Aleph Notes #7: Culture as the 18th SDG?
Should ‘Culture’ be the 18th SDG? This thought-provoking question was raised during the presentation of the Cultural Heritage for Inclusive Growth essay collection commissioned by the British Council and Nordicity and edited by Inherit.
Culture plays a powerful role in contributing towards the achievement of many human development outcomes, yet culture is conspicuously absent from the SDGs. In a world increasingly polarized by protectionism, populism and identity politics, culture has the unique capacity to bridge divides, reconcile differences and foster tolerance and understanding. Creating a separate Sustainable Development Goal for culture could help invigorate investment in cultural programmes and reposition culture as a key component of development and humanitarian programmes. A dedicated SDG for culture may propel further investment in the growth of creative industries and local economies, encourage cultural diplomacy, endorse the preservation of heritage to protect cultural identities and promote social cohesion and resilience in the face of global and national adversities.
Cultural actors have continued to advocate for a separate goal to actualise culture’s potential as a powerful vector for development. The EU’s Voice of Culture report highlights the commitment of cultural organisations to promote better inclusion of culture as a strategic dimension in global cooperation for development. Policy-makers, too, recognise culture and defend its essentiality and priority at the policy level. Quite recently, for example, the EU countries ratified culture as the 18th SDG in their approval of Cáceres Declaration. This movement towards endorsing culture, currently labelled as the “missing pillar”, both as a driver and enabler of sustainable development on the international front seems reasonably positive.
However, there are compelling arguments to the contrary. For example, would a standalone SDG for culture disincentivize the integration of culture within the other SGDs, or obscure recognition of culture’s contribution to those wider goals?
We view culture as an essential element of all forms of sustainable development. As evaluators, the most successful programmes we have seen are those that work with the ‘grain’ of culture, harnessing the support of local communities in pursuing development goals. Every policy or intervention must locate the principles of cultural diversity and protection and promotion of indigenous rights and local heritage at its core. From a more practical viewpoint, this may also entail having measurable goals ensuring that in the absence of a standalone SDG, other SDGs loosely address components of cultural heritage and related principles. Goals are crucial for implementation and accountability; these ensure that any policy-level discourse on cultural heritage is effectively materialised into development work.
We appreciate the efforts of the British Council, Inherit and the authors for sharing their perspectives with us on cultural heritage for inclusive growth and bringing practitioners together to collectively further the agenda for the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage.
