Plenary Sessions | Videos

WATCH THE PLENARY SESSIONS WEBCASTS
You can watch the Opening Plenary, all three Plenary Sessions and the Concluding Session by following the links below. Please note: In the Concluding Session, Professor John Robinson's speech was followed by the observer's reflections by Dr. Oleg Koefoed.

Venue: Wanha Satama, Hall F, Helsinki

Opening Plenary (Click to see the video.)

• Welcoming words Prof. Anita Kangas, University of Jyväskylä. Prof. Kangas is Professor in Cultural Policy at the Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy, and she is a member of the COST Action “Investigating Cultural Sustainability”.
• Policy and relevance Dr. Marc Caball, School of History and Archives, University College Dublin. Dr. Caball was chairman of the COST Domain Committee for Individuals, Societies, Cultures and Health between 2008–2014.
• Dwelling in no man’s land: Exploring culture in sustainable development Dr. Katriina Soini and Prof. Joost Dessein. Dr. Soini has worked for the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and the Natural Resources Institute Finland. In June 2015 she will start as a Sustainability Science Research Fellow at the University of Helsinki. Prof. Joost Dessein is a scientific coordinator of the Social Sciences Unit of ILVO (Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research) in Belgium. He is also a professor at the Department of Agricultural Economics (Ghent University) and an affiliated member of the Centre for Sustainable Development at the same university. Soini and Dessein have served as chairs of the COST Action “Investigating Cultural Sustainability”.
• Launch of the book series “Routledge Studies in Culture and Sustainable Development” Helen Bell, Routledge. Ms. Bell is a Senior Editorial Assistant in Environment & Sustainability and Development Studies.  
• Introduction to Open Stage Saara Hannula, Aalto University. Ms. Hannula is a researcher and artist, and a member of the curatorial team of “Open Stage”.
• Open Stage: Introduction to Building Sound Collectives Casper Hernandez Cortes, Denmark. 

Plenary I: Culture as the fourth pillar of sustainability and beyond – a dream or an achievable goal? (Click to see the video.)

This plenary will discuss the challenges of introducing and taking into account cultural aspects in sustainability policies. What could be the roles and meanings of culture in sustainability policies? What are the challenges of incorporating culture in sustainability at the global/national/local level? What types of policies facilitate a culturally embedded transition to possible sustainable futures? What kinds of new planning and governance cultures are needed to create sustainable futures? And how can the cultural turn in sustainability be facilitated?

• Moderator: Prof. Joost Dessein, Vice Chair of the COST Action.
• Wicked Problems: A platform for cross-cultural ‘learning for sustainability’ Philippe Vandenbroeck, shiftN, Belgium. Mr. Vandenbroeck is the founder of and partner at shiftN, and Adjunct Research Scholar at the Advanced Consortium for Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity and at Columbia University’s Earth Institute.
• Discussant 1: Jordi Pascual Ruiz, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG). Mr. Pascual Ruiz is the founding coordinator of the Committee on Culture of the world organisation of UCLG. The main aim of the Committee is to advance the Agenda 21 for culture.

• Discussant 2: Dr. Sauli Rouhinen, Ministry of the Environment, Finland. Dr. Rouhinen has acted as Senior Environmental Advisor, Sustainable Development in the Ministry of the Environment, and he is a member of the steering group of the European Sustainable Development Network (ESDN).
  
  

Plenary II: Just and sustainable culture(s) from local to global (Click to see the video.)
Culture is both tangible and intangible, place-specific and constantly changing. When culture(s) are considered within sustainable development, we need to raise specific questions, which become even more complicated when spatial and temporal dimensions are fully recognised. Questions such as: Which culture(s) and whose culture(s) are concerned? How can we explore, understand and discern the role of culture(s) in a range of sustainable futures? To what extent does culture need to be sustained or transformed, in which ways and by whom? How to tackle the issues of values and ethics, equity and rights, and the human-human vs. human-nature nexus?

• Moderator: Dr. Lasse Peltonen, Finnish Institute for Environment (SYKE). Dr. Peltonen acts as Principal Research Scientist and Scientific Coordinator of sustainable communities research in SYKE.
• Just sustainabilities: re-imagining e/quality, living within limits Prof. Julian Agyeman, Tufts University, USA. Prof. Agyeman is a professor at the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA, and a fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.
• Discussant 1: Dr. Constanza Parra, KU Leuven, Belgium. Dr. Parra is a member of the COST Action, and a researcher at the Division of Geography, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Leuven.
• Discussant 2: Prof. Amareswar Galla, International Institute for the Inclusive Museum. Prof. Galla is the founding executive director of the International Institute for the Inclusive Museum, Denmark/India/Australia. In the past decade he has served as a professor and director of Sustainable Heritage Development programs, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University, Canberra, and Australia’s first Professor of Museum Studies at the University of Queensland, Brisbane.
  
  

Plenary III: Transformations: Towards sustainable ways of life (Click to see the video.)
Sustainable living on a finite planet with ever increasing population requires a new set of values. What is the role of inter-/transdisciplinary approaches and arts in and for sustainable future(s)? How can a transition take place at community level and what is the role of individuals? How can cultural knowledge or values be produced, co-produced and represented? How can culturally sensitive and embedded approaches be promoted in planning, cultural or place mapping, and through artistic and/or planning practices? 

• Moderator: Dr. Sacha Kagan, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany. Dr. Kagan is Associate Researcher at the Institute of Sociology and Cultural Organization (ISCO) at Leuphana University, Lüneburg, and the founding coordinator of Cultura21 International. Dr. Kagan is also a member of the COST Action.

• The civic experiment: Tactics for praxis Prof. Frances Whitehead, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA. Besides her work as Professor of Sculpture and Architecture, Prof. Whitehead is a civic practice artist bringing the methods, mindsets and strategies of contemporary art practice to the process of shaping the future city. Prof. Whitehead has exhibited widely for 30 years in solo and group exhibitions.

• Discussant 1: Dr. Lummina Horlings, Wageningen University, Netherlands. Dr. Horlings is Assistant Professor at the Rural Sociology Group of the Wageningen University and Research Centre, and a member of the COST Action.
• Discussant 2: Prof. Hans Dieleman, College of Sciences and Humanities of the Autonomous University of Mexico City (UACM). Prof. Dieleman is an honorary member and co-coordinator of Cultura21, and the founder and director of Cultura21 / México.
  
  

Concluding Session (Click to see the video.) 

• Chairs: Prof. Milena Dragićević Šešić, University of Arts, Belgrade, Serbia, and Dr. Nathalie Blanc, CRNS, Ladyss, Paris, France. Prof. Dragićević Šešić is Head of the UNESCO Chair on “Interculturalism, Art Management and Mediation in the Balkans” and Professor of Cultural Policy and Cultural Management. Dr. Blanc is Director of Research at the CNRS and Director of the Laboratory LADYSS UMR 7533 CNRS. Both of the chairs are members of the COST Action.
• Sustainability in the imaginary world – some thoughts on the relationship between sustainability and culture Prof. John Robinson, University of British Columbia, Canada.
  Prof. Robinson is Associate Provost, Sustainability at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and a professor at UBC’s Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability and Department of Geography.
• Observations and reflections from the Conference Dr. Oleg Koefoed, Chairman of Cultura21 Nordic. Dr. Koefoed is an action-philosopher and co-founder of Cultura21 Network for Cultures of Sustainability. He is also an author, facilitator and developer of conceptual interventions.
• Closing words Dr. Katriina Soini, Chair of the COST Action “Investigating Cultural Sustainability”.