Overcoming Opposition: How cultural projects can help to create an alternative life-world
Any kind of civic engagement – be it in democratic or non-democratic countries – primarily deals with questions and problems of political culture. Politics, and the role authorities play in it, dominates the picture in authoritarian systems, of course; nevertheless activists should never forget that it is (usually) society which develops a certain type of government. These thoughts are inspired by understanding the case of Belarus as a contemporary sequel to the “normalized” societies of late Czechoslovak and East German real socialism. Its economic development – so far quite smartly – shadows the revived Russian ressource-based global aspirations, and the bureaucratic regulation of life may be taken as an answer to the wide-spread popular fear of change in an era of seemingly universal transformation.
How to measure sustainable development
When we talk about measuring sustainable development, we of course have to start with what sustainable development actually is. It is the “development that meets the needs of the present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”, according to the most called-upon definition, from the Brundtland Commission in 1987. But here we already come to the first problem – this definition is open to interpretation. Terms such as “needs”, “satisfy” and “development” are loose concepts, defying any real resolution. Where is the line between needs and desires? What are the real needs of current and future generations? These questions must be addressed if we wish to understand the essence of sustainable development.According to EU sustainable development strategy, sustainable development means a society with dynamic economy, with full employment and a high level of education, health protection, social and territorial cohesion and environmental protection in a peaceful and secure world, respecting cultural diversity. Plainly said, the aim of sustainable development should be to ensure people a good quality of life that would be lasting in time. To define that, we look at the three spheres of sustainable development.
