New! Research-for-action project “Culture Goes Sustainable”

In September 2024, we will start a major four-year research-for-action project under the Swiss BRIDGE Discovery scheme between the University of Lausanne (Prof. Martin Müller) and Zurich University of Applied Sciences (Prof. Leticia Labaronne).

We are currently hiring for five open posts.

Here is what we intend to achieve over the four years:

Aim and motivation: The overall aim of the project is to create a coherent set of knowledge, tools and processes to empower museums and the performing arts worldwide to accelerate the transition towards sustainability. Museums, theatres, and other cultural institutions serve as multipliers, generating awareness and change in thinking and action. Their public role makes them highly visible and accountable, placing expectations on them to serve as sustainability role models. 

Current situation: The issue of sustainability has experienced a significant uptick in interest in the cultural sector in recent years. Yet, as of today, knowledge and action remain limited and fragmented. There is a need for a coherent approach to sustainability that integrates the numerous existing, but disparate, efforts and with consideration of the specific artistic and institutional contexts of cultural institutions. 

Deliverables: The project will deliver three key services and products: 

  • a framework and sustainability management system (SMS) for measuring, monitoring, and managing progress in sustainability (WP2)
  • a label with an associated governance structure to gain recognition and visibility, and establish new partnerships for sustainability (WP3) 
  • a curriculum and qualification programme to build required capacities for responding to the sustainability transition and integrating sustainability in cultural institutions and funding bodies (WP4)

These services will be co-developed, validated and implemented with a global community of practice around sustainability (WP1), called Alliance Culture for the Planet, uniting cultural institutions, policymakers, funders, and associations. The Alliance will continue as an organisation beyond the duration of the project, with a business model to generate sufficient revenues for its activities. 

Scientific contribution: This project will develop the first sector-specific framework of qualitative and quantitative indicators to measure sustainability for museums and performing arts organisations. It advances existing research by adopting a global, holistic perspective, integrating concepts from interdisciplinary sustainability research, and considering the perspective of the audience and funding bodies. 

Practical innovation: The project will unlock the sustainability potential of the cultural sector by providing consistent and efficient guidance to implement sustainability for individual institutions (WP2), standards and recognition for the sector (WP3), and empowerment and ownership for a new field of practice (WP4), all embedded with a community of practice to provide peer support and encourage long-term adherence (WP1). 

Partners: The project will work with practitioners at museums and performing arts organisations as well as with funding bodies, cultural policymakers and scholars around the world so as to gain a multidimensional perspective on the global issue of sustainability. Partners will be engaged in a process of co-production and contribute to the development, validation and implementation of tools and processes. An international advisory panel of scholars and practitioners will act as ambassadors to disseminate research findings and implement project goals.