Thoughts on future directions: Art and culture in transformations toward greater sustainability

Abstract

A deep current of concern underlies artistic work addressing sustainability, expressed through searches for alternatives and a growing urgency to envision and practice new ways of living in a more sustainable manner. As artists and other creators investigate and illuminate the entangled issues of sustainability and experiment with solutions, many artistic projects are underpinned by the principles of empowering people and/or communities to act and to facilitate progressive change. Recent research has shown that processes inherent to engagement in the arts foster ‘divergent perspectives, creative problem solving and an ability to work with complexity, emergence and uncertainty at an individual and community level’ – all important skills when dealing with continuous community adaptation. Artistic expressions and processes also generate and embody the symbolic cultural resources that individuals need in order to navigate the world around them and, potentially, to act as agents of broader change.