Culture can be regarded as a fundamental issue, even a precondition to be met on the path towards sustainable development that is necessary to get to grips with in Europe and whole world. However, the theoretical and conceptual understanding of culture within the general frames of sustainable development remains vague and consequently, the role of culture is poorly operationalised in the environmental and social policie. The ultimate goal of the COST Action "Investigating Cultural Sustainability" is to increase understanding of and determine the role of culture in sustainable development based on multidisciplinary principles and approaches.
The work is carried out by investigating and operationalizing the concept of culture in the context of sustainable development through multidisciplinary approaches and analyses; examining the best practices for bringing culture into policy and practical domains; developing means and indicators for assessing the impacts of culture on sustainable development
The background, aims and implementation of the Action are described in details in the Memorandum of Understanding. The results of the work will be available for the scientific community, policy makers, administrative personnel and practitioners working with sustainability and culture from the EU to the local level.
The Action is co-ordinated by the University of Jyväskylä, Finland and supported by COST, which is an intergovernmental framework for European Cooperation in Science and Technology.