As cultural and creative professionals, we keep hearing that our work is essential for driving the green transition. But let’s be real: words alone won’t spark a revolution and yet it is not just like a soothing lullaby. Think about it, why did every kid in the ’90s dream of becoming an astronaut? Because Apollo 13 hit the big screen and made space exploration look thrilling, daring, possible. That’s the kind of power we’re talking about.
The cultural sector has always been a space for innovation, storytelling, and shaping societal change. Now