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Preface
Here is a summary of the changes I have made to my final paper. My revision includes a
new introduction and thesis statement, new sources of information with in-text citations which
are then listed in the Works Cited. There was one new source that was a text document on the
Internet that could be downloaded, but did not have page numbers on the document. So when
citing the source in the text, I used (n.p.) for no page.
I incorporated the suggestions from the hour I spent at the Writing Center going over my
paper with a writing tutor and your suggestions in my revision. My classmates critique
suggested that I shorten the introductory paragraph, which I did. I moved paragraphs and whole
sections around for a better flow. I did new research and added more examples and explanations.
I corrected the punctuation and grammar mistakes found in the draft. I examined MLA
formatting for correct style. I clarified passages that needed supporting evidence.
I dont correct the document containing the notes in tracking mode. Instead, I open a copy
of my paper and make changes in that copy, using the Save As feature to give the document a
new name when saving it. I usually ascribe a number to my documents so that I can look for the
highest number which is the last saved document.

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Abstract
Sustainability focuses on meeting current human needs without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their own needs. Traditionally, the sustainability paradigm
encompasses the interactions between humans and the economic, social and environmental
aspects of living. I believe adding culture to the already widely accepted three pillars of
sustainability--social, environmental, and economic--is important for society to address because
the addition of a fourth pillar to represent culture creates a holistic approach to sustainability.
This is a message that needs to be expressed through mass communications as well as through
education. Cultural sustainability examines ways to enhance our cultural identity and sense of
place through heritage, shared spaces, public art, social capital, educational opportunities, and
public policies in ways that promote environmental, economic, and social sustainability. Cultural
sustainability examines ways to enhance our cultural identity and sense of place through
heritage, shared spaces, public art, social capital, educational opportunities, and public policies in
ways that promote environmental, economic, and social sustainability. As the concept of
sustainability continues to evolve, cultural sustainability will be included in discussions that
examine culture and its links to environmental, economic and social dimensions of society. In
these discussions, we will find that culture is linked to the economy through income generation
and employment; culture is linked to social programs that deal with poverty, equal rights, and
civic engagement; and culture is linked to the environment through the use of cultural capital to
raise environmental awareness and responsibility.

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Denise Scammon
Prof. Stanley Scott
LCC 480 Senior Seminar
April 30, 2012
Recognizing Cultural Sustainability
Sustainability, as defined by the Brundtland Commission, an organization that was
created in 1983 to promote integrated global sustainability, involves efforts to focus on meeting
current human needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs. Traditionally, the sustainability paradigm encompasses the interactions between humans
and the economic, social and environmental aspects of living. Many Venn diagrams readily
available on the Internet support this fact. I believe the topic of adding culture to the already
widely accepted three pillars of sustainability is an important idea for society to address because
this aspect--culture--exists coterminously within the other three pillars but merits recognition as
its own entity. I believe that cultural sustainability is equally as important as economic, social
and environmental dimensions of sustainability and should be included as one of four pillars
supporting sustainability in a holistic approach. This is a message that needs to be expressed
through mass communications as well as through education. Cultural sustainability examines
ways to enhance our cultural identity and sense of place through heritage, shared spaces, public
art, social capital, educational opportunities, and public policies in ways that promote
environmental, economic, and social sustainability.
The word culture has multiple definitions and layers, as noted by researchers, and the
results of my own search for a clear definition were encumbered by such an abundance of

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differences. As an example of the difficulty in finding a clear definition for culture,

anthropologists Andreatta and Ferraro make note of a 1952 publication that stated that more
than 160 different definitions of culture [could be] identified to which they added their own
definition of culture: [E]verything that people have refers to material possessions; everything
that people think refers to the things they carry around in their heads, such as ideas, values, and
attitudes; and everything that people do refers to behavior patterns (34). Other definitions of
culture provide clues as to the types of material possessions (art works, homes, clothing); the
ideas, values, and attitudes (language, worshipping nature, tribal ceremonies); and the activities
(dancing, music, hunting) that further explain what culture means. Cultural sustainability is
shaped by the same forms of awareness we have toward social, economic, and environmental
dimensions and also examines ways to improve our lives and leave a viable inheritance for future
generations. The addition of cultural sustainability as the fourth pillar is not controversial, but it
is only in recent years that culture on its own merits, and not as part of one of the other three
pillars, has been added to discussions about sustainability as evidenced by a search of recent
research in that field.
In his book, The Myth of Progress: Toward a Sustainable Future, Wessels, an active
environmentalist, states that there are three laws of sustainability: the law of limits to growth, the
second law of thermodynamics, and the law of self-organization in complex systems. He
explains that the paradigmatic view of the world held by Descartes and Galileo is that all of
nature runs in a linear mode, like a machine. What Wessels proposes is an opposite view, that
complex systems interact with each other, as encompassed by the three laws of sustainability.
Wessels notes that, What is lost in this paradigmatic view of the world is that the whole may be

