Cultural heritage: a well of social knowledge and expressions, that inspires and creates an innovative and sustainable future.

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1 Cultural Heritage and Development Initiatives A Challenge or a Contribution to Sustainability Rome, Italy, May Session I - Cultural Heritage as a vector for sustainable development Cultural heritage: a well of social knowledge and expressions, that inspires and creates an innovative and sustainable future. Carlos J. Villaseñor Anaya For many years, development was conceived as economic growth or the alleviation of a concrete social deficit. Essentially, the increase of economic resources was the paradigm which guided the evaluation of other development areas (health, poverty and equity, for example, were measured in terms of income or investment); in the end, development was much more determined by the available money rather than by the effectiveness of those investments to improve people s fundamental freedoms and well-being perception. At the beginning of the 21 st Century, based on the social media widely spread evidence, we are able to perceive globally, directly and live- the economic inequity, the increasing violence that arouses from social exclusion, the brokerage of the social cohesion and the progressive inability of the planet to regenerate itself in order to continue satisfying the natural resources demands of an insatiable consumer society.

2 Such horizontal and immediate information has produced a widely spread anguish that a viable future is at risk. What s worse, people are feeling that things are beyond their control and that they are permanently disabled to realize their full potential as human beings. In this moment, hope is weak. As a new path to ensure the fundamental freedoms and resources that people need in order to retake the future in their hands, the UN State Parties concluded and adopted the 2030 SD Agenda, which conceptualizes sustainability of development as the result of the interactive balance of economic growth, environmental sustainability and social development. The change that is introduced by the 2030 SD Agenda is that all of these dimensions are interdependent and mutually reinforcing, with none having predominance over another and each being equally necessary Agenda is disruptive because development won t be any more the concurrent growth of parts, but the continuous balance of interrelated elements in order to flourish sustainability. For example, is possible to predict that there will be situations in which it will be necessary to reduce economic growth and environmental resources exploitation, but greatly increase the fundamental freedoms enjoyment, in order to produce a more sustainable well-being. In this sense, 2030 Agenda is a complex system that works as a new operative program for development. This means that if cultural policy pretends to produce an impact into flourishing sustainable development, it shall be conceived, performed and evaluated in the logic of this new operative development program.

3 Not only in order to be effectively contributing to the sustainability of development by itself, but also to continue being considered by governments, international agencies and other stakeholders, as part of the core strategies needed to reach the Goals and Targets of the 2030 Agenda. There s a fact that we as a sector can t avoid: international cooperation will be ruled by the demonstrated impact into Targets and Goals of the 2030 Agenda. If we don t understand and attend this new logic, we will be out of the game. As part of this process, it s important that we can clearly demonstrate by means of building a common language with other development decision makers- on how cultural policy contributes to flourish sustainable development. To do so, an immediate further step shall be to identify how the data which is part of the UNESCO Culture and Development Indicators may be incorporated into the national and international sustainable development indicators, as a way to clearly link cultural sector activities as part of the info on how SD Targets and Goals are measured. After taking some minutes to share with you some thoughts on how 2030 Agenda is changing the cultural policy scenario, I m going to talk now on how Cultural Heritage could be appropriated as a vector of sustainable development. To take the maximum advantage of this opportunity, I won t talk about the opportunities that cultural monuments, sites and landscapes are for cultural tourism; neither, about the inspiration that cultural heritage may be for

4 creative economy activities like design, jewelry, fashion or architecture, to mention only some of the most viewable areas. Certainly all of them are themes in which cultural heritage produces economic development and increases the diversity of cultural expressions for societies, but in this time what I want is to explore with you some other ideas in how cultural heritage can inspire and create a more innovative and sustainable future. Neither about the specific mentions to cultural themes that are included into paragraphs 8 and 36 of the Declaration, or into the 4.7, 8.9, 11.4 and 12.b Targets, because those are evident references that are being currently explored by countries and cities, in order to build-up their specific programs towards 2030 Agenda. Even though that the recently approved (Paris, 2015) POLICY FOR THE INTEGRATION OF A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE INTO THE PROCESSES OF THE WORLD HERITAGE CONVENTION, remarks that strengthening the three dimensions of sustainable development may bring benefits to cultural properties and support the Outstanding Universal Values (OUV) of World Heritage; we still have to work too much in order to clarify the many paths into which Cultural Heritage could contribute to reach those Targets and Goals. I come from Mexico, a country which has a wide range of climates that determine a biological and cultural mega diversity that is expressed for example- into 62 living languages.

