The place of culture in sustainable development of European countries – homogeneity or diversity of the phenomenon?

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the level of sustainable development in selected European countries – taking into account its economic, social, environmental and cultural dimensions, as well as the level of diversification of the phenomenon in the entities under analysis. The analysis assumes that culture has a positive impact on sustainable development measures. The selection of countries was based on indicators of their ethnic and cultural diversity. The time range of the analysis is 2012 and 2019, and the data source was the Eurostat database. A taxonomic method (linear ordering method) was used in the analysis of the research problem. The achievement of the aim was determined by limitations in the selection of indicators and the availability and validity of data in European statistics. Based on research to date, it can be concluded that, in the cultural aspect, the same number of countries presented a very high and high level of sustainable development (5) as those presenting a low and very low level (5). The cultural aspect has substantially greater meaning for the sustainability development of the countries characterised by high cultural diversity.Taking this aspect into account while conducting analyses makes it possible use the most valuable, endogenous characteristics of a given population for forging an effective relationship with the other elements of sustainable development.