The idea of a World Cultural Forum was thrown during a major consultative meeting called by the Ford Foundation in New York, in July 2000. One year later, a second consultative meeting with an even larger participation was called by the Ford Foundation, the Texaco Foundation - USA, the Prince Klaus Fund - Holland, and the Prince of Astoria - Spain, during which the conceptual bases were set for the development of the World Cultural Forum.

The proposal to organize a World Cultural Forum in the city of São Paulo was presented during the III Cultural Market, in December 2001, in Bahia, where, the following year, the I General Meeting of the Forum Organizers was held, during which the concept and structure of the World Cultural Forum were presented.

In 2002, various meetings were held with the State Ministers and high authorities specialized in the field of culture, as well as institutes, foundations, and private companies of Brazil and from all over the world, besides the Secretariats for Culture, and civil society organizations of various parts of the world.

In April 2003, a partnership with the City Secretariat for Culture of São Paulo, the SESC-SP [Social Trade Service], the Rede Brasil de Promotores Culturais, and the Ministry for Culture, besides the Instituto Cultural Casa Via Magia [Cultural Institute] enabled the launching in São Paulo of the World Cultural Forum. The event also gave the opportunity to release folders, postcards; and the site of the event went on air.

In 1998, the UNESCO organized the Intergovernmental Conference On The Cultural Policies for Development in Stockholm. This meeting enabled to set a wide array of recommendations* for the country members, which may be summarized as follows: to make cultural policies become one of the key elements of the development strategy; to promote creativity, and participation in cultural life; to reinforce, ensure, and expand the policy on the protection of cultural patrimony, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, and to promote the cultural industry; to supply information on cultural and linguistic diversity within the communities, and to society as a whole; to further more technical and financial means for the development of culture.

* Final Report - Intergovernmental Conference on Cultural Policies for Development, 30 March - 2 April, 1998
CLT-98/Conf.210/5, 31 of August 1998, Original: English