de Janeiro. The lectures shared in this book expand the areas of discussion beyond the two Forums we presented, as well as beyond the informal meetings that preceded them (Dialogues 21/ Culture RJ and Dialogues 21 /Arts of Rio), and represent an invitation for each reader to take responsibility to rethink these issues, incorporating them in everyday life, through simple practices and within the reach of anyone, practices which will lead to a kind of development that allows citizens of today and tomorrow to have the opportunity to fully exercise their potential, thus creating a better futures for all. We thank all the speakers who contributed to our meetings with their reflections, which are now included in this first book-invitation. Not all lectures are presented here, but we believe that the fundamental issues are exposed and already can serve as a motivation for multiple unfoldings. We also thank all of our partners, who understand culture as an important dimension for development, and for our city to be recognized by its beautiful cultural landscapes. Regina Miranda President, Forum Rio Creative City