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much more than the sum of its parts (6). Drawing a connection to Wessels' ideas about complex
systems and examining all dimensions of sustainability as a whole, rather than each part
separately, becomes an important argument for the inclusion of culture as the fourth pillar of
sustainability. Culture does not create a fourth law parallel to Wessels three laws, but rather it is
a dimension of sustainability that uses the same terminology that informs the social,
environmental, and economic pillars of sustainability.
Cultural dimensions of society inform environmental, economic, and social discussions.
In these discussions, we find examples of how culture is linked to the economy through income
generation and employment; culture is linked to social programs that deal with poverty, equal
rights, and civic engagement; and culture is linked to the environment through the use of cultural
capital to raise environmental awareness and responsibility. For example, economic
sustainability assesses various plans for best financial value, expected life span, maintenance and
operational costs of income-producing entities, including buildings and businesses. Some of
these buildings and businesses may be specific to a culture. According to a diagram promoting
the sustainability theories of Adam Werbach, an environmental activist, published on the website,
The Living Principles for Design, economic sustainability is concerned with "actions and
issues that affect how people and organizations meet their basic needs, evolve and define
economic success and growth." Environmental sustainability attempts to minimize the use of
nonrenewable resources and energy consumption, eliminate waste to land fill, etc. It is concerned
with actions and issues that affect natural systems, including climate change, preservation,
carbon footprint, and restoration of natural resources (Werbach). Social sustainability focuses
on meeting all, or as many of a community's needs as possible, such as appropriate facilities for

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the elderly, children and cultural groups. It is concerned with actions and issues that affect all
aspects of society, including poverty, violence, injustice, education, healthcare, safe housing,
labor, and human rights (Werbach). Cultural sustainability is concerned with actions and issues
that affect how communities manifest identity, preserve and cultivate traditions, and develop
belief systems and commonly accepted values (Werbach). Cultural identity is dynamic because
the world is constantly evolving and this identity arises from self-knowledge and
acknowledgement of both inclusion and difference between other cultural groups which gives
one a framework for ones place in society.
Knowing ones self and place in a culture enables the examination of what matters in
ones life and a connection to that cultures beliefs and values. Whether one can be flexible to the
way cultural traditions are enacted in a changing world can be problematic. Examples of
traditions that inform sustainability, either positively or negatively, include the Rapa Nui people
who devastated the natural resources of Easter Island in order to build Maoi (statues) as symbols
of power. Their harvest of the islands resources made their environment uninhabitable and
brought the Rapa Nui to the verge of extinction. The Rapa Nuis misuse of natural resources is a
negative example of continuing a cultural tradition without being mindful of sustainability.
Another example of a tradition that is passed down through the generations in cultural
communities and that informs sustainability is the harvesting of wool. Sheep farmers are facing
extinction, but not due to over harvesting resources as occurred with the Rapa Nui. Rather, sheep
farmers are faced with shrinking markets for their wool and rising prices for food and land which
affect their sheep farming. Discussions about wool production and sheep farming integrate all
four pillars of sustainability: cultural, economic, social, and environmental.

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These two examples show how the beliefs and values of groups influence their approach
to sustainability. These values become ingrained in cultural standards that are passed down
through a group and continue until a crisis is reached which can be self-inflicted as with the Rapa
Nui, or come from outside influences such as with the economic influences on sheep farmers.
People value buildings that define elements of their cultural identity. For example, a building has
real estate value, but may also have spiritual, symbolic or cultural value, in addition to its
economic value. In Integrating Environmental and Cultural Sustainability for Heritage
Properties, authors Powter and Ross, who are both conservation architects, state, The
definition of cultural sustainability continues to evolve, yet explicit reference to heritage
conservation (or historic preservation) is often overlooked or applied simplistically (5). A
building's cultural value is also known as cultural capital which encompasses tangible forms of
culture such as places, arts, and artifacts. In A Handbook of Cultural Economics, Throsby, a
professor of economics, notes that, Intangible cultural capital includes forms of culture such as
ideas, practices, beliefs, traditions, etc. (4). The inheritance of all types of cultural capital is
similar to the inheritance of natural capital as both represent intergenerational equity. Throsby
explains the intergenerational equity of natural and cultural capital: Both have been inherited
from the distant or recent past, the former provided as a gift of nature, the latter deriving from
human creativity. Both impose a duty of care on the present generation, the essence of
sustainability (4). Cultural heritage connects people to a place that symbolizes the identity and
values that provide a sense of belonging on personal and community levels, and the continuance
of that heritage is what cultural sustainability is about. As people strive to maintain their sense of
self and place, decisions and actions relating to sustainability need to take into account a

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communitys cultural capital.

