Rethinking heritage for sustainable development, by Sophia Labadi. London: UCL Press, 2022. 256pp. ISBN 9781800081932

As we enter the second half of the 15-year cycle of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the need to rethink heritage for sustainable development becomes doubly important. First, what will be the priority components for the years towards the mid-century and second, what may be the role of heritage in promoting sustainable development in an urbanising world.

The seven chapters and conclusions of the timely book by Sophia Labadi, open with the history and contexts of the initiatives on culture for development, followed by four case studies in sub-Sahara Africa analysed through the lenses of three key global challenges in the Millenium Development Goals (MDG) – poverty, gender and environment. The diverse case studies of Mozambique, Senegal, Namibia and Ethiopia are meticulously presented with Labadi’s first-hand knowledge, yet with an arm’s length critique ensuring objectivity. The conclusions internalise the shortcomings of the case-studies while providing recommendations that take on board Labadi’s extensive practical experiences.

The historic overview in Chaps. 2 and 3, focuses on the role of UNESCO, with its global responsibilities for culture, depicting the internal conflicts and growing politicisation, beside the impact of the personal preferences of the Directors-General. This includes their prioritisations of the Education, Science or Culture sectors, emphasising the weak approach in mainstreaming heritage for sustainable development. In identifying the milestones, Labadi notes that the World Decade for cultural development 1988–1997 ended with a document on Our Creative Diversity where ‘its conflicting conceptual priorities seem to be the reason for its failure’ (p.46). It was, subsequently, in October 1999 that UNESCO joined forces with the World Bank in measuring the economic value of culture, by organising an international conference in Florence on the economics of culture in sustainable development. This was an important starting point for the 2001 review of World Bank experiences for Cultural Properties in Policy and Practice (World Bank, Operations Evaluation Department 2001) and in setting up projects within the 2000–2015 MDGs.

This period also witnessed the dramatic changes under the policies of the Director-General Kōichirō Matsuura furthering his Japanese agenda on intangible heritage (p.51). The Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity was approved in 2001, followed by the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2003 and the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in 2005 (p.58). It was in 2006 that the thematic window on culture and development of the MDG Fund and the UNDP (and not UNESCO! ) was established with the fund aiming to invest in harnessing the impact of culture on sustainable development in national development policies to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the goals.

Labadi addresses the fast-paced urbanism and the 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape that was the result of a six-year debate following the Vienna memorandum in 2005 (p.66). Having accompanied the Recommendation during its six-year incubation period, it can be said that the role of urban heritage hit a turning point in 2007 when the United Nations reported that over 50% of the world’s population lived in cities. The Recommendation built on existing approaches including references to post WWII texts, especially the 1976 Nairobi Declaration and the 1995 ICCROM Integrated Territorial and Urban Conservation Programme. The lack of a clear pathway, noted by Labadi, was the result of weak decisions at the Executive Board, which the researchers and practitioners corrected with the preparation of manuals and guidance. I would add that a further issue has been the absence of urbanists in the ICOMOS World Heritage team resulting in a lack of support for the significance of urban heritage and for the application of the Recommendation in the wider context. This debate, beyond the individual monument, supported the Hangzhou Declaration which placed culture at the heart of sustainable development policies refining the multifaceted role of culture and in anticipation of the post 2015 Agenda for Sustainable Development (p.71). Here, Labadi notes her personal contribution in providing a background paper for the Declaration.

The first set of indicators for culture were developed in 2009 through factual quantitative and qualitative data on the multidimensional role of culture across national development processes. However, it was only in 2019 that a revised methodological framework of thematic indicators was prepared for the 2030 Agenda with the convening of the UNESCO Forum of Ministers of Culture to address the evolution and adaptation of cultural policies to global challenges such as education, employment, social inequalities, digital revolution and environmental action. Noting that the indicators of target 11.4 perpetuate heritage as a liability (p.75), solely with financial data, the positive contribution of heritage to ensure inclusive, safe and resilient communities is disregarded. Hopefully, the foundations have been laid for a more integrative post 2030 Agenda at the high-level political forum in 2023 under the auspices of ECOSOC, the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

The four case studies, all supported by the MDG Fund and the Government of Spain, that Labadi evaluates are within a five-year span of 2008 and 2013 and address three of the eight MDG’s - Goal 1, eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, Goal 3, to promote gender equality and empower women and Goal 7, to ensure environmental sustainability. This is preceded in Chap. 4 stating that the common management procedures allow for an evidence-based comparative study providing a macro understanding of the initiatives. These case-studies are then carefully analysed in Chaps. 5, 6 and 7 by each Goal, and where she focuses on a detailed critique of local and grassroots levels and their successes and failures. Labadi observes the top-down approach, which was still a relic of the 1990s, and the lack of grassroot targets which could better serve local populations (p.78). This has resulted in the absence of any added value to the afterlife of the projects and their sustainability.

