Culture in sustainable development: insights for the implementation of art. 13

The paper is aimed at giving some theoretical and practical guidelinesfor the future implementation of art. 13 of the Unesco Convention, starting from a clarification of the concept of «sustainable development», brought about in 1970 by the Club of Rome, and of its further evolution, including the recognition of the essential cultural dimensions of a humancentred development paradigm. It also states that, notwithstanding an apparent unanimity, progresses in acknowledging the role of culture in development policies of most countries are slow, generally based on the understanding of the economic value of the cultural industries, for which a flexible approach is needed. The paper further discusses a set of principles mainly derived from an ecological perspective to be followed in pursuing culturally sustainable development: intergenerational and intragenerational equity, importance of diversity, etc. In view of integrating culture into sustainable development, some guidelines are finally suggested, among which the need for introducing culture into a broader economic development agenda, by fostering the cooperation of several ministries and government agencies, as well as of local authorities, in policy formulation and in the decision making processes.