CULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY If we believe cultural diversity is a rich asset for individuals and societies, then the protection, promotion and maintenance of cultural diversity are – as expressed in the Convention – “an essential requirement for sustainable development for the benefit of present and future generations.” As cultures and societies change, cultural policies also need to support initiatives, which link the past, the present, and the future. Cultural policies must therefore also incorporate short-term as well as long-term strategies. What is the merit of short-term investments in digital content development or music education, if there isn’t a long-term (and thus sustainable) perspective? There is no universal definition of ‘sustainable’. Discussions and reflections on increasing climate change, poverty and security issues in the 1980s resulted in the socalled Brundtland report,6 which defines sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The report does not define ‘cultural sustainability’, but provides a holistic approach that considers ecological, social, and economic dimensions, recognizing that all must be considered together to find lasting prosperity. The UNESCO 2005 Convention – in many ways – incorporates a practical approach to a sustainable culture. The 2018 Global Report ‘Re|shaping cultural policies: advancing creativity for development’7 describes how progress towards the implementation of the Convention’s sustainable development goal may be measured through two areas of monitoring: 1. National sustainable development policies and plans, in order to determine the extent to which culture is integrated and whether there is regional equity in the distribution of cultural resources and equity in access to cultural resources by vulnerable groups. 2. International sustainable development programmes, in order to determine the extent to which these programmes integrate culture and provide financial assistance for creativity in developing countries, as well as technical assistance to strengthen the human and institutional capacities in the cultural and creative industries. The latest UNESCO Global Report,8 published in February 2022, provides the following visual presentations on how countries could (and should) support sustainable systems of governance for culture as well as integrate culture in sustainable development frameworks. 6 7 8 12 https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/5987our-common-future.pdf https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000260592 https://en.unesco.org/creativity/publications/2022-global-report-reshaping-policies-creativity