Hello Manisha,

We found the PPP-model based on TBL unworkable for the balance strived for is merely hypothetical and replaced it by the 'Dimensions of Sustainable Development', a tiered model that let's go of the intertwined relation between Society and Economy; it takes Earth (bio, eco, etc.) first, then Wellbeing and Welfare. Human Culture can be seen in both of these inner dimensions - Culture in the sense of the way how people live, express themselves, etc. is to be found more under Wellbeing, while aspects as commercial Art, architecture and fashion fall under Welfare. If you'd like to think along, I'll shortly publish a (working-)paper on the Dimensions of Sustainable Development.

Very best,

Jos

We recently developed a QBL structure to include cultural goals based off Donovan's 2008 Australian Research Quality Framework.

Greetings @KarenBayne, Excellent, are the method and results available online?

@ManishaJetly I was about to ask the same question 🙏

Human security (a security approach focused on individuals' resilience and basic needs) includes all these dimensions and more: food, economic, environmental, personal, political, health and cultural security. It thrives for sustainability but focuses on people's and groups' vulnerabilities.

When focusing on food, economic and environmental, the International community can do more by supporting the developing countries to find ways of preserving food as it wasted from the farms to the consumer. This is due to lack of infrastructures such as roads, storage facilities and transportation and by giving the donations to governments, the aid to build the required infrastructure does not even reach the people that need it. If these funds can be channeled into improved irrigation systems rather than relying on the rain, solar panels including dydro - electricity to support the small scale farmers that feed 90% of the population in developing countries, we would not be talking about sustainability of food and economies would have been thriving. Getting rid of colonial restrictions of not drawing water from the Nile River can help the countries in East Africa utilise the water from the river to grow more food.

Perhaps you are interested in a methodology rather than an existing model. In that case I would recommend the system dynamics methodology. The System Dynamics Society has information about the methodology at www.systemdynamics.org. The bibliography has many articles that address sustainable development with the methodology.

Global Governance and Sustainable Development covers all

Thank you so much everyone for your valuable inputs.

Hello Manisha,

We found the PPP-model based on TBL unworkable for the balance strived for is merely hypothetical and replaced it by the 'Dimensions of Sustainable Development', a tiered model that let's go of the intertwined relation between Society and Economy; it takes Earth (bio, eco, etc.) first, then Wellbeing and Welfare. Human Culture can be seen in both of these inner dimensions - Culture in the sense of the way how people live, express themselves, etc. is to be found more under Wellbeing, while aspects as commercial Art, architecture and fashion fall under Welfare. If you'd like to think along, I'll shortly publish a (working-)paper on the Dimensions of Sustainable Development.

Very best,

Jos

This is great, I have this question earlier, thanks so much.

Jos Eussen Thanks

I don't see culture as a distinct 'dimension', because  it is one of the many aspects of a community that make it unique.  Soil, climate, culture, community scale, technology, skills - all of these things present the uniqueness of any community.  But that doesn't mean that it wouldn't be a good idea.

How would one distinguish between culture and social?  Let me see how this might work...  First, find a definition of Sustainable Development that is  sufficiently exclusive and implies the units being measured.

Quality of life has little concensus as to an exclusive definition.  I will use

Actualized Quality of Life = the time available within a community for activities other than those that are expected to meet needs, while considering the impact of the eventual loss of overconsumed resources, as if all needs were met.

Sustainable Development = an increase in quality of life within a community between two points in time, using the skills of the population and the ecological services from the landmass it relies on and is obligated to, in a manner that can be maintained in perpetuity.

And I'll add a condition that resiliency must be increased for it to be considered 'development', and then peel out the typical 3 dimensions.  And yes, I'm going to gloss over some of the subsequent definitions if they aren't germane to Culture.

Sustainable Economic Development = an increase in the quality of life between two points in time by increasing specialization and productivity of the population, while reducing the internal barriers to trade of critical resources and the external barriers to co-management of critical resources, and retaining a sufficient financial reserve to address economic disruptions.

Sustainable Social Development = an increase in the quality of life of a community between two points in time by increasing how effectively people are able to use their time to meet their needs, while ensuring no subset of the community receives a greater burden than benefit from any development initiative.

Sustainable Ecological Development = an increase in the quality of life of a community between two points of time by restoring or enhancing the ecosystem services that provide resources and absorb waste from the biomes being utilized, while ensuring that a non-declining portion of each biome is maintained as a ‘wilderness’ that is neither a sink for wastes nor a source for resources.

Now we add something wrt culture...  I will take culture to mean the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group.  When I look around in Canada, for example, Quebec culture is said to feel threatened, and many native cultures are actively doing what they can to maintain some shred of their former selves in light of a history of repression and genocide.  So, yeah, I can see there is a issue here.  At the very least, protecting culture maintains a social resiliency. 

So, lets follow the same process.  Define what any form of cultural development would be, and then apply a Sustainability filter, extending the time scale, focussing on meeting needs, and critical resources, and adding something about resiliency.  And then see what the distinction is between cultural and social.

Lets try this on...  Cultural Development would be an increase in the quality of life of a community between two points of time  by encouraging the unique customs, arts, and social institutions of that community?  Lenski said it was ‘the process of change and development in human societies that results from cumulative change in their stores of cultural information available’.  That's almost the same, but from a passive voice, rather than active one.  That distinction may be important.  Domineering cultures never assume the passive voice - they are actively pushing their perspective on everything.  Canada feels it has to protect itself in a variety of ways against American culture. 

It looks like there is some discussion about what is Cultural Resilience.  On one hand, it can be taken as the culture's capacity to maintain and develop cultural identity and critical cultural knowledge and practices. Or it can mean the manner in which cultural background helps individuals and communities overcome adversity.  I think, for the purpose of this discussion, both of those ways of thinking are important, but the first is more apt for building a definition.  The purpose of adding an element of resilience to social sustainability, for example, is to ensure those needs are able to be met in an uncertain future. 

I think we have to say that Sustainable Cultural Development would be:

an increase in the quality of life of a community between two points of time by encouraging the unique customs, arts, and social institutions of that community that provides the residents with a sense of identity and belonging.

Comparing back to 'Sustainable Social Development', I don't see an overlap - so either I have to explicitly add Cultural Development into Social Development, or maintain a separate dimension.  I think I would choose to make the Cultural aspects of the social more obvious, and keep it as one dimension.  So my definition of Sustainable Social Development would become more like:

Sustainable Social Development = an increase in the quality of life of a community between two points in time by encouraging the unique customs, arts, and social institutions of that community that provides the residents with a sense of identity and belonging., while ensuring no subset of the community receives a greater burden than benefit from any development initiative.