This post evaluates cultural development in lifting the standard of life of communities. At the end of this post, you can also view a PowerPoint presentation related to the scope of culture in societal development.
Contents
What does it mean by the scope of culture?
The dictionary meaning of the word ‘scope’ is the range of a topic or natural/social phenomenon covering different aspects of life. From here the term ‘ scope of culture’ can best be defined as the potential opportunity of integrating culture in programs meant to bring betterment in lives of people.
What is development?
The term ‘development’ refers to a multi-lateral attempt or effort to achieve a higher living standard for all people on a sustainable basis. There are various components i.e. Economic development, social development, and environmental protection which operate in an interdependent and mutually supporting manner.
Thus we were to tell what is the scope of culture in societal development, it would not be wrong if one defines it as the opportunity or the extent to which culture can be used to undertake sustainable development of communities in a state. In the following lines,
Scope of culture in societal development
The scope of culture in the development of society with help of many themes related to development that can be triggered by making it culture and context-appropriate.
Development of learning skills
Engagement of young minds in different cultural events and programs helps in the development of thinking skills building self-respect. Moreover, cultural engagement of children enhances resilience in their daily life – essentials for improvement in educational outcomes. According to research in the USA students belonging to low-income families taking part in art-related activities perform three-times more than already genius peers who do not participate in culture-related activities.
Improved health and wellbeing of people
The cultural engagement of people contributes towards the improved status of public health in multiple ways. The developed countries like UK and Canada, the governments have integrated culture into health care.
Art as an important element of culture can improve the health and well-being of people esp. oldaged. Moreover, it can play a pivotal role in relieve isolation, the formation of identity, and understanding cultures other than one’s own.
Role in creation of employment opportunities
The world is in a fast transition from industrial and manual labor to knowledge-based economies in which productivity and growth are derived by knowledge and creativity. Such societies basically rely on innovative ideas thereby leading towards specialization of services and products. These specialized services and goods bring economic benefits to a nation as their quality and uniqueness put them in high demand in the world market.
Promotion of tourism
Culture is one of the key factors that significantly contribute to the industry of tourism around the world. The flow of tourists creates job opportunities for the locals and instigates the government to develop the physical infrastructure.
Festival events e.g. the Shandur Polo Tournament, Sindhi Cultural Day, Basant, etc. hosted each year. Besides the cultural festivals, museums, art galleries, and ancient and historical sites act as tourist attractions. Thus cultural tourism can grow by doing organized publicity of cultural heritage
Conclusion
From the above discussion, we can conclude that sustainable development of communities hidden in the integration of culture in the developmental planning and execution. Cultural development will give a sense of ownership and meaning to the communities who will benefit from the developmental interventions. Such a developmental model will also give a sense of motivation to play their role in the achievement of targeted goals.