When preserving cultural capital for contemporary and future use, communities are
protecting their cultural identities, both tangible and intangible. Including applications of
cultural, economic, environmental, and social sustainability in community development and
identity preservation has positive effects on creating a paradigm shift in the general worldview of
sustainability. These positive effects occur because each group focuses on its own identity and is
not forced to accept another groups cultural identity. Powter and Ross state, Not only is
heritage conservation concerned with protecting cultural objects that are in limited supply and
once gone are gone forever; it also contributes directly to sustainable development and
sustainable communities (6). Cultural sustainability supports the other three pillars of
sustainabilitysocial, economic, environmentalfor example, through the re-use, recycling,
and/or repurposing of resources on which energy has already been spent. Powter and Ross
explain, [L]ike environmental sustainability, heritage conservation promotes the use of existing
resources; that is, resources that have previously received an investment in extraction, energy,
and land (6). Culture informs sustainability when buildings that are identified with a cultural
heritage get used for purposes that differ from their original intent of usage rather than being torn
down or abandoned yet remain cultural capital at least for the local community, perhaps offering
a socially sustainable benefit by being used as housing for low-income residents.
A building that can be used for purposes that differ from the original intent, such as the
historic Horatio G. and Ella M. Foss house in Auburn, Maine which was once a private home and
is now the club house of the Womans Literary Union of Androscoggin County, may offer an
economic benefit, too, because funds are not needed to construct a new building. On the

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downside is the cost of maintaining an older, historical building. The Foss mansion, which was
built and owned by a local shoe factory owner in the late 1800s to early 1900s, is a symbol of the
wealth that was generated in the community through the shoe factories. The house was
bequeathed in 1941 to WLU, a nonprofit womens club, along with an endowment for its
maintenance. Preserving the historic homes cultural value is a huge strain on the club members,
all of whom are volunteers who participate in fund raising throughout the year. If WLU
abandoned the preservation of the homes cultural value and replaced things in the home such as
wall paper, carpets, roofing, gardens, etc., without giving consideration to historically correct
replacements or renovations, then the home would face losing its authenticity and attraction. If
WLU tore down the old club house and built a new one with new material rather than continuing
with the more costly maintenance of the historic house, in theory, the new construction would
use energy and resources that would surpass the maintenance costs. Maintaining the historic
house offers environmental benefits, too, because not tearing down the house means building
materials are not disposed as waste in landfills. So discussions about heritage conservation have
economic, environmental, and social dimensions.
Communications Effect on Sustainability
Communication is important in disseminating the message about culture and heritage
conservation and its integration with the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of
sustainability but is challenged by differences in cultures and language. For example, the unique
cultural values of communities, including linguistic differences, lead to various interpretations of
the Brundtland definition of sustainability. Efforts made by a diverse array of entities, which
include citizens and governments, to broadcast one global message that can be understood by all

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communities about cultural sustainability include communications that inform, shape, and shift
our relations with the other three dimensions of sustainability: social, economic, and
environmental. In his essay, "Naturalizing Communication and Culture," Carbaugh, a professor
of communication, states,
Communication is the basic social process through which our natural ways and
cultural meanings are being exercised socially. Further, whether this
communication is explicitly about landscapes, lions, limousines, or whatever, in
the process we implicate something of natural and cultural processes, with our
communication being radically consequential for, if not the whole of, both the
natural and the cultural (40).
Communication may reveal the cultural lifestyles of diverse groups that then could be followed
with policies that take into account how such cultures relate to social, economic, and
environmental dimensions of sustainability. It is better to have policies in place prior to
unpredictable disasters that alter a groups culture. For example, tsunamis and earthquakes wipe
out the physical cultural elements of whole communities. But, in rebuilding their communities,
with policies in place that address sustainability, cultural aspects can inform, shape, and shift our
relations to a general worldview of sustainability that would not homogenize the uniqueness of a
culture in order for the rebuilding to take place. Local policies are important safeguards in the
protection of a communitys culture.
Since models of sustainability must begin at the local level of any cultural group, that is
also where communications should focus until there is a paradigm shift in the worldview toward
sustainability. There is no one size fits all model that can be managed through one global

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movement. Each community is best left to create its own paradigm shift which, collectively, adds
to the worldview. The reality of life is that there can be as many different cultures as there are
communities and each community has its own values, beliefs, and traditions. So leaving each
community to find methodologies that preserve its own culture and sustainability has a
cumulative effect when the world is viewed as one global community comprised of many local
ones. An example of a paradigm shift that needs to be successful at the community level before it
becomes a worldview is that of the connection between climate change and consumerism.
Different cultures have their own beliefs about climate change and what effect, if any,
their values have on it. Consumerism might help the economy while at the same time it increases
the problems surrounding climate change. Moving away from consumerism toward sustainable
living is the message that needs to be communicated in order for the paradigmatic shift to occur.
Wessels notes that this type of shift from one to many, from simple to complex, moves from a
linear model to a systems model. We are seeing a greater appreciation via mass communications
for the diversity of cultures around the world. Locally, ethnic groups that move into the
Lewiston-Auburn community initially face widespread resistance rather than acceptance.
Newspapers and television news broadcasts have investigated cultural differences, specifically
and generally, which provide the potential for citizens to change their negative views by
examining the cultures of these ethnic groups. But, still, communities focus on the preservation
of their own cultures first, and newcomers who bring different cultural traditions, beliefs, and
values to an established community, are usually marginalized, which disrupts a cohesive
sustainability paradigm on the local level. Before cultural sustainability can be achieved
organically in a collective manner on a global scale, communication can help promote it at the

