The Role of Cultural Resources in Community Sustainability: Linking Concepts to Practice and Planning

Abstract

While there is growing international policy attention to the place of culture in sustainability, and ‘four pillar’ local sustainability planning frameworks such as Canada’s Integrated Community Sustainability Plans encourage communities to integrate culture into local sustainability planning, both conceptual and pragmatic issues challenge these efforts. At present, thinking about culture in a community sustainability context is emergent and diversely conceived, and the elaboration of a ‘culture and sustainability’ paradigm is not yet fully coherent. It is informed by UNESCO’s statements on the contributions of cultural diversity to sustainable development, the recovery of historical and culture-specific approaches and worldviews, and local-level community development trends. Further conceptual development and clarification is required, and efforts must also be made to link the conceptualization efforts into policy/planning practice and on-the-ground actions. Towards elaborating a ‘culture and sustainability’ planning/policy paradigm, this paper outlines the international emergence and evolution of initiatives to integrate culture into local sustainability planning, examines important conceptual influences on understanding the role of cultural resources in sustainability, and highlights conceptual and pragmatic issues that challenge planning and policy efforts.