La Dimensión Cultural de la Gestión de Asentamientos Humanos Sostenibles en la Era de la Información: Hacia un Ecologismo Mediatizado

Abstract

The promotion of sustainable human settlements has as its objective, in its cultural dimension, the generation of environmental awareness. This research examines the strategies recommended by the United Nations (UN) for the purpose of identifying the role conferred on the media. In the informational society media 'reinvent' culture by reproducing ideologies, constructing meaning, diffusing of social patterns and creating a new cognitive learning climate. In chapter one a brief history and the values of the environmental movement are presented, additionally, some characteristics of the informational society are identified. Chapter two summarizes anthropological works that have treated the problems of sustainability. The third chapter exposes how the media has affected culture. Chapter four revises the cultural dimension of declarations, plans and programs of the UNEP and the UNCHS as these relate to sustainable human settlements and their promotion. The analysis suggests that the UN has not deeply considered the mediatization of culture since education institutions continue to be viewed as the principal organs in the values formation of the subject while media serves a secondary instrumental role. The last chapter presents the idea that social imagery be used to propose cultural-environmental policy based in mediatic diffusion of a symbolic universe that favors the adoption of values exposed by environmentalism. The challenge herein defined as the social construction of sustainability and more significantly, the collective ideation of an ecologically sound society.