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local level.
Prior to achieving a paradigm shift in the general worldview toward sustainability,
grassroots efforts need to be undertaken at the local level where communications can propel a
greater appreciation for local culture. For example, Alcoholics Anonymous is recognized by
many adults as a group that provides support to alcoholics looking to change their addiction.
Another group, Wellbriety, has a similar mission, but was established specifically to help Native
Americans with addictions: A sustainable grassroots Wellbriety Movement that provides
culturally based healing to the next seven generations of Indigenous people (2012). The
distinction between the two groups is based on cultural differences. So as individual groups work
toward the same goalin this case, becoming free from alcohol addictionthen the results
collectively add to a paradigm shift in the worldview. Its a complex system in which
communication promotes cultural messages.
The sustainability framework based on three pillarssocial, environmental, and
economicwill change with the recognition of culture as part of that framework. In "Media
Frames and Environmental Discourse: The Case of 'Focus: Logjam,'" Schlechtweg notes,
To understand how a newscast or newspaper item intersects with public discourse,
we have to go beyond the text to consider the discursiveand hence social,
cultural, and historicalcontext in which it is embedded. It is at this point that the
limitations imposed by a media frame, and its implications and significance for
environmental discourse, become apparent. (258)
Culture and values are significant components of communities, but each cultures values are not
static; they evolve over time, thus first shifting local views of what defines sustainability and

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then creating paradigm shifts in the worldview on sustainability.

Efforts to integrate all four pillars of sustainability must acknowledge and include the
cultural connections between each pillar. For example, quality of life is related to both social and
cultural capital. Social capital, as explained by economists, Pugno and Verme, is often defined
as a concept pertaining to organizations, or even nations, because it has been mainly referred to
social relationships and supporting structures as determined in research conducted by Putnam
and Fukuyama (4). As explained by researchers Kim and Kim who base their findings on the
results of empirical studies:
Cultural capital is closely connected not only with objective change in social
structure and class at the macro level, but also with subjective change in
individual well-being at micro-level factors. To reproduce a society it is not
simply required to reproduce the structure, but to reproduce the mentality, such as
false consciousness and subjective well-being. (297)
But, using communication to share ideas about sustainability at the local level can require just as
much strategic planning as at the global level. Local institutions should be involved in promoting
a sense of place and identity that fits with the local cultures. Cultural well-being occurs when
communities and individuals are provided social activities that promote cultural capital. Cultural
sustainability must not focus on tangibles over intangibles so that communities can retain a
holistic sense of place and identity. Intellectual and spiritual experiences are just as important to
one's sense of well-being as heritage buildings and art.
Using communication to coordinate global sustainability efforts across cultures involves
interpersonal, group, mass, and global types of communication. Sachs and Finkelpearl, co-

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founder of a design and communications firm, and online strategy director, respectively, the
authors of, From Selling Soap to Selling Sustainability: Social Marketing, published in 2010
State of the World, examine how the use of social marketing to fix ecological problems can
affect social behavior leading to changes in lifestyle and politics. Story-based campaigns shift
consumer behavior based on perceived identities linked to choice of products (2010). From this
observation, the importance of identity is connected to lifestyle and politics which are part of a
communitys culture. In Consumption Behavior and Narratives About the Good Life,
Michaelis, director of research for the Oxford Commission, notes,
Efforts to engineer cultural change have not worked well and have often had
unintended consequences. ... One of the most important stimuli for cultural
change has been the emergence of new technology, especially transport and
communication technology (258).
Appropriating the latest in communication technology, including online social networks such as
Facebook and Twitter, enables messages and campaigns to move along more swiftly than even as
recently as five years ago. These online social networks will continue to evolve with newer
technology, but the quickness and reach of messages communicated through these networks
increases the effect of any campaigns and I believe we will see sustainability becoming a more
common discussion because of new communication technology.
Education & Cultural Sustainability
The sustainability of cultural elements of society is promoted by education,
communication, public policies, and the work of organizations like UNESCO. Through
education, careful attention to the effects of globalization will ensure that homogenization does

