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SPEAKER

Greta Ortalli

Culture for the Planet

Greta Ortalli is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Geography and Sustainability at the University of Lausanne (UNIL) , Switzerland. Her research lies at the intersection of sustainability transitions, organisation studies, and arts and cultural management. She investigates how cultural organisations, particularly museums, theatres, and opera houses, can contribute to sustainability transitions by transforming their internal practices, experimenting with alternative modes of organising, and fostering broader societal change.

Her doctoral research is conducted within the Culture for the Planet project, a partnership between the University of Lausanne and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and Innosuisse through the BRIDGE Discovery programme. Adopting an action research approach, the project collaborates with cultural organisations worldwide to develop and test practical tools that support their sustainability transitions.

Greta Ortalli

Organisation Description

Culture for the Planet Alliance is a research-driven initiative originating from the Swiss BRIDGE Discovery-funded project Culture Goes Sustainable, led by the University of Lausanne (UNIL), Switzerland and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW). The initiative emerged from the recognition that sustainability efforts in the cultural sector remain fragmented and often lack shared, research-grounded frameworks for implementation.

Its mission is to co-produce knowledge, frameworks, and tools that empower arts and cultural organisations worldwide to embed sustainability into governance, operations, and practices. Its long-term vision is to institutionalise sustainability within the sector through shared indicators, a common standard, and a qualification framework.

The Culture for the Planet Alliance is the key nexus for this co-production process, bringing together cultural institutions, funders, policymakers, and associations worldwide within a structured community of practice. The Alliance drives new solutions in arts and culture to accelerate the sustainability transition, building toward a shared vision: to shape the ideas and actions that will define sustainable futures.

Through collaborative research, validation processes, and coordinated initiatives, Culture for the Planet develops sector-specific frameworks designed to support systemic, long-term transformation across regions and artistic genres.

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