Call for papers: Cultural Resources for Sustainable Development: Theories, Practices and Policy Solutions

In the past quarter of century, cultural resources and the role of culture in sustainable development at both global and local levels have been increasingly recognised by researchers and policy-makers. It has been suggested that policies and development projects in various areas can yield more sustainable outcomes when more attention is paid to cultural resources. However, research and applied work in this field still face challenges. One important reason is the complex and multi-dimensional relationship between cultural resources and sustainable development, to which there have been different analytical approaches. Meanwhile, in practice, top-down approaches often make the incorporation of cultural resources into policies and development projects a challenging task.

After 30 years of đổi mới, regional and international integration, Vietnam has achieved outstanding achievements in economic sector, foreign relations and political stability. However, the Party, the state in Vietnam, along with many researchers, have recognised such socio-economic developments not yet sustainable. They recognize the need for a holistic development strategy and innovative projects in order to build a society that achieves a better balance among economic development, environment quality and social equity through the incorporation of cultural resources. Various suggestions have been made that such development objectives can be achieved through a better and more systematic identification of cultural resources and their incorporation into sustainable development at both macro and micro levels.

2. Aims

In such a context, with a holistic approach and on the basis of their academic and applied research, anthropologists and other researchers need to have a stronger voice and more efficient contribution to the question of how cultural resources can contribute to sustainable development at different levels and in different localities.    

This international workshop will be a forum for participants from Vietnam and other countries to share research findings and their theoretical and practical implications, to discuss policy solutions and to suggest applied models for cultural resource identification, preservation, and incorporation for sustainable development.

The workshop aims to address and illuminate some of the following questions:

- How and in what ways can cultural resources contribute to sustainable development?

- What is the present situation of cultural resources for sustainable development in different countries?

- What are the better approaches and tools for identifying, conserving and utilizing cultural resources for sustainable development?

- What are policy solutions and models for incorporating cultural resources in sustainable development?

- What can we do to enhance and strengthen research and teaching on cultural issues and sustainable development in Vietnamese universities, and to contribute to the country’s sustainable development process and the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals. 

3. Themes

- We would like to ask each paper to cover and address one or more of the following themes:

- Culture and sustainable development: History, theories and methods.

- Cultural heritage for sustainable development.

- Customary laws, beliefs, festivals, local knowledge, and other traditional institutions/practices in sustainable development.

- Cultural tourism and sustainable development.

- Cultural policy in sustainable development

- Policy solutions, models for incorporating cultural resources in sustainable development.

4. Format

The workshop will be held over one day and a half, including plenary sessions and thematic sessions. Simultaneous interpretation will be offered in English and Vietnamese.

5. Submission guidelines and workshop contact address

Paper abstracts should be between 250 and 300 words and full papers should be no more than 10,000 words and should be sent to Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Van Suu: nvsuuvnu@gmail.com

- Important dates:

+ 20/3/2016: First announcement

+ 30/6/2016: Deadline for abstracts

+ 10/7/2016: Second announcement

+ 21/11/2016: Deadline for papers

+ 30/11/2016: Third announcement

+ 15-16/12/2016: Conference

- Workshop contact address:

Assoc. Prof Nguyen Van Suu.

Email: nvsuuvnu@gmail.com