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not destroy culture at the local level. All public policies should take into account differences in
the cultural values of each community. Take for example the issue of global warming which is
not simply an environmental problem, but has aspects that affect social, economic, and cultural
dimensions of society, too. The Human Development Report 2003, prepared by the United
Nations Development Programme, explains the connections between these different aspects and
some reasons why public policies need to address these dimensions:
The strong links between poverty and the environment call for a focus on the
needs of people whose livelihoods depend on natural resources and environmental
services. In policy and practice, environmental management should create
income-generating opportunities, strengthening peoples property and user rights
and fostering their participation in political decision-making. (124)
As this reports shows, an environmental issue can affect social dimensions, such as poverty. As
well, an environmental issue can affect the economy and income-generating opportunities. And
environmental issues can affect culture and the way people live, such as their property and
livelihoods. One way to communicate the way that environmental, social, and economic issues
affect culture is through storytelling.
Storytelling can be used to engage and motivate people at the local level to preserve a
community's culture and sense of identity. Stories that resonate with people enable a paradigm
shift in views, beginning at the local level and moving on to global views toward culture as an
important dimension of the economy, environment, and social works. As the world view on
sustainability evolves, corporations will either follow the demands of the market or will create
green businesses to go along with the growing demand for cultural sustainability. In

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Environmentalism in Popular Culture: Gender, Race, Sexuality, and the Politics of the Natural,
Sturgeon, a professor of womens studies, writes,
The hallmark of environmental cultural studies is that it moves away from the
emphasis on interpretation of texts found in ecocriticism, to use a framework that
aims at historically and culturally specific analyses of the intertwining of political
economy, cultural production, and ideological representations. One of the things
that distinguishes this approach from traditional ecocritical and radical
environmental movement traditions is the cultural studies emphasis on a critique
of naturalization. (11)
This framework introduces culture to environmental studies also known as green cultural studies,
which according to Hochman:
is the examination of nature through words, image, and model for the purpose of
foregrounding potential effects representation might have on cultural attitudes and
social practices which, in turn, affect nature itself ... [and] that green cultural
studies must be equally cautious of the impact that it--like other forms of
representation--can have on nature. (n.p.)
Improving a communitys knowledge about the four dimensions of sustainabilitysocial,
environmental, economic, and culturalcan take place in local educational venues that promote
art and culture.
Wessels has an idea about education which brings us back to the second law of
thermodynamics also known as the law of entropy. He writes:
The implications of the second law of thermodynamics are so profound, and its

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workings so pervasive, that it should be an essential part of everyones

education. ... The second law ... states that although energy cant be created or
destroyed, it can be transformed from one form to another. ... [but] no
transformation is 100 percent efficient. (41-42)
Wessels uses the transformation of the process of turning a cars fuel into energy as an example
that shows how energy is lost as heat into the atmosphere, and of a system that also creates
pollution. His idea is that educating people about this problem will make people aware of it and
possibly lead someone to create a better fuel system that turns a renewable source of fuel into
energy for cars and other machinery and that does not affect our environment through a loss of
energy. Education is an important element in communicating the facts about all dimensions of
sustainability that effect a careful stewardship of our planet. Education about the complex
integration of all four pillars and how they often overlap is key to an understanding of how
culture can promote environmental, economic, and social sustainability.
Economic and Cultural Interactions
Cultural sustainability involves efforts to preserve the tangible and intangible cultural
elements of society in ways that promote economic sustainability. According to UNESCOs
website, the definition of intangible culture includes oral traditions, performing arts, social
practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or
the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts (2012). Cultural activities can promote
local policy making and economic factors through a sense of place and social activities that bring
together people from diverse backgrounds. Throsby notes that capital assets, such as artworks in
a museum, or historic buildings or sites, produce

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income flows [that] might be generated by displaying the artworks for people to
look at, or by opening the buildings and sites to tourists. In each case a stream of
monetary income is generated which accrues to the immediate owners of the asset
in question; at the same time a stream of cultural income is also generated, some
of which accrues to society at large as public-good benefits arising from the
existence of these items of the cultural capital stock. (8)
Using cultural capital to generate a sustainable economy is already occurring. Each time
someone pays to walk through a museum to view art works or attends a music concert, that
money is generating a sustainable economy.
One unusual idea that has not gained widespread use is to swap labor for more free time.
This idea takes into account the economic and human activities that consume nonrenewable
resources, activities which cannot be allowed to continue without severe environmental
consequences. Working fewer hours has been shown to improve health, reduce air pollution from
cars and factories, provide more time to enjoy life/ nature, and decrease the desire for material
things, according to de Graaf in Reducing Work Time as a Path to Sustainability, published in
the 2010 State of the World report.
An example of how cultural capital can promote economic sustainability can be found in
msot natural or built environment that generates tourism. However, discussions on the merits of
preserving such cultural capital in the face of erosion and degradation need to be addressed and
policies put in place before being confronted with such dilemmas. In "Cultural Heritage:
Dilemma of Preservation in the Midst of Change," Robertson-von Trotha examines the
ecological sustainability of world cultural sites including the canals in Venice. The canals have

