Corrosion caused by chemicals and soiling caused by particles can lead to economic losses but, more importantly, to the destruction of our cultural heritage, an important component of our individual and collective identity. As a response to this threat, Italy has been engaged in the development of strategies and technologies to safeguard cultural heritage assets for many years.
Data from a study by economists George Halkos and Nickolaos Tzeremes in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy Studies evaluates just such an influence in the relationship between major cultural dimensions and ecologic efficiency. Though highly accessible to policymakers and scientists, EPIs are commonly criticized as only being of use with uniformly distributed data i.
These frontiers analyze broad relationships between given inputs and outputs that serve as proxies for some societal phenomenon: in this case, environmental performance based on pollution. The authors examine the relationship between emissions of two major greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide and four of the most widely recognized facets of culture: masculinity versus femininity, power distance, individualism versus collectivism, and uncertainty avoidance.
In the study, a masculine society is defined as one that dominantly values material success and progress, while a feminine society prioritizes modesty and caring for others. Power distance represents views on inequality: high power distance translates to the belief that the powerful have privileges and may inherit their position by way of force; low power distance societies believe power should be distributed equally.
And if we're programming about it, and forming a position on it, we must also seek to have integrity with that in how our organisations and practices operate. The national digital development programme AmbITion Scotland designed and project managed by Rudman Consulting and Culture Sparks seeks to support organisations hoping to make environmentally sustainable operational changes — from products to audience engagement — using digital tools.
The Touring Network have used the support of AmbITion Scotland to create Tourbook , an online social network for promoters and touring companies focusing on bringing work to remote geographical areas.
It encourages a change in behaviour, away from more analogue forms of social networking: meetings! Digitising some of the work done in these meetings cuts back the carbon footprints of the promoters as they avoid travel to do business, but it also makes immediately public when artists are in Scotland. Tourbook also avoids a situation where artists have to travel to the highlands twice in one year following bookings from a couple of separate promoters in different locations — multi-leg tours can now be lined up to make the most sense of travel plans and itineraries of artists.
In another project, the Highland Museums Forum joined with AmbITion to create a digital reference tool , which helps museums and practitioners part of the forum share good practice and ways to be more environmentally sustainable in their unique locations. Regional Screen Scotland , the organisation that looks after the Screen Machine the UK's only mobile cinema , also worked with AmbITion by taking the carbon footprint of touring the travelling auditorium, and comparing it with the carbon footprint the audience would otherwise create journeying to cinemas.
Feedback from their community on this subject has given the organisation new ideas about how to use digital tools to talk about their own carbon footprint, and reduce that of their audience. Promote the development of policies that include and support the role of culture in ecosystem management for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Communicate lessons learned from case studies and promote the carrying out and sharing of case studies and lessons learned. Relevance of Cultural Practices and Ecosystem Management: The following examples illustrate the potential uses and importance of cultural practices and ecosystem management in conservation and climate change adaptation: Basic assessments of cultural conservation practices in different ecosystems of the world have highlighted the relevance of understanding and supporting local and traditional knowledge, when biodiversity and cultural diversity have never been more threatened than now.
As examples, formal and informal religions and spirituality can contribute to ecosystem management through mechanisms such as taboos, practices of care, and community motivations for conservation. Real solutions to address the impacts of climate change and biodiversity conservation require a knowledge and insight from the social sciences, specifically the role that culture plays.
For example, culture influences consumption decisions that may impact species or contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, and culture influences how people support or oppose responses to mitigate biodiversity loss or climate change.
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