Culture is Crucial in Achieving Sustainable Development
Since the United Nations adopted its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, nations worldwide have made substantial progress toward safeguarding and valorizing cultural heritage. To fully embody the spirit of these measures, it is now time to go further and promote cultural heritage as a critical component of sustainable development.
Cultural heritage is about more than history. An integral part of human culture and flourishing, our global cultural heritage is not just critical for understanding who we are. It is a necessary part of who, and what, we can become. As responsible global citizens and stewards of our world, we must center cultural heritage within the economic, political, and social fabric of society. If we do not, we put the future development of our world at risk.
The United Nations has set the tenor for this approach with its adoption in 2015 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development comprising five critical elements: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, and Partnership. The Agenda also includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Ranging from achieving gender equality (SDG 5) to combating climate change (SDG 13), these goals are all interconnected and aim at the betterment of our shared world. Regrettably, protecting cultural heritage is not an explicit part of the United Nations SDGs. The omission was an unfortunate oversight, one made even more glaring by the UN’s continued support for the protection of cultural heritage elsewhere, including a powerful resolution by the Security Council in 2017.
Preserving our airs, waters, and places intact for future generations, creating a world for our children that values their humanity, or attaining clean and renewable energy are not independent of cultural heritage. In fact, these goals are strengthened by its inclusion.
I’ve previously discussed how cultural heritage can foster intercultural dialogue and understanding, contributing to the goal of international peace (SDG 16). Other ways cultural heritage are relevant to the SDGs include adaptation of historic sites for modern needs, contributing to sustainability and community resilience (SDG 11).
Cultural Heritage is not a solely economic resource, but in our more than 15 years of experience as an organization, we have found that one of the keys to their preservation is a clear economic incentive. The global tourism industry was worth $8.8 trillion in 2018, and no small part of that is due to the curiosity people from around the world have in the culture and history of our planet.
The desire is already there. All we need to do is channel it in a sustainable way. At our own projects and in countless other places, cultural heritage tourism with sustainable, well-managed visitor policies has been shown to boost the travel industry, promoting economic growth (SDG 8) and addressing inequalities caused by urbanization and disproportionate development investments (SDG 10).
Indeed, sustainable cultural heritage tourism can:
- Contribute to the management and protection of cultural heritage sites;
- Make a positive contribution to the socio-economic and environmental well-being of host communities;
- Mitigate the negative impacts associated with poorly managed tourism;
- And maximize the quality of the resident and visitor experience.
Cultural heritage, sustainability, and tourism have not always been amicable bedfellows. Look no further than Venice to see how poorly managed tourism can endanger cultural sites and damage social fabrics. However, I have seen firsthand the number of outstanding, little-known cultural heritage destinations in dire need of economic investment and tourist dollars. I believe that with creative thinking and responsible policies, sustainable cultural heritage tourism can support these sites and further the 2030 Agenda pillars of economic development, dignity, and peace.
Creative, forward-thinking organizations and individuals are required to adapt cultural heritage to the modern world. The challenges and realities of modern economic pressures can, and have, unmoored heritage sites completely from their local history, destroying their sense of place and their special importance. Individually and collectively, we must thread the needle between development and preservation without sacrificing the value that makes our heritage important in the first place.
As we usher in a new decade and say goodbye to the old, I would like us all to reflect the symbolism of this new beginning. We have before us immense challenges that require coordinated, global solutions to solve. However, our challenges are only matched by the numerous opportunities we have to partner with each other and create a better world for ourselves and our posterity.
We are poised to choose the future world we want to create. Only by investing in creative solutions can we promote the sustainability and adaptability needed to support communities to protect their cultural heritage from new threats and harness new opportunities.
Global Heritage Fund empowers communities through historic preservation beyond monuments®. Since 2002, GHF has helped local communities to save 28 sites in 19 countries with over 100 partner organizations. Using its Preservation by Design® methodology of community-based planning, conservation science, and strategic partnerships, GHF has invested over $30 million and secured $25 million in co-funding to ensure sustainable preservation and responsible development. Learn more at globalheritagefund.org.
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