"Nachhaltigkeit” ist mittlerweile zum Modewort avanciert und lässt sich aus dem politischen Sprachgebrauch nicht mehr wegdenken. Doch steckt nicht noch mehr hinter diesem Wort als wirtschaftliche Stabilität oder technischer Fortschritt im Zeichen des Umweltschutzes? Die Autorin untersucht die Tragfähigkeit dieses Begriffs und gelangt dabei zu dem Fazit, dass Nachhaltigkeit kein “Projekt” ist, dass kurzfristig in Angriff genommen werden kann, wenn es brenzlig wird. Es handelt sich vielmehr um ein Leitbild, das einen gesamtgesellschaftlichen Transformationsprozess einleiten soll. Die zentrale These lautet, dass Nachhaltigkeit deshalb eine genuin kulturelle Herausforderung ist. Dies ist das erste eBook in der Reihe Cultura21 eBooks Series on Culture and Sustainability. Cultura21 eBooks Reihe zur Kultur und Nachhaltigkeit, Vol. / Band 1

Das „Projekt Nachhaltigkeit“. Zu den Grenzen des Nachhaltigkeitskonzepts aus kultureller Perspektive (PDF)

In August 2010 a group of institutions (e.g. Wuppertal Institute, ecosign, Folkwang University of the Arts) organised the 2nd Sustainable Summer School in Jüchen (Germany). The participants were 20 design students from different countries. At the so called "Evening Talks" they met personalities, who apply in a creative way the guiding idea of sustainability in their work. The first Talk was with two artists, who realised an innovative project in the disadvantaged periphery of Hagen, a city of the Ruhr Basin. By Davide Brocchi, Cologne (D)

To have a chance at creating a sustainable future we need to expand our ways of thinking and make room for the complexities of this amazing, contradictory, delightful and difficult reality we call home. The first ASSiST summer school brought together thirty artists and scientists from around the world to explore how we might do that. As it turned out, a lot of the good juice happened outside of the program... - by Lucy Ridsdale, Fremantle (Western Australia).

The Pakistani artist Jimmy Engineer depicts his country's social and political history in his paintings, and he experiences the social realities of Pakistan, by walking... Walking and talking with the people encountered, on the middle of the road. By David Knaute, Karachi (Pakistan)

How is walking an ecological practice? Walking can make us perceptive and open us up to an ecopraxis, attentive to the complex patterns of life. By David Haley, Manchester (UK)

Which spaces is left for politica-artistic performances and for traditional cultural expressions, on the shrinking pavements of creative cities? Pondering on pavements, the author questions the links between culture and development... By P. Radhika, Bangalore (India)

The TS2 (Transfer Station 2) is a collaborative art installation project focused on creating a model of community-industry cooperation for environmental sustainability. The Slow Art Collective, initiators of the project, exhibited the work at the Incinerator Arts Complex in Melbourne in August-September 2009. Review by Adam Broinowski, Melbourne (AUS).

The conference “Creating Cities: Culture, Space, and Sustainability” took place from February 25th, 2010 to February 27th, 2010 at the Japan Center of the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich. By Julia Hahn, Lüneburg (D).

For two weeks, ecological artist Aviva Rahmani was active in Copenhagen, both inside and outside the official COP15 conference. In retrospect, she accounts on her experience. Her personal account illustrates some of the difficulties felt by activists and artists who were involved at COP15 in the past month. By Aviva Rahmani, New York (USA)

Who knows if there are still followers of Zarathustra in India and Pakistan? In this article, the author brings you to the megacity of Karachi, south of Pakistan. This city is a gateway to much questioning regarding the contemporary environmental crisis. By David Knaute, Karachi (Pakistan).