Sustainability Manager and Strategist for Cultural Institutions Programme at Institution School

Sustainability Manager and Strategist for Cultural Institutions: International Professional Programme

August 31 – September 27, 2026

A New Profession Is Emerging in Cultural Institutions.
And Almost Nobody Has Noticed.

For years, sustainability in cultural institutions was largely treated as a theme or a statement of intent. Today, it has become a structural issue.

From energy and collections to artistic production, governance, fundraising and reporting, sustainability now affects every aspect of cultural organisations. As ESG criteria become increasingly important, the sector needs professionals capable of turning sustainability ambitions into measurable strategies.

A new professional figure is emerging to take on this responsibility: the Sustainability Manager.

Training the professionals who will lead the transition

Responding to this transformation, Institution School has developed Sustainability Manager and Strategist for Cultural Institutions, a new international professional programme dedicated specifically to sustainability within the cultural sector that you can join still at the Third Tier rate until August 25.

Running from August 31 to September 27, 2026, the intensive one-month programme is designed both for professionals already working across museums, foundations, theatres, festivals and cultural organisations, and for those seeking to develop new career opportunities in the sector.

The programme combines three weeks of live online teaching, with recordings available for all sessions, and an optional one-week residential programme in Santa Sofia, Italy, at the gateway to the Casentinesi Forest National Park.

Rather than approaching sustainability only from an environmental perspective, the course considers it as an organisational and strategic responsibility. Participants will explore sustainability strategy and governance, ESG reporting, impact measurement, energy management, sustainable collections, responsible artistic production, stakeholder engagement, communication, organisational change, and sustainable fundraising.

A central objective is to move from theory to implementation.

“We are not educating sustainability theorists. We are preparing professionals capable of bringing about real transformation within the institutions where they work.”
– Martin Neureiter, Academic Coordinator

An international faculty rooted in practice

The programme brings together professionals working directly at the intersection of culture and sustainability.

Academic Coordinator Martin Neureiter, founder of CSR Company International and former Chair of the international working group that developed ISO 26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility, is joined by figures including Jean Savitsky from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; Grace Redmond from Julie’s Bicycle; Kim Kraczon, Conservator/Sustainability specialist; Marta Lovato, Sustainability Advisor at Santarcangelo Festival; Virginia Rollando, Sustainability Advisor at Terraforma Festival, Nextones, Waking Life and Nuits Sonores; and Eike Schmidt, Director of Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte and former Director of the Uffizi Galleries.

The programme also examines one of the most urgent questions facing cultural organisations today: how can sustainability become financially sustainable?

Dedicated sessions on strategic fundraising and partnerships bring together experts including cultural economist Pier Luigi Sacco, Anders Rykkja of Queen’s University Belfast, Laura Callanan, Founding Partner of Upstart Co-Lab, and cultural consultant Nathalie Courville.

Participants completing the online programme receive a First Level Certificate in Sustainability Management for Cultural Institutions, while those completing the full programme, including the residential component, receive a Professional Certificate.

Institution also offers reduced participation fees for selected applicant categories and 20 Individual Participation Grants worth €200 each, designed to broaden access to the programme by applying to this form.

As Institution founder and director Fabio Cavallucci puts it:
“The question is no longer whether cultural institutions will become sustainable. The question is who will lead that transformation.”

Sustainability Manager and Strategist for Cultural Institutions
August 31 – September 27, 2026
Online Programme / Full Programme with residency in Santa Sofia, Italy

Applications and programme information are available through Institution website.

Institution S.R.L.
www.institution.it/en