Culture in for and as Sustainable Development

The end of an Action, the beginning of action
We are confident that new research along
such lines will advance this emerging field
of study, and enable culture to play a more
substantial and future-proofed role in achieving
sustainability. The Action has been able
to establish a new book series – ‘Routledge
Studies in Culture and Sustainable Development’
– as a specific outcome of its work.
This will provide a vehicle for dissemination
of the results of future research and will help
to build cohesion within the whole field. The
first three books in the series (see pages
48–49) have been drawn primarily from the
work of the Action and its participants. We
have also already established a pilot on-line
MA in this subject, which we hope will inspire
others to follow us.
We are also aware that many European and
global funding streams, for example within
the ERA and notably Horizon 2020, are becoming
available for research that addresses
sustainability issues. It would be a lost
opportunity if major research programmes
continue to focus as exclusively as they have
in the past on narrowly-defined views of environment
or ecology, or on views of the economy
that separates it from its societal roots.
From our vantage point as returnees from No
Man’s Land, and supported by our extensive
webs of cross- and inter-disciplinary collaborations,
we can see the necessity and the
advantages of culture gaining a more central
and transformative role in sustainable development
discourse and action. We envisage
that the insights of this COST Action will be
able to ensure a strong ‘cultural stream’ in
future research and policy.
INTERNATIONAL PILOT ONLINE COURSE ON ‘CULTURAL
SUSTAINABILITY’ LAUNCHED
In April 2014, a pilot for an international online course on ‘Cultural Sustainability’ was carried out. The
course examined the interrelated dimensions of sustainability and the concept of development. It
brought together lecturers and students from various backgrounds in interdisciplinary discussions about
how culture, power and ecology interact in human-environment relations. The course critically investigated
the challenges of achieving sustainability at local, regional and global scales, and the role of cultural
policy. It highlighted both philosophical and conceptual issues surrounding the relationship of cultural
sustainability and cultural policy, and engaged students in practical case studies, such as those involved
in with urban planning and rural development.
The course – MCPS125 ‘Cultural Sustainability’ – is now established at the University of Jyväskylä (Finland)
as part of the MA in Cultural Policy. It is unique internationally and addresses a need to consolidate current
ideas on this rising topic within academic training programmes. Moreover it equips young scholars to
question and address policy development issues in this area. More info can be found here :
www.culturalsustainability.eu/outputs
(Nancy Duxbury, Anita Kangas, Katarzyna Plebanczyk)
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