Sustainability and culture go hand in hand. They are two realities that intertwine to promote a new civic model. This is what emerged from the XIII Civita Report, presented today in Turin at the Sala Turinetti of the Gallerie d’Italia.
The XIII Report of the Association highlights the importance of sustainability between cultural organizations and businesses. It is a sentimental connection that binds companies and culture and goes beyond the practice of artwashing to reach a common investment project in the future generation of protection and promotion of cultural heritage.
From the survey, carried out with an online questionnaire to collect the opinions and ideas of the museum public, it emerged that the museum can be a space in which low environmental impact behaviors are adopted. The vast majority of visitors (7 visitors out of 10) are convinced that a more effective message in favor of sustainability can be transmitted through art and culture. For over a third of those interviewed, sustainability plays a role in choosing which museum to visit. The public appreciates museums that are managed sustainably: from energy to waste, from water to materials. 7 out of 10 visitors think museums should work towards their energy efficiency.
«Being sustainable today is an essential factor for a company that wants to preside over the market in a stable and lasting way, it now means going beyond the corporate dimension, projecting itself on listening to and involving local communities. At the same time, the challenge of sustainability, and in particular the environmental one, is also assuming a strategic dimension for Italian museums, called to play a leading role in a plurality of forms. From a strategic perspective, museums and cultural organizations must abandon the self-referential attitude and rethink their own sustainability model, aiming energetically to build or consolidate significant and lasting relationships with potential stakeholders to favor the transition from the old logic of “patronage” to that of the “active partnership”. Companies and museums need to move, so to speak, from an occasional relationship to a “stable affection”, he commented Simonetta Giordani, Secretary General of the Civita Association during the presentation.
«Sustainability is an important challenge for the entire cultural world, but at the same time it is also a great opportunity, necessary to promote a system change that is now unavoidable. The survey promoted by the Civita association to collect the opinions of the museum public confirms that cultural institutions and enterprises can act as authentic environmental communication platforms, capable of sensitizing visitors and promoting virtuous behaviour”. reads in the message of the Councilor for Culture of the City of Turin Rosanna Purchia.
For Michele Coppola, Executive Director of Art, Culture and Historic Heritage, Intesa Sanpaolo and Director of the Gallerie d’Italia, «presenting this research in the Gallerie d’Italia offices, first in Naples and now in Turin, is a tangible sign of how much our museums are dedicated to deepening current issues, in particular thanks to the work done around photography to reflect on the great urgencies of the present, from the climate crisis to social fragility ».
The presentation event of the Report, published by Marsilio Editori and realized thanks to the support of IGT, was attended by: Michele Coppola – Executive Director of Art, Culture and Historic Heritage Intesa Sanpaolo, Director of Gallerie d’Italia; Simonetta Giordani, Secretary General of the Civita Association, Alfredo Valeri – Head of Research, Study Center of the Civita Association; Cristina Favini – Chief, Design Officer & Strategist, Logotel; Giorgina Bertolino – Training projects, Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation; Paola Borrione – President and Head of Research Santagata Foundation; Giuliana Cirio – Director General of Confindustria Cuneo; Giuseppe Lavazza – Vice President of Lavazza Spa; Michela Rota – Piedmont Coordinator and member of the Working Group on Sustainability, ICOM; Mimmo Carretta, Councilor for Tourism, Sport and Major Events of the Municipality of Turin.