ASEF Roundtable #3: Recalibrating the Compass | Sustainable and Ethical Practices in the Cultural Sector

As part of the series “Recalibrating the Compass: What Future for Asia-Europe Cultural Relations?”, ASEF Culture will organise its third roundtable addressing aspects related to social and ethical sustainability, and their specific implications both at local level, with regard to communities and diverse heritages, and internationally, in terms of respecting and acknowledging local ways.

Going beyond the more specific discussion on climate change, which has been addressed in the previous roundtable session, central themes here will include:

What can be learned from local practices in the framework of global cooperation?
How indigenous, traditional and other local practices can be valued without being instrumentalised and commodified?
How cultural operators can be more inclusive of diverse communities?

Participants of the roundtable will also consider what policies, support mechanisms and forms of cross-regional collaboration can enable cultural organisations and professionals to be better prepared to act in this context.

The highlights of Roundtable #3: Recalibrating the Compass | Sustainable and Ethical Practices in the Cultural Sector will be available after the roundtable on culture360 social media channels. In addition, a comprehensive report of the roundtable will be published on culture360.

Key Highlights from the Roundtable

The pandemic has seen a shift from an external oriented approach to an inward-looking one in cultural practices. To address this shift and to open up channels for partnerships & collaborations in the future, adopting a transversal approach was highlighted. This would allow for more diverse voices to engage in dialogue in an equal space.
The role of cultural institutions and actors as mediators between governments and local communities is even more important today, while adopting a rights-based approach for engagement of communities. This will allow for shaping an inclusive narrative involving the communities and facing issues and challenges together.
As the cultural sector gears up to step into a transformed future, ensuring fairness and representation in cultural practices requires attention while tackling the risk of instrumentalisation of the communities and their practice.

Key points on enhanced sustainability of practices in the future:

re-interrogate what ‘our’ future means
build greater connections which could help overcome invisible borders
suspend judgement and ensure participation of diverse voices

Recalibrating the Compass: What Future for Asia-Europe Cultural Relations? aims to facilitate conversations on pressing themes for the arts and culture communities in Asia and Europe with a view to designing a new, more resilient, and participatory approach for the future. The series will culminate in a public webinar in late 2022, where findings and recommendations from the roundtables will be shared and discussed in an open forum.

Click here for the Report of roundtable #3 and the launch of roundtable #4 on Cultural Heritage and Tourism in Post-pandemic International Cooperation.