Culture: A Pillar of Organizational Sustainability

Abstract

Sustainability is a concern that permeates all levels of society and is premised on meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. More recently, policies and research have emerged that guide organizations to align their activities with the broader sustainable development agendas, including cultural issues, not just economic, social, and environmental ones. Culture is the material and immaterial attribute of society. It incorporates social organizations, literature, religion, myths, beliefs, behaviors and entrepreneurial practices of the productive segment, use of technology, and expressive art forms on which future generations depend. Thus, cultural sustainability is a fundamental issue and is configured as the fourth pillar of sustainability, equal to social, economic, and environmental issues, which has to do with the ability to sustain or continue with cultural beliefs and practices, preserve cultural heritage as its entity, and try to answer whether any culture will exist in the future. The importance of cultural sustainability lies in its power to influence people. Their beliefs are in the decisions made by society. Thus, there can be no sustainable development without including culture.