scholarly journals Critical Review of Sustainability Priorities in the Heritage Sector: Evidence from Latvia’s Most Visited Museums

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (15) ◽  
pp. 95-110
Author(s):  
Elina Vikmane ◽  
Anda Laķe

A vibrant debate about the role and participation of museums in urbanisation, industrialisation, human rights protection, technological progress, climate change and other global challenges has persisted in the field of museums ever since the boom of theoretical museology, which coincided with the development of the sustainable development concept. However, often culture is considered a part of social sustainability pillar, covering manifestations such as equity, participation, social justice etc. (Murphy, 2012; Vallace et al., 2011; Cuthill, 2010) or ignoring cultural aspects altogether (Chiu, 2004). Many voices have called to promote culture as the fourth pillar of sustainable development as a necessary foundation, condition or groundwork through which understandings of social, economic, and environmental sustainability may appear (Soini & Birkeland, 2014; Hawkes, 2001). Although the potential of cultural heritage institutions such as museums towards sustainable development is outlined in relevant literature, there has been no radical shift in museum practice (Ross, 2004; Simon, 2010; Nomikou, 2015). The paper aims to propose the first-ever critical review of sustainable development priorities in Latvia’s most popular museums with a view to finding out their strategic priorities and using these findings to identify today’s specific thematic development lines relevant to the museum sector within the sustainable development framework and to apply this bottom-up principle to propose potential ways to improve the general goal of Latvia’s museum accreditation system – that of promoting sustainable museum practices – with specific pointers and thematic building blocks for the broad umbrella concept of sustainable development. Research objectives include (1) conducting a critical review of relevant literature to identify the role of cultural heritage within the evolution of the sustainable development concept (2) identifying the themes of sustainable development that have been communicated as strategic priorities to stakeholders by the country’s nine most visited museums and (3) using research findings to illuminate and pinpoint a specific array of themes pursuant to the general goal of Latvia’s museum accreditation system – that of promoting sustainable museum practices – for the system to serve as a more comprehensive and targeted tool for fostering sustainabledevelopment in the heritage sector and beyond. Qualitative content analysis has been chosen to analyse museum development strategies and their collection, research, and communication policies, that is, the museum strategic documents to be submitted by the museums seeking to receive state recognition. The study covers Latvia’s nine most popular museums, whose joint annual share of visits amounts to 50% of the country’s total rate (Latvian Academy of Culture, 2018). The study reveals substantial diversity in how Latvia’s most popular museums approach sustainable development goals while also exposing a few significant downsides. According to the findings, museum priorities include (1) heritage preservation, efforts to strengthen national identity, and information and communication technology sustainability in the context of cultural sustainability, (2) financial sustainability as well as tourism- multiplication and image-building in the context of economic sustainability, (3) eco-cultural resilience and improvements in the infrastructure for better energy efficiency as well as a degree of progress towards more sustainable transportation solutions in the context of environmental sustainability and (4) physical, intellectual, socio-economic and emotional accessibility and a focus on boosting social capital in the context of social sustainability. Adjustment of accreditation requirements to meet the sustainable development priorities, at least identified within the study, should, in the long run, raise awareness within the field, enable museums to target their efforts at addressing their downsides and finding possibilities for growth in the context of sustainable development as well as foster sustainable development in the larger field of cultural heritage sites and institutions, which, unlike its kindred sector of museums, exists outside the scope of restrictions associated with accreditation. Such adjustments will help achieve a broader input from the heritage sector towards sustainable development goals.

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-72
Author(s):  
Wekgari Dulume

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is grounded in different international human rights instruments. Human rights (HR) principles and standards are strongly reflected in several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets. Furthermore, SDG 17 emphasizes partnership as a key to achieving all of the SDGs. This article examines the SDGs-HR linkage in general, as well as specific HR principles that can be advanced by the achievement of SDG 17. Opportunities and challenges to promote Goal 17 of the SDGs that directly affect certain HRs are also examined. A review of relevant literature, 2030 summit documents, and outcomes of recent international conferences on the SDGs is undertaken in order to determine the progress made towards forging regional and global partnerships for the SDGs, as envisaged in Goal 17. This article finds that the absence of a political will and commitment, increased isolationist policy, narrow nationalism and poor rule linkage at national and international levels are some of the obstacles to the attainment of Goal 17. Yet, opportunities abound to promote the Goal. The article recommends a genuine commitment to implementing the SDGs by encouraging the South-South and North-South to prevent the SDGs from becoming a mere wishlist. Synergy between the government, individuals, civil society organizations (CSOs) and transnational corporations (TNCs) is equally very important. Keywords: Human rights, sustainable development goals, partnership for the goals.


