Future Directions in Communication and Culture for Sustainable Development

Abstract

Countries in Asia share cultural values and a worldview of the universe that have a deep and abiding regard for the environment and ecological protection. These long-held value systems and indigenous knowledge of communities are in conflict with modern industrial development that often ignores the delicate balance of the natural ecosystem and leads to greater costs in terms of rehabilitation of the affected communities and recovery of the polluted ecosystems. Communication for sustainable development in the future will face the challenges of improving access to information and making communication more inclusive to address the needs of women , rural and indigenous communities who continue to be at the periphery of development plans that often neglect their perspectives, problems, knowledge and capacity for sustainable development . Community participation in campaigns and citizen journalism supplemented by social media networks and the Internet is important for creating pressure on policy makers to reconsider unsustainable development plans. Communication in its myriad forms including the cultural media can build public support and exert pressure for policies that favour collaboration and strengthening of sustainable development clusters in different parts of the world. This future direction is in line with the SDGs in goal 10 that aims to reduce inequality within and among countries and goal 17 that aims to strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize global partnerships for sustainable development.