12.2.b Sustainability-certified cultural and media institutions
The indicator captures the number of cultural and media institutions that have received a sustainability certification. Since it is not possible to cover the entire spectrum of all cultural and media institutions, the indicator is limited to publicly funded institutions in the fields of theatres, concert halls and orchestras, libraries, archives, museums and art galleries, visitor centres, music clubs, festivals, event venues, and publicly accessible cultural heritage sites. Cultural education institutions such as music schools are not included.
Given the heterogeneity of the cultural and media landscape, the indicator focuses on certificates and management systems that cover various aspects of sustainability. These include, among others, the German Sustainability Code (DNK), Ökoprofit, the Economy for the Common Good, KlimaBilanzKultur (KBK) and KlimaBilanzKultur+ (KBK+), the Eco Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), as well as the application of the following management systems: ISO 14001 (international environmental management system standard), ISO 20121-24 (sustainability management systems for events), ISO 50001 (international energy management standard), and ISO 50005 (guidelines for the phased introduction of energy management systems).
Cultural and media institutions that meet at least one of these certificates or management systems are aggregated. Due to the large number of certificates and management systems, there may be overlaps with other indicators of the German Sustainability Strategy (DNS), such as voluntary sustainability reporting by companies according to the German Sustainability Code (DNK) (Indicator 8.6) and the number of EMAS-certified companies (Indicator 12.2.a).
The unweighted aggregation of cultural and media institutions, which are very heterogeneous in size and orientation and committed to sometimes differently oriented certificates and management systems, limits the indicator’s meaningfulness regarding the social and ecological orientation of cultural production. The indicator can at best provide a future assessment of whether the engagement of cultural and media institutions in sustainability issues is generally increasing. Moreover, the reference to a certificate or management system only indirectly provides information about the actual extent of the ecological and social impact of the cultural operation.
Most of the certificates and management systems considered do not explicitly relate to the cultural sector but address general aspects of sustainable business and production. The indicator does not take into account the protection of culture or a sustainable handling of cultural content, but rather highlights the sustainability aspects of the cultural institutions themselves. The special communicative function of culture, which is intended to contribute to social awareness in various socio-cultural milieus, is only indirectly considered by the indicator, since the mentioned certifications focus not on the content of cultural products but on their production and provision. It cannot necessarily be assumed that the audiences of cultural institutions are actually influenced in their behaviour by the sustainable orientation of these institutions. Rather, a sustainable cultural offering may primarily appeal to a milieu already sensitised to the respective issues.
In 2024, 77 cultural and media institutions with at least one sustainability certificate were recorded. The exact total number of publicly funded cultural and media institutions in Germany is not known; however, there are nearly 9,000 libraries, over 6,000 museums, and more than 600 venues of public theatres alone. This illustrates that the absolute number of sustainability-certified cultural and media institutions is in the per mille range when viewed relatively, indicating considerable potential for growth in this area.
For various reasons, audiovisual products are not included in the indicator. Ecological standards exist for the production of German cinema, TV, and online/video-on-demand productions, covering aspects such as energy use, transport, accommodation and catering, as well as the use and handling of materials. Since 1 March 2023, compliance with these standards has been mandatory to receive funding from federal sources. In the first six months after the introduction of mandatory compliance, this was demonstrated for a total of 82 audiovisual productions. From 1 September 2023 to 30 August 2024, a further 234 productions followed.
Data collection only began in 2024. Therefore, it is not yet possible to evaluate the indicator in relation to the politically set goal of increasing the number of sustainability-certified cultural and media institutions.
