Cultural sustainability complements the three classical pillars of sustainability — economic, social, and environmental — by introducing a fourth dimension that emphasizes the importance of cultural heritage and identity in sustainable development. However, the term is by no means unambiguous. For instance, some advocate for cultural sustainability as an independent concept, focusing on the preservation and revitalization of both tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Others argue that culture plays a significant role in shaping understanding and attitudes toward sustainability in a broad sense, i.e., culture is decisive for/in sustainable development.
In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the role that culture plays in fostering community resilience and social cohesion, particularly in the face of global challenges such as climate change and social inequality. Despite this increasing awareness, there is limited empirical research on cultural sustainability within museology, and notably, there are no existing studies from Nordic museums. This gap highlights the need for a deeper understanding of how museums can contribute to cultural sustainability through their practices.
We seek articles that are either case-based, methodological or theoretically grounded, addressing the following themes:
A) Communicating Cultural Sustainability
How do Nordic museums and their collections communicate about cultural sustainability? What methods, strategies and approaches do they employ, and how does the audience receive the message?
B) Digital Technology and Cultural Sustainability
What role does the use of digital technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and virtual reality (VR) in Nordic museums play in promoting cultural sustainability? How can these media support museums’ dissemination and engagement around the topic?
C) Cultural Sustainability and Other Sustainability Dimensions
How can various learning activities focused on cultural sustainability influence other dimensions of sustainability, such as social, economic, and environmental? Conversely, how can these dimensions mutually reinforce one another in the work of museums?
D) Cultural Sustainability as a Cultural Policy Parameter
How can cultural sustainability be established as a goal within cultural policy and serve as a criterion for evaluating museums’ performance and contributions to sustainable development?
We encourage researchers, museum professionals, and other interested parties to submit articles exploring the above themes. The articles should be in Norwegian, Danish, Swedish or English and can be based on cases, methods, or theoretical perspectives and should contribute to qualifying the concept of cultural sustainability across museum categories.
The deadline for submitting article proposals is December 15, 2024. Please send your abstract to Professor of Museology Ane Hejlskov Larsen at Aarhus University, Denmark, via email at Kunahl@cc.au.dk.
This call is initiated by the exploratory research network CultureSustain, which is supported by the Independent Research Fund Denmark. You can read more about CultureSustain here: https://cc.au.dk/en/culturesustain
