Vivendi

Christian de Boissieu, Professor at the University of Paris 1 (Panthéon-Sorbonne), Economic Advisor to the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIP) (RADD 2009)

« Sustainable development is too often reduced to its environmental aspect. Economists themselves too often fail to consider its cultural dimension. Yet culture is one of the pillars of sustainable development.
More or less recent studies of growth and well-being and how to measure them conclude with an insuffi cient indicator such as the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) to refl ect the reality. The scope of the traditional indicators needs to be broadened. Accordingly, our repositioning on a path of long-term growth must include grey growth and green growth, covering intellectual and cultural areas.
The role of culture industries is essential here. They must defi ne specific indicators for measuring and assessing the contribution of culture to innovation, well-being, and the wealth of a community or of a country. Difficulties with measurement are to be expected, since we are dealing with an area that is still not suffi ciently taken into account in statistical studies. When will we have indicators such as the cultural intensity of an economic activity, or a criterion of cultural diversity for evaluating the worthiness of a project?
In this perspective, Vivendi’s identification of its specifi c sustainable development issues in 2003, as well as its efforts deployed since then to evaluate and measure its intellectual and cultural footprint around the world, deserve reward.»