While reflecting on the major shortcomings of the selected projects, the book’s conclusions provide recommendations for rethinking heritage for development, with seven prerequisites. Learning from the past is essential, and Labadi provides a footing for critical analysis which could be replicated for upcoming projects and a baseline for future evaluation. However, the future is not more of the same. Beyond climate change, yet another challenge will be in the UN-Habitat projections that ‘the number of people living in metropolises in 2035 will increase to 3.47 billion representing … 62.5% of the world’s urban population. A new metropolis will arise every two-weeks in the next fifteen years for a total of 429 new metropolises.’ (UN-Habitat 2020) A metamorphosis in living patterns will demand yet another dimension for the rethinking of heritage. These conclusions will need to engage nature-based solutions and circular economies if we are to make heritage relevant in the coming decades.

In drawing conclusions from the case studies of the MDG era and their evaluation, there is a need to consider the new Sustainable Development Goals. While poverty and gender continue as unique goals, the components of environment have split into multiple goals with new targets and indicators, making further comparisons complicated. Essential in addressing these Goals, the lack of integration between culture and nature and tangible and intangible heritage was clearly stressed. Although the 2003 and 2005 Conventions were already in place, it appears that their effect was yet to be felt. Labadi’s critique of Western distinctions between culture and nature which led to environmental and social justice crises is important. However, mention should be made to the fact that already in 2005 IUCN published the Protected Landscape Approach: linking nature, culture and community and since 2013 a joint exploration by ICOMOS and IUCN, ‘Connecting Practice’, has been aimed at learning and developing new approaches that recognise and harness the interconnection of natural and cultural values.

The holistic approach that Labadi so rightly encourages, cannot continue in the UN silos. She makes little reference to the need to strengthen cross-disciplinary actions with other bodies, for instance, the role of the FAO in reducing poverty, the UNEP in strengthening environmental protection and UN-Habitat in their managing of Sustainable Development Goal 11. The theme of the 2020 Tenth World Urban Forum in Abu Dhabi was Cities of Opportunities: Connecting Culture and Innovation where there was token participation of UNESCO. Moreover, beyond the international organisations, local governments have the leading role in building bottom-up activities. While the committee on culture of UCLG is duly noted (p.72) there are other initiatives at municipal level as ICLEI – Local Government for Sustainability and the World Cites Culture Forum that would have added an important dimension to the discourse.

Labadi’s prerequisite for integrating heritage into sustainable development strengthens the alternative policies for inserting heritage in all the goals rather than a stand-alone goal for heritage (p.4). These options were debated in the excellent document identifying whether culture is ‘in’, ‘for’, or ‘as’, sustainable development (Dessein et al. 2015).

One issue remains, that of the terminology and hierarchical use of words as culture, nature, intangible, tangible, urban, rural. Are these used as nouns or adjectives? If there is a need to integrate these component parts then ‘heritage’, albeit a divisive term in itself, may be used to provide the common denominator and over-arching term. Indeed, it better formulates Labadi’s initial question as to how the totality of heritage contributes to three of the key dimensions of sustainability (p.3). Reference to the New Urban Agenda is missing in the book where the need for balanced and polycentric territorial development policies and plans is highlighted, including sustainable urban and territorial planning for city-regions and metropolitan areas. The Agenda has multiple references to culture (Habitat, III Secretariat 2017). Six references as a noun including culture as source of enrichment (para10), culture as key element(s) in the humanisation of our cities (para 26) and culture as a priority component of urban plans and strategies (para 124). As an adjective, it appears in fifteen different contexts beyond cultural heritage, including cultural interactions (para 2), cultural contribution to urban life (para 28), cultural integration of marginalised communities (para 33), cultural dimensions of the city (para 109, 111) and culturally sensitive sustainable solutions (para 119).

Labadi’s book is an important contribution for practitioners and policy makers alike to ensure that investment in heritage is sustainably managed and critically evaluated, thereby reaffirming the need to address, poverty, gender and environment. In ending, her passionate call to democratise access to education and its decolonisation towards Agenda 2063 (p.214) summarises her global message for the future, that is beyond sub-Sahara Africa.