Boosting the cultural dimension of sustainable development – from grassroots to policy level

Abstract

The current article explores the integrative dimension of culture within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the European level while fostering cultural stakeholders’ empowerment. As sustainable development is an international priority, the interest in the significance of the cultural sector to the transformative process towards sustainable development has risen. The dominant explanation for this trend is given by the cross-cutting dimension of the cultural field and its premises to connect the three pillars of sustainable development: social, economic and environmental. The article supports this connection by using data from semi-structured interviews with representatives of ten organisations active in the cultural field from Belgium, Greece, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Hungary. The research findings show the relevance of the cultural sector as enabling sustainable development through its transversal dimension. The results are directed towards facilitating better understanding and increased attention to the benefits of trans-sectorial cooperation between grassroots, research and decision-making actors as a contributive approach to the SDGs.