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As we enter 2025, just five years remain to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With only 17% of the SDGs on track, the urgency to prioritize people and planet is undeniable. It has been established that culture is simultaneously a cause for the polycrisis, a constraint on change, an exemplar of solutions and a creative force for transition and transformation. As part of our collective efforts to influence research-informed policy to lead us to a thriving future for all, it is important to bring to the fore, and discuss, relevant academic work reflecting on cultural policy from a sustainability perspective.

ENCATC member Jordi Baltà Portolès’ doctoral thesis explores how the climate crisis and broader sustainability challenges necessitate a rethinking of cultural policy, with a particular focus on its governance at the local level. Cities and local spaces are key arenas where sustainability-related tensions become most visible, but also where conditions may foster the development of culturally responsive and sustainable pathways. He presents six key propositions for rethinking cultural policy in response to contemporary sustainability challenges and the planetary crisis. These propositions emphasize the need for cultural policy to be more dynamic, inclusive, and interconnected with broader societal concerns.

1. Engaging with Conflicts and Tensions
Cultural policy should acknowledge its inherently political nature and actively engage with social tensions. Rather than merely administering culture, it should facilitate the negotiation of conflicts, particularly in the context of sustainability. Culture is an ‘arena of struggle’, where different social groups contest meanings and practices. By making tensions visible and fostering dialogue, cultural policy can contribute to societal transformation. 

2. Exploring Interdependences
Cultural policy must better recognize its interconnectedness with other policy areas, such as the economy, environment, and social systems. It should emphasize the complex interdependencies that shape human life rather than treating culture as an isolated sector. A more holistic approach, including tools like cultural impact assessments, would ensure that culture is integrated into broader policymaking. 

3. Focusing on People and Capabilities
Cultural policy should shift its emphasis towards human development and cultural capabilities, ensuring individuals and communities have the effective means to participate in cultural life. This aligns with cultural rights and the capability approach, which highlights the expansion of freedoms and opportunities. Additionally, this perspective should incorporate ethical responsibility toward nature and future generations, recognizing human identity as relational and interdependent with the environment. 

4. Balancing Permanence and Change
Sustainability requires cultural policy to navigate the tension between preservation and transformation. While some cultural elements should be maintained, policy must also embrace change, particularly in response to environmental and societal shifts. Cultural policy should create spaces where communities can collectively negotiate these dynamics, ensuring adaptation while respecting planetary boundaries.

5. Fostering Plurality and Diversity
Cultural policy should promote multiple narratives and allow diverse cultural expressions to coexist and interact. The dominance of a single perspective, often reinforced by capitalist modernity, limits alternative ways of thinking and living. By giving voice to marginalized cultural practices and perspectives, cultural policy can contribute to more sustainable and regenerative ways of life.

6. Revising the Scope of Cultural Policy
Finally, cultural policy must expand beyond the arts and heritage to adopt an ecosystemic approach that acknowledges its role in economic, social, environmental, and political dimensions. A more integrated perspective, recognizing the connections between culture and sustainability, can lead to more effective policymaking.

Do these propositions resonate with you? What challenges and opportunities do you see in revising cultural policy from the perspective of sustainability from your context?

Jordi Baltà Portolés (2023) Rethinking the Governance of Local Cultural Policy from the Perspective of Sustainability. Doctoral Thesis. Universitat de Girona, University of Melbourne. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/690261

News article by Dr. Carla Figueira, Strategic Policy Advisor, ENCATC