Abstract
In this paper, I provide a ‘pattern language of traditional music’ as a method for sustainable development. While directly facilitating the socio-economic resilience of rural areas and small towns, a pattern language of traditional music can also serve as a novel entrant for larger socio-economic systems, contributing to the transformation to a new, sustainable socio-economic basin of attraction (Walker et al. 2004). Where traditional music thrives it is associated with high levels of social capital, community values, and a deep love and sense of place. However, the last fifty years have seen a decline in traditional music cultures. This decline is attributed to the increased spatial and social mobility of youth, the loss of traditional industries, the de-population of rural areas, and the saturation of social media influencing new patterns of behaviour. In essence, the problem is that rural areas and small-town communities are in ‘the wrong place’, abandoned by capitalism and often ignored by the state. I argue that, by developing a pattern language of traditional music, we may re-establish the context for grassroots development for rural areas and small towns, thereby increasing social capital and facilitating a commitment to place and in so doing develop local economies that combat a consumer-driven one. Furthermore, as innovation at the smaller scale can inform innovation at the larger level, pattern languages of traditional music can act as novel entrants, informing sustainable development practices for the larger socio-economic systems in which these small town systems are nested.
Presenters
Anna BeresfordPhD Student, School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability, University of Waterloo, Canada
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Economic, Social, and Cultural Context
KEYWORDS
Sustainable development, Arts-led development, Resilient community, Pattern language, Traditional music
