Culture is precisely the medium in which individuals express their ability to fulfill themselves and is an integral part of development.

From Post Courier Weekender

Culture, in all its dimensions, is a fundamental component of sustainable development. 

The United Nation Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is the UN agency that has the mandate to promote and preserve international cultures and heritage. It has devised policies and actions that demonstrate culture’s unique contribution to development and establish a strong conceptual framework to promote culture.

As a sector of activity, through tangible and non-tangible heritage, creative industries and various forms of artistic expressions, culture is a powerful contributor to economic development, social stability, and environmental protection. 

Culture is an effective global economic engine generating jobs and income with a value of over $US1.3 trillion annually. During the 1990s, the cultural industry grew at a rate twice that of the service industry and four times that of manufacturing. Cultural tourism generates 40 per cent of the global tourism revenue. Visits to heritage sites produces revenue, sale of local craft, music and cultural products generate employment for the community. 

Traditionally rooted livelihood practices help retain local knowledge and generate employment while enabling local economic development. 

Papua New Guinea is a country that is very diverse culturally and this should be embraced. Port Moresby is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world. It is home to over 800 local cultural and linguistic groups and over 10,000 foreign nationals living together in the same city. Furthermore, over 100,000 people visit the country through Port Moresby annually since 2006. 

Article two of UNESCO’s Universal Declaration on cultural diversity talks about transformation from cultural diversity to cultural pluralism: ‘In our increasingly diverse societies, it is essential to ensure harmonious interaction among people and groups with plural, varied and dynamic cultural identities as well as their willingness to live together.’

Women are also empowered by an acknowledgment of difference and reinforcement of their identities. The intercultural dialogue focusing on respect of difference rather than standardisation empowers women by accepting women as both ‘value carriers and value creator.’ 

Culture also plays a major part in environmental sustainability and community resiliency which can be embraced to manage the use of natural resources. Values and beliefs shape the relationship of a people to their natural environment and the ways they manage and impact it. Cultural values, local knowledge and traditional practices of environmental management can be valuable resource towards achieving ecological sustainability. 

Moreover, culture builds resiliency by reinforcing the abilities of people to be innovative and creative especially in hard times of disaster or conflict. Communities empowered to define their identities and assert local values are able to engage with the forces of globalisation better to ‘indigenise’ them on their terms and benefit from it.