On the cultural sustainability of social transformations

Two questions are essential for a transformation towards sustainability: How is it possible to live together peacefully in diversity on a limited planet? How can a cognitively and physically limited being like a human being handle complexity (“environment” in systems theory) at all? How these two questions are answered and how a society reacts to its crises depends on culture and its media. In dealing with the environment, for example, it makes a big difference whether people are brought up to be homo oeconomicus or homo solidaricus. A society that relies on economic, media and intellectual monocultures is much more susceptible to crises than a society that is capable of learning and allows room for alternatives. Culture and art are part of the problem and yet can contribute to sustainable transformation, for example by activating every citizen as an artist to help shape their own city as a social sculpture – in the spirit of Joseph Beuys. The biggest challenge here is to change a culture that has become embedded and in which we ourselves have been educated.

Information and registration: roswitha.gabriel@plus.ac.at
The event takes place both in person and online. The link to the online event and a reading sample of his book “By Disaster or by Design? Transformative Cultural Policy: From Polycrisis to Systemic Sustainability” (2024) will be sent after registration.

Davide Brocchi (Dr. phil.) lives in Cologne, is a social scientist and researches social transformation processes in theory and practice. His focus is on social and cultural sustainability, and he has published various books and essays on the subject. Since 2011, he has initiated, developed and scientifically supported living labs in Cologne and Berlin under the title “Day of the Good Life”. In this annual “novel ritual”, entire districts are car- and commerce-free for a day and are governed by an alliance between neighborhoods, social movements, art and culture. This initiative was awarded the First German Neighborhood Award by the nebenan.de foundation in 2017. Davide Brocchi completed his doctorate at the Institute for Cultural Policy at the University of Hildesheim, grew up in Italy and studied under Umberto Eco, among others. (http://www.davidebrocchi.eu)

Titelbild: © Maren Wirths