The work is exciting, together with Nigel and my dearest Post-Doc, Yashi Jain, as well as our stupendous colleague Tom Avery, a linguist mind you (and exclusively proudly so as you will learn from my other post on RCDC!!) are all pulling in the same direction: understanding the theoretical and empirical pathways of cultural capital accumulation and impact on wellbeing throughout the UK. Using huge amounts of data, comparing the most advanced measures in the literature against the Cultural Entropy measure and seeking to gain the most precise and accurate insight on the matter locally - this is our quest. And in it - the role of aesthetic education is a main subject of analysis - because we all know that music can be easily cut away from curricula, that libraries are first to be shut down in austerity - but we know very little about the huge social cohesion aftermaths of such decisions and policies and how much they harm our people and places indeed.

Wales is an exciting place too. A turbulent history of suppression and denial of the local culture and language marks this excruciatingly beautiful and unbelievably poorer than the east of the same island a land. That is why now the last are becoming the first - first in devolution, Wales has charted its map for the future generations in its - Wales Future Generations Act (WFGA). A strategic piece of document like no other and about 1/3 of its objectives are clearly articulately focused on CULTURE - past, present and future. But as everything - saying is easier than doing. The devoted and committed Public Service Boards (PSBs) responsible for the implementation of the WFGA (that our parallel TPI MATHER Project studies) are clearly overburdened and understaffed, and underfunded and they do not have financial tools in their hands to invest in the accumulation and handling of cultural capital the way this endogenous capital needs to be invested in - in order to give its vital fruit for social cohesion, cooperation and wellbeing. Otherwise, Wales is a land of living culture, music and festivals and cultural heritage - treasured by the local people. And is pretty much the only place where I have seen a flag with hearts and I know the people here do live by this message - their hearts are open, more than anywhere I have passed. Yet, there are many challenges that can make even these hearts harden, because it is hard to sing with a heavy with worries a heart.

And yet again - at this WISERD meeting - I found these precious local hearts that care - a group of Welsh, English and a few sprinkled foreigners for colour - all thinking together of the legacy of Jo Cox, and how human love and the civil society can reinvent themselves anew, like a phoenix from the flames of these turbulent uncertain times. Their work is fascinating and original, I admire them as colleagues and as human beings that care for what matters most - other people and maintaining a fair loving world. Proud to be part of you! You can see their work showcased on the pictures below. In order to protect them, I will not share their names directly now, but I treasure them and will work closely with them in the years to come.

Culture is a capital that transforms the mindset from win-lose to win-win (Stancheva, 2025; Tubadji 2025), from conflict to cooperation and flourishing, passing through the decrease of the polarisation, to milder and milder discrimination, bringing it close to zero and keeping us healthy away from overly nepotistic love for any group either, cause as we know from Gary Becker - the effect is the same. Love for all, while cheesy as formula, is the practical key of aesthetic education that can breed this humanistic skill (like training of the muscle of our spirit) to stay fit especially when uncertainty calls upon us as individuals and groups and helps us remain our rational best, and helps us avoid turning into wolves toward one another (Tubadji et al. 2025).

References:

Stancheva, S. (2025) To understand America today, study the zero-sum mindset, writes Stefanie Stantcheva The Economist, July 2025. https://www.economist.com/by-invitation/2025/07/07/to-understand-america-today-study-the-zero-sum-mindset-writes-stefanie-stantcheva 

Tubadji, A. et al. (2025) PASCAL Briefing Paper 30 - Aesthetic Education and Learning Cities, International PASCAL Observatory & CARDALL, https://cradall.org/content/pascal-briefing-paper-30-aesthetic-education-and-learning-cities  

Tubadji, A., (2025). Culture Based Development: Modelling Cultural Bias in Economic Choice. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.  https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/culture-based-development-9781035341092.html 

p.s. Do you see the mill archetype figure featured on the pictures below? Bread is another metaphor that links all those places for which it is a staple food. Buono come il pane - as the Italians say - bread being our measure of goodness, because that is what most helps us survive. What could be a clearer example that we define what is good or bad culturally depending on how it helps our survival :-) I wonder how the sayings for goodness sound in rice-staple countries. And that is why culture and language link so very much. More on this in the post about the RCDC stop of the CBD Caravan of Knowledge in University of British Columbia.

Join the conversation: #CultureBasedDevelopment #CBDParadigm #CulturalEntropy #CulturalEconomics #AestheticEducation #CultureMatters #PolicyInnovation #HumanFlourishing