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changed over time and now threaten to flood the city. While the canals are a positive influence
on the tourism economy, the number of boats using the canals has damaged the area's ecology
(175-185). In this situation, decisions need to be made about the relationship between culture and
the environment. This is an ethical discussion, because on the one hand, a built landscape has
created a tourism economy, but on the other hand, that built landscape is hurting the
environment. Will the solutions be based on an obligation to the environment, the economy, or to
the culture of that region?
In an example closer to home, the mills along the Androscoggin River pumped
carcinogenic waste into the river during the manufacture of products. Based on common local
knowledge, I know that members of the Lewiston-Auburn community were dependent on the
mills for wages. Rather than shut down the mills until the polluting-discharge problem was fixed,
the mills continued to contaminate the river for years, implementing very few of the pollution
guidelines as they were created by legislation. The mills eventually closed as the work moved
overseas where labor was cheap. But if the mills hadnt closed for economic reasons, would they
have continued to manufacture their products and pollute the environment?
Today, the historical facts of the mostly Franco-American mill workerson the job, at
home, at churchpresents the Franco-American culture to the community in positive ways that
they did not enjoy during their working days in the mills. Their hard work in the mills did not
raise their social status. We have written and oral histories of the workers in our local libraries;
we have a museum dedicated to the mill workers; local students learn about the mill workers
whose lives appear to be culturally rich with traditions and language that separated them from
those in power. The mills supported the workers and the workers spent their money locally. I see

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mill buildings that are now either empty because the cost to bring them up to todays building
codes is too expensive for most buyers according to local news reports or they have been
repurposed into office space, restaurants, a museum, and living space. The mills are great
examples of how culture integrates with social, economic and environmental dimensions of
sustainability.
Environmental and Cultural Interactions
Paradigms, or dominant world views, sometimes shift to new world views after evidence
reveals truths formerly unknown or recognized as truths, such as when the world was once
thought flat. But, Scott, a professor of English and philosophy, notes in the introduction to his
book, Frontiers of Consciousness: Logic and empirical evidence are in themselves insufficient
grounds for acceptance of a new paradigm that rivals an institutionalized one (4). Being
cognizant of cultural diversity is a powerful part of a paradigm shift, as evidenced by the change
in status of the Franco-American population and preservation of the mills in Lewiston-Auburn
over the last few decades. The change in status came from a new perception of the laborintensive mill jobs that instilled a sense of pride in their work ethic as part of their cultural
heritage. This new respect came from within the Franco-American community as well as from
others who learn about them. So now we see community members and city government trying to
preserve the mills because they represent the backbone of our early economy and the cultural
identity of the mill workers. Cultural sustainability projects benefit the environment through the
preservation of cultural capital such as buildings, like the mills, that retain a community's
heritage.
Cultural capital can be produced or preserved with environmentally friendly materials,

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taking into account the concerns that environmentalists and ecologists have toward endangered
species. Similarly, cultural groups are concerned with the endangerment of historic places or the
extinction of indigenous languages, according to Throsby (5). Recognizing the cultural capital of
a community enables discussion about the importance it has in sustainability actions and
programs. Culture can promote the values and visions of sustainability between social,
environmental, and economic concerns in creative ways that provide opportunities for
discussions that result in new answers to questions that arise from innovation. For example, we
use natural resources, such as oil, almost to the point of permanent extinction before we start
asking questions about sustainability and the responsible stewardship of Earths resources.
Ending the use of nonrenewable resources becomes imperative, yet the continuation of
unsustainable practices are usually linked to the market and profit. Consumers can be made
aware, through green campaigns in some instances and choice editing in other circumstances, as
to whether their purchases are of products that are manufactured in accordance with good
sustainability practices.
Choice editing has made consumerism appear to be a natural activity and was used to
promote mass consumption. Today, government and industry are becoming proponents of
environmental sustainability through standards, labels, and policies. In his article, "Editing Out
Unsustainable Behavior, from the 2010 State of the World report, author Maniates writes about
choice editing:
Safety and performance standards for everything from the food people eat to the
cars they drive constrain and shape choice. The same holds true for tax, tariff, and
subsidy policies that heighten the desirability of some products while making

