This is a long article: “Culture as a pillar in sustainability: the best is yet to come“. The consideration of culture as a stand-alone pillar, dimension or component of sustainability (the fourth or the first) is the best strategy, not only for the agency of cultural actors but as a paradigm that is better suited to describe and understand (and transform) the difficult challenges of our times. The article was published in Economia della cultura, in December 2016.