Author(s):  
Dr. Basanta Kalita

The SDGs agenda is the outcome of a series of international conferences on the issue of environmental sustainability. A principle of common and differentiated responsibility was endorsed by the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992) and the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20 (2012). The political commitments from the world leaders were confirmed during the 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development held in Addis Ababa in July 2015 for a common policy on sustainable development. The goals are broad based and interdependent. Finally the Paris Declaration on Climate Change (2016) paved the way for the adoption of a comprehensive list of goals to be achieved by 2030. Each of the 17 sustainable development goals has a list of targets which are measured with indicators and are interdependent. The present study will be confined to the 6th goal which is ensuring “Clean water and Sanitation” in the Indian context. KEYWORDS: SDGs agenda, Climate Change, employment, sanitation services


Heritage ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 1703-1715
Author(s):  
Caleb A. Folorunso

This paper addresses the impacts of globalization on cultural heritage conservation in sub-Saharan Africa. The homogenization and commodification of Indigenous cultures as a result of globalization and it’s impacts on the devaluation of heritage sites and cultural properties is discussed within a Nigerian context. Additionally, the ongoing global demand for African art objects continues to fuel the looting and destruction of archaeological and historical sites, negatively impacting the well-being of local communities and their relationships to their cultural heritage. Global organizations and institutions such as UNESCO, the World Bank, and other institutions have been important stakeholders in the protection of cultural heritage worldwide. This paper assesses the efficacy of the policies and interventions implemented by these organizations and institutions within Africa and makes suggestions on how to advance the protection of African cultural heritage within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Furthermore, cultural heritage conservation is explored as a core element of community well-being and a tool with which African nations may achieve sustainable economic development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 926 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luigi Petti ◽  
Claudia Trillo ◽  
Busisiwe Ncube Makore

The Agenda 2030 includes a set of targets that need to be achieved by 2030. Although none of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) focuses exclusively on cultural heritage, the resulting Agenda includes explicit reference to heritage in SDG 11.4 and indirect reference to other Goals. Achievement of international targets shall happen at local and national level, and therefore, it is crucial to understand how interventions on local heritage are monitored nationally, therefore feeding into the sustainable development framework. This paper is focused on gauging the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals with reference to cultural heritage, by interrogating the current way of classifying it (and consequently monitoring). In fact, there is no common dataset associated with monitoring SDGs, and the field of heritage is extremely complex and diversified. The purpose for the paper is to understand if the taxonomy used by different national databases allows consistency in the classification and valuing of the different assets categories. The European case study has been chosen as field of investigation, in order to pilot a methodology that can be expanded in further research. A cross-comparison of a selected sample of publicly accessible national cultural heritage databases has been conducted. As a result, this study confirms the existence of general harmonisation of data towards the achievement of the SDGs with a broad agreement of the conceptualisation of cultural heritage with international frameworks, thus confirming that consistency exists in the classification and valuing of the different assets categories. However, diverse challenges of achieving a consistent and coherent approach to integrating culture in sustainability remains problematic. The findings allow concluding that it could be possible to mainstream across different databases those indicators, which could lead to depicting the overall level of attainment of the Agenda 2030 targets on heritage. However, more research is needed in developing a robust correlation between national datasets and international targets.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
T. F. Jiboye

Studies have affirmed that restructuring for sustainable development is a process involving three essential elements; feasible industrial growth to fulfil basic socio-economic needs; ensuring maximum development of human resources and achieving greater socio justice through a more equitable income distribution. Unfortunately, none of these is satisfactorily manifesting in African nations. In Nigeria, unemployment rate is increasing among the youth and young graduates. Globally, cooperatives societies have become well appreciated as a strong vehicle for promoting economic empowerment particularly among the youth and other vulnerable and marginalised groups. This will be a vehicle to eradicate poverty among the youth thereby fulfilling the first Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). This study examined the contributions of cooperatives societies to poverty eradication among members and national development; investigated how cooperative societies can be better positioned to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria; and determined the factors affecting the performance of cooperatives in Nigeria. Two thousand Nine Hundred and seventy-two respondents from all 1,486 cooperative societies in Osun State were sampled. Result showed that cooperative societies have ability for economic significance, employment creation, income generation, poverty reduction, environmental sustainability and institutional capacity building. The paper concluded that cooperative societies, if well harnessed, could be used to make local entrepreneurs have access to finance and thereby eradicating poverty and so fulfil goal one of the sustainable development goals.