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others unattractive or unavailable. More subtly, government decisions about

where to build roads and rail lines, what schools and hospitals are constructed or
closed, and which research and development initiatives are supported or starved
converge to write the menu for housing, education, and jobs from which everyone
must choose. (2010)
How does culture relate to, and what does it contribute to environmental sustainability in a
discussion on choice editing and consumerism? Consumers make purchases based on the
messages they receive through mass communications, particularly advertisements, but also based
on news which has been edited. Who is doing the editing and for what purpose? Those questions
and the answers are important to the discussion about the integration of culture and
environmental sustainability. This is also a good example of the overlap between the four pillars
of sustainability. Certain products are promoted for which there may be an agenda that benefits
an entity economically but to the detriment of cultural, social, and environmental sustainability.
Another example of how culture and environment integrate is through consumerism and
labels on products. Labels could be an effective way to move consumerism toward sustainability,
but Maniates writes,
At least three factors limit the effectiveness of labeling: the varying degree of
environmental commitment among the general population; the complexity of
consumer-choice decisions, which are structured by intricate sets of social
processes and cultural influences; and a corrosive choice architecture--the
potent context within which people make decisions (SOW 123).
In this example, we have labels placed on products that may have different values for different

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cultures. This is a good example of how global policies are not necessarily the best method of
promoting sustainability policies. Certain products may mean more to one group in a community
than another group, and thus it is important that discussions about sustainability take place at the
local level. The individual and collective effect of sustainability efforts that take into account
diverse cultures will be the most conducive to a paradigm shift in the world view toward
sustainability, such as described by Wessels: Due in part to environmental activists organizing
Earth Day to increase public awareness of environmental problems, a dramatic paradigm shift
occurred in this country in less than a decade (62).
Social and Cultural Interactions
The definition of culture and how it contributes to sustainability is a key aspect of
education and mass communication in order to promote the idea that cultural capital is important
to a communitys identity and well-being. Culture, such as art, food, and musictangible and
intangible cultural capital--has traditionally been included in discussions of social sustainability,
but it is time that culture is recognized for its own merits as part of a paradigm shift in the
worldview on sustainability. Social sustainability includes a communitys ability to provide its
members with the tools for personal health, adequate food and shelter, opportunities for
employment and education, and freedom to participate in civic affairs. Social capital refers to
how closely and to what depth a community meets the needs of its members.
Together, cultural and social sustainability develop community capital which adds to
quality of life and sense of place. Van Londen and de Ruijterhe, the authors of "Sustainable
Diversity," examine questions pertaining to social progress such as how to best distribute scarce
resources among societies and how diverse cultures can work together to pursue cultural and

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economic sustainability. The discussions surrounding these questions include the diverse global
flows of culture--products, ideas, images, people, and the resulting diaspora communities and
interactions with marginalized groups (3-24). Each community will take its own unique approach
to social sustainability with the goal of satisfying basic human needs.
Practical Applications of Cultural Sustainability
Any change in economic, environmental, or social policies that affect cultural aspects of a
community, should be guided by the cultural values of that community whenever possible. Using
global values in creating policies at the local level carries the risk of homogenizing the diversity
and complexity of our world. Respect must be shown to the history and character of whatever
gives a community a sense of place. Whatever it is about a place that denotes a communitys
heritage, and that could be a physical landmark or a ritual, should inform public policies. A sense
of place is not handed down from the government; it comes from the people who make up a
community. In his book, Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature, Cronon
quotes anthropologist Stephen Feld:
When I read that we lose 15-20,000 species of plants and animals a year through
the logging, ranching and mining that escalates rainforest destruction, my mind
immediately begins to ponder how to possibly calculate the number of songs,
myths, words, ideas, artifacts, techniques all the cultural knowledge and
practices lost per year in these mega-diversity zones. (317)
Similarly, a language is lost every 14 days, mostly due to the only person on Earth using that
language, dying, and the language not having been preserved. To historians and anthropologists,
and perhaps to other researchers, the loss of a language amounts to a huge loss to humanity. But,

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while the loss of a language may herald the death of a specific culture, does it equate to a loss of
one of the four pillars of sustainability? Certainly, theres a loss of culture, especially if the
language was not recorded, as happened when the last member of the Eyak tribe in northwest
Alaska passed away. Why would the preservation of a language be important to sustainability in
general? A discussion about language as cultural capital is an example of how education and
communication are important aspects of sustainability campaigns.
Sustainability campaigns should propose that within the realm of cultural sustainability,
communities must learn to minimize their consumption of natural resources. In the essay,
"Restoring for Cultural-Ecological Sustainability in Arizona and Connecticut," the authors
examine the ways in which cultural restoration provides a look at the historical interactions
between humans and nature. Examples of the progress being made toward the inclusion of
cultural sustainability as the fourth pillar include the ecological and social degradation of a
specific marsh and the creation of economic growth through an exchange of goods and services
(Casagrande and Vasquez 193-207). The restoration of the marsh focuses on the natural
environment. The restoration of the historic but mostly defunct mills along the Androscoggin
River in Lewiston-Auburn focuses on the built environment. Recognizing both built and natural
environments that are part of the cultural capital of a community as important assets that provide
individuals living in that community with an identity and sense of place should inform the
development of practical applications toward sustainability.
In her essay, "Nature and Environmental Justice," Evans states,
Locating oneself, or being located, in Nature is a thoroughly cultural activity:
when actual subjects in the United States set forth to experience the call of the