5 As a product of this natural and cultural richness, Mexico has 33 World Heritage Sites, which are not only historic or artistic monuments, but an invaluable testimony of a wide range of ways in which the societies that lived into the territory that we now call Mexico had performed their lives together and had adapted themselves to the various environmental challenges they faced. In that sense is that I understand that World Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage are a rich well of information of scientific and technical knowledge, which can foster our creativity and may be useful to solve the new challenges that we are facing now. Let me give you some examples. FIRST EXAMPLE: Argentina Quebrada de Humahuaca (2003) The Quebrada de Humahuaca follows the line of a major cultural route, the Camino Inca, along the spectacular valley of the Rio Grande, from its source in the cold high desert plateau of the High Andean lands to its confluence with the Rio Leone some 150 km to the south. The valley shows substantial evidence of its use as a major trade route over the past 10,000 years. Of particular note are the extensive remains of stone-walled agricultural terrace fields at COCTACA, thought to have originated around 1,500 years ago and still in use today; these are associated with a string of fortified towns

6 known as pucaras. The field system and the pucaras together make a dramatic impact on the landscape and one that is unrivalled in South America.

7 Studied as a source of technical information on how water management and food producing needs were solved by the people that lived in that environment, we may increase the human kind repertory of creative solutions to face the actual water and food scarcity. How this specific example of World Heritage could be related to the 2030 SD Development Agenda? Let me try to explain it to you. Goal 2 Ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture. Target 2.4 By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for

8 adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality. For me it s clear that by exploring the wide variety of water management and food production knowledges and techniques that are contained in Cultural Heritage, our sector would be contributing to widen the range of solutions that we, as human kind, can use towards sustainable development. Something that is also interesting to remark is the pertinence of this kind of knowledge, because it is absolutely grass-rooted and has been tested for a long period of time. In almost all cases, people are familiar with it and still produces meaning in their daily life. This gives also the chance to widen the scope of our partnership and to collaborate not only with the Ministries that are in charge of water management or food production, but with their associated stakeholders (NGO s, researchers, students, volunteers, supporters, etc.); increasing the number of people for whom Cultural Heritage is producing meaning and wellbeing into their daily lives. SECOND EXAMPLE: Chile Sewell Mining Town (2006) Situated at 2,000 m in the Andes, 60 km to the east of Rancagua, in an environment marked by extremes of climate, Sewell Mining Town was built

9 by the Braden Copper company in 1905 to house workers at what was to become the world s largest underground copper mine, El Teniente. It is an outstanding example of the company towns that were born in many remote parts of the world from the fusion of local labour and resources from an industrialized nation, to mine and process high-value natural resources. The town was built on a terrain too steep for wheeled vehicles around a large central staircase rising from the railway station. Along its route formal squares of irregular shape with ornamental trees and plants constituted the main public spaces or squares of the town. The buildings lining the streets are timber, often painted in vivid green, yellow, red and blue. At its peak Sewell numbered 15,000 inhabitants, but was largely abandoned in the 1970s.

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11 How this specific example of World Heritage could be related to the 2030 SD Agenda? Let me try to explain it. Goal 9 Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation Target 9.a Facilitate sustainable and resilient infrastructure development in developing countries through enhanced financial, technological and technical support to African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States. But also I think that is related to Goal 11 Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Target 11.1 By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums Target 11.3 By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries Is obvious for me that our historic centers, cultural landscapes and cultural routes, are a rich reservoir of information into producing sustainable planning for all the range of spaces in which people live. And I m not only talking about success stories, but also of the mistakes that had been done and the long term consequences they produced.

12 It s also obvious that I m not calling to copy and paste process, but cultural heritage certainly gives us the chance to think out of the box and explore diverse options to produce sustainability through urban development initiatives and by introducing cultural knowledge into building safe and affordable houses. THIRD EXAMPLE Republic of Korea Kimjang, making and sharing kimchi (2013) Kimchi is the Korean name for preserved vegetables seasoned with spices and fermented seafood. It forms an essential part of Korean meals, transcending class and regional differences. The collective practice of Kimjang is an excellent opportunity for strengthening family cooperation. Kimjang is also an important reminder for many Koreans that human communities need to live in harmony with nature. Housewives monitor weather forecasts to determine the most favorable date and temperature for preparing kimchi. Innovative skills and creative ideas are shared and accumulated during the custom of exchanging kimchi among households. Specific methods and ingredients used in Kimjang are considered an important family heritage, typically transmitted from a mother-in-law to her newly married daughter-in-law.

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15 With this example, in addition to the knowledge and techniques on food producing that traditions may give us, it is important to remark gender equity and alternate knowledge transmission paths that our Cultural Heritage offers. In this sense, Cultural Heritage is also a way to offer people options to adequate their automatic thinking, shared mental models and social decisions towards a more sustainable well-being; as it is stated into the World Bank 2015 Report: Mind, Society and Conduct How this example is related with the SD 2030 Agenda? Goal 5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Target 5.4 Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as Nationally appropriate Specially Intangible Cultural Heritage provides us of excellent alternate development models, in which economic growth, sustainable environmental resources usage and gender equity, are indivisible part of the process.

16 To end, I would like to talk about Cultural Heritage as a source to (Goal 17) Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development Preserving cultural heritage makes us more respected and competitive as society and as a country, because we are not only giving testimony of appreciation for our ancestors, but also demonstrating the adoption of values that help to attract, retain and maintain creative people and investments into our countries and cities. At the same time, by showing respect and care for our heritage, we are sending a soft power political message, meaning that we respect our history, territory and identity, so we expect the same from the people that visits or invest into our country.