Sustainability is about ensuring that current and future generations have equal access to
resources and a quality of life that provides long-term economic security at the same time
as safeguarding the natural and cultural environment. Using a process of sustainable
development (SD) it is possible to formulate management tools and planning strategies to
change and direct industrial or human activities that are contrary to sustainability. SD
requires unified responses to guide this process through a new set of customs and practice,
and achieve acceptance and changes in the behavior and actions of individuals and
organisations. The outcomes of SD will be determined by the human response to
sustainability, which is in part a cultural response.
Culture has a duality of meaning in every day use. It is either the value system that shapes
the aspirations, identity and attitudes of individuals and groups; or the way of life for a
particular group of people who are drawn together through customs, religion, language,
arts, science or technology. Culture has principles in common with sustainability by
bestowing upon current generations cultural heritage and identity, as well as responsibility
for safeguarding future cultural diversity and ecological balance. This thesis suggests that
cultural values are a key to sustainability and that deliberate strategies and criteria are
needed for the arts and creative industries to assist SD. The idea that culture is central to
SD is based on the fact that sustainability is a concept whereas culture is a human value
system and a way of life.
Using the concept of cultural capital, this thesis identifies a framework that can guide and
report both the tangible economic and physical outcomes and the intangible benefits that
occur through artistic and cultural activity. Tangible outcomes include artists, buildings and
creative products while intangible benefits lead to cultural identity, diversity and a sense of
place. It is then suggested that if a framework based on cultural capital were applied to SD,
such a process would be called culturally sustainable development. The idea of culturally
sustainable development (CSD) is explored in academic and business literature, and in the
practical examples of existing action found in the Western Australian arts and cultural
community.
Based on this intelligence, strategies are identified to provide the next steps for developing
the concept and practice of CSD. Strategies call for government, business and the arts to
have equal responsibility for mainstreaming the concepts of CSD and cultural capital, and
encourage CSD activities and projects. At the implementation level, strategies focus on
developing a universal framework for CSD, incorporating Creative Action Plans or creative
business plans, along with a CSD Index, and a creative cluster approach to project
management or industry development. CSD is about investing creatively in sustainability
through cultural capital, the new growth stock of SD.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/221631 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | arhodes@iinet.net.au, Alix Rhodes |
| Publisher | Murdoch University |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | http://www.murdoch.edu.au/goto/CopyrightNotice, Copyright Alix Rhodes |
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