Author(s):  
Sarah Anabarja ◽  
Ahmad Safril Mubah

The potential of Islamic environmentalism initiatives has been emerging in Indonesian Muslim society. The inclusion of sustainable development ideas into Islamic values has raised an increasing initiative of ‘Eco-Pesantren’. Following the numerous programs relating to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country, the ‘Eco-Pesantren’ undertake the ideas by introducing environmental sustainability in their curriculum. This initiative is widely popular after some Islamic boarding schools or ‘pesantren’ in Java Island have successfully performed the value of sustainable development in their learning process. It is evident that sustainable development ideas are not the opposite of Islamic values, and the Islamic way of life can contribute to the environmental vision of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This article analyses the practice of sustainable development from an Islamic point of view by focusing particularly on environmental issues. To describe the ‘Eco-Pesantren’ programs, this article is divided into three sections. First, explaining sustainable development from Islamic perspectives. Second, portraying the growth of Islamic environmentalism in Indonesia and ‘Eco-Pesantren’ initiatives and the challenges faced by those initiatives. Finally, the conclusion of this study.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 8286
Author(s):  
Carmen Díaz-López ◽  
Cathaysa Martín-Blanco ◽  
Juan Jesús De la Torre Bayo ◽  
Benito Rubio-Rivera ◽  
Montserrat Zamorano

Development must balance social, economic, and environmental sustainability; it is for this reason that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are integrated, in fact, action in one of them will affect outcomes in others. In consequence, research on the SDGs is broad, complex, and fragmented due to the great diversity of disciplines and approaches involved, making it difficult to obtain valuable and unbiased information for future studies. As a result, a comprehensive review of contributions could provide a comprehensive critical perspective. This article applies SciMAT software to analyze the evolution of this field of research through a systematic literature review of bibliographic records on the SDGs and a review based on bibliometric analysis of 10,272 selected records. Additionally, hidden themes and their development in this field from 1990 to 2020 have been identified to produce strategic diagrams, graphs of thematic evolution and performance indicators of the research field in different periods. The results obtained show a constantly evolving scientific field, from its initial focus on the millennium goals to the gradual inclusion of the current SDGs. They provide field experts with a comprehensive overview of the status quo and predict the dynamic directions of future research, serving as a basis for the development of new strategies for the implementation of the SDGs.


Economic development and environmental degradation are usually inversely proportional to each other and this can be reversed by endorsing more eco-competent growth policies. Although with the prompt economic growth, the concern of environmental sustainability is still a major challenge for every country. EIA since its inception has been considered as a holistic tool in assessing the potential impacts of developmental projects on the natural environment. EIA in India was first launched in 1994 and since then it has been undergoing a renaissance, and now several developmental projects have to obtain necessary environmental clearance as per the EIA notification 2006. This paper focuses on a critical overview of the evolution, process, and changes. Evaluation of the process using SOAR analysis helps in increasing the transparency and efficacy in the EIA. This research finally concludes by inferring that EIA if exercised properly shall not only ensure a clean and healthy environment but also shall aid the nation in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).


2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Magdalena Ziolo ◽  
Iwona Bak ◽  
Katarzyna Cheba

The World Bank and International Monetary Fund reported that the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires an escalation of development finance. The report Scaling Finance for the Sustainable Development Goals highlighted the urgency of the efforts to realize SDGs in encouraging financial innovation to move quickly. Even if the role of finance in achieving SDGs is unquestionable, few scientific studies have addressed these issues. We tried to fill the existing research gap. In this study, we examined the link between sustainable finance and SDGs based on European Union countries belonging to the OECD. We present a new and the original research approach. We assumed that the sustainable finance model plays a fundamental role in implementing SDGs (all SDGs were analysed except for SDG 6 and SDG14, due to lack of statistics were not analysed) and ensuring that social and environmental sustainability are reflected in SDGs. The results of this study show that the more sustainable the finance model, the better the achievement of SDGs in the group of analysed countries. We found a strong link between sustainable finance model and social sustainability (SDG1, 3, 4, 5, 10, 16); environmental sustainability (SDG11, 12, 13, 15) and economic sustainability (SDG8, 9, 17).


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Idiano D’Adamo ◽  
Massimo Gastaldi ◽  
Cesare Imbriani ◽  
Piergiuseppe Morone

AbstractThe monitoring report on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a global context involves a large number of actors as it represents probably the biggest change that our society is implementing. Actions at all levels, from local, regional and national to the aggregation of multiple countries (e.g. EU 27) are needed to achieve a sustainable future. This work focuses on a national perspective (Italy) where multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is used to measure current performance. A sustainability score for each region is calculated from a set of 175 indicators contained in all 17 SDGs. Additionally, sustainability scores are disaggregated along the three pillars – social (1–5, 10, 16, and 17), environmental (6, 13–15) and economic (7–9, 11, and 12). The results highlight the positive performance of northern regions and, in particular, of Trentino Alto Adige, which ranks first in the two considered scenarios. In addition, the relevance of territorial specificities emerges for which the analysis of individual SDGs shows different leading regions. It is noteworthy to highlight the performance of the environmental sub-group of SDGs in southern regions, in contrast to the social and economic sub-groups. Evidently, policy actions are needed to reduce the long-lasting North/South divide—yet the highlighted heterogeneous sustainability performance along the three dimensions calls for well targeted policy measures necessary to regain competitiveness at a European and global level, without compromising with environmental sustainability.


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