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wild, they are accompanied always by cultural expectations that the encounter
may change or consolidate their identity in some meaningful way. (182)
First comes the acknowledgment that nature can be a cultural experience. Then comes discussion
about ways to apply activities that preserve that culture while at the same time promote
sustainability. Using Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon as examples, if earthquakes threatened
the natural environment, the local economy of those areas would be in danger of economic loss
due to the fact that those natural environments could not be recreated.
In contrast, Walt Disney creates fantastic worlds that attract millions of visitors which
generates an economic boost to the local economy wherever the magic kingdoms are located.
However, if an earthquake destroyed Disney World, another theme park could be created to
replace it. Nature is different than built environments. The documentary film, Pururambo,
examines some of the most primitive inhabitants on Earth--Kombai tribes of New Guinea, some
of whom live in trees--and compares their culture and lifestyle with modern mainstream culture.
The film shows how the Western world is tough on indigenous cultures. Director Barabas
examines the loss of culture and the homogenization of our society (Barabas). The film leaves
one wondering how some products of Western technology that are used for leisure and
entertainment, such as television, video game players, and many of the cell phone applications
downloaded to play games, are of any importance in countries without the infrastructures to
provide access to such sources of entertainment. This is an example of imposing mainstream
culture on a marginalized group. If the Western world provides technology to a group in which
the technology is completely foreign, we should ask ourselves, What are we losing by taking
away cultural traditions and replacing them with machinery? We should be careful about

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exposing a primitive culture to advanced technology. Nature is too complex to be created from a
formula, unlike theme parks.
Conclusion
As the concept of sustainability continues to evolve, cultural sustainability should be
included in discussions that examine environmental, economic and social dimensions of society.
In these discussions, which will take place throughout society in diverse fields such as education,
politics, and business, we will find that culture is linked to the economy through income
generation and employment; culture is linked to social programs that deal with poverty, equal
rights, and civic engagement; and culture is linked to the environment through the use of cultural
capital, such as ecotourism that raises environmental awareness and responsibility. Sustainability
needs to be a part of all decisions and actions, whether the consideration is economic,
environmental, social or cultural, no matter if the decision or action is being made at the local,
national, or global level.
Sustainability can be defined as the ability to meet current environmental/ecological,
economic, social, and cultural needs without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to
meet their needs. In Communicating Nature: How We Create and Understand Environmental
Messages, Corbett states, Our sense of place in addition to childhood experiences and
historical and cultural contexts influences how we perceive, experience, and value the natural
world and ultimately, influences all our entire belief systems (25). Practical applications of
cultural sustainability can minimize the use of natural capital through resource management;
improve tangible social capital such as public facilities and infrastructure; and strengthen
economic capital through fair trade and getting more out of renewable resources. Practical

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applications informed by a communitys culture create a framework similar to social,

environmental and economic standards that are the basis for public policy. When including
cultural dimensions in its policies, a community can develop practices that take into account
quality of life and the well-being of its citizens. Corbett also argues that no policy can be
effective unless it is grounded in systems and institutions able to facilitate its implementation. He
suggests that the structure of governmental departments be redesigned to ensure that the primary
areas of cultural generation are integrated and coordinated in recognition of their key role in
expressing the meaning, identity and purpose of our society and its citizens. New governance
paradigms and views of what constitutes a healthy and sustainable society would be more
effective if cultural vitality were to be included as one of the basic requirements, main
conceptual tenets and overriding evaluation streams.
There is more to sustainability than environmental practices, economic growth, and
equitable social services. Sustainability also includes a communitys values and cultural heritage.
A paradigm shift in the worldview toward sustainability needs to include discussions about
cultural sustainability in ways that do not damage our ecosystem, environment, and social wellbeing. The strategies toward this paradigm shift need to be inclusive and holistic. Throsby notes,
"The notion of diversity, which is of such overwhelming importance in the natural world, has an
equally vital role to play in cultural systems" (4). A combination of policies and designs that
cover all four pillars of sustainability are needed to meet this goal. Look at the places we live and
work. Are they environmentally friendly? Economically feasible? And, do they contribute to a
sense of place?
We need to place a high value on social and cultural capital. Strengthen the capital in our

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communities, whether that capital is natural or built, tangible or intangible, and that action will
build the foundation on which sustainability is empowered as people identify with their culture
and sense of place. Special efforts to preserve natural and built landmarks that nurture a sense of
place are vital parts of cultural sustainability. In conclusion, sustainability efforts that once were
characterized by environmental, social, and economic discussions, now see the inclusion of
culture in the discussions as a holistic benefit to communities through the development of a sense
of place.

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