Sensoriality, Arts, Poetry, and Sustainability

Many people still believe that sustainability concerns only energy, fuel efficiency, carbon emissions, materials, chemistry, or advances in science and technology, which belong mainly to technical manuals and studies. The consequences of unsustainability affect the lives of every individual, regardless of race, culture, technical knowledge or religion. Human beings cannot survive beyond determinate values of temperature, pressure and humidity. Sustainable Development (SD) is everyone’s responsibility. New metaphorical and artistic languages and creative paths together with purpose appointed institutions will help to create the space for a culture of sustainability. Science and poetry can intersect, enrich and reinforce one other, and relate directly to the agenda of the citizen, student and politician. Beauty, theatre, art, and poetry can inspire action and creative sustainable development policies. Experiences with students in the innovative course at the University of Basilicata, Italy Languages, Future and Possibility (taught since 2006), and with citizens demonstrate that activation of the senses, and education about the recognition of beauty, poetry and art may trigger unsuspected resources and actions related to sustainable development. The article also reports on the mutual involvement of apparently disparate pieces of the puzzle in the implementation of sustainable development through examples from sustainability literature.