IDEAS ROOM
“The next paradigm of sustainability” panel (moderated by Dr Nicholas Anastasopoulos, Professor at National Technical University of Athens) allowed a horizontal discussion around concepts of sustainability through shared experiences. Nicholas challenged the definition of sustainability between preservation and whole systems change, and introduced the concept of complexity vs what Adam Curtis refers to a “Hyper-normalisation” (acceptance and adjustment to non-functional regimes) in order to understand populist trends of a make-believe simplified version of a currently very complex reality.
In this panel three distinct views of sustainability, as 1) sustainable economy, 2) local government, sustainability and cultural strategies, as well as 3) sustainable resources, social behavior and education were presented and discussed in parallel.
Giovanna Barni, (President, CoopCulture Italy) represented the Italian cooperative business model of cultural heritage management and argued that cooperatives offer a sustainable model of economy and have turned out to be more resilient. Within the cooperative system a network project can be a concrete solution with economic impacts on people and territories, according to the four pillars of Sustainability of 1) maximizing the economic result and redistributing it within the production chain 2) empowering the cultural offer organization on sites and on territories, 3) contributing to the social relationships and 4) supporting people’s cultural growth.
Governance and culture strategies were represented by Gary Mc Mahon (Senior Executive Officer, Galway City Council, Ireland) in view of the Galway ECOC2020 bid. Mc Mahon discussed Galway’s strategy development (based on the Agenda 21 for Culture paradigm) as a holistic model of sustainability including language, landscape, gastronomy as well as the arts. The challenge for the relatively new Cultural Strategy Framework is to become meaningful, real and tangible.
Henry McGhie (Head of Collections and Curator of Zoology, Manchester Museum) discussed the cultural and educational strategies implemented at the Manchester Museum in addressing natural resources, the environment and people’s active engagement towards a more sustainable culture. This approach promoted a pro-active contribution tailored to everyone’s capacities to alleviate climate-change.
CAE takeaway: Three distinct views of sustainability: sustainable economy, local government, sustainability and cultural strategies, as well as sustainable resources, social behavior and education were discussed. Panelists argued that cooperatives offer a sustainable model of economy and have turned out to be more resilient. Local governments discussed governance and cultural policies and highlighted the challenge that relatively new Cultural Strategy Frameworks struggle to become meaningful, real and tangible. What cultural and educational strategies can be used to addressing natural resources, the environment and people’s active engagement towards a more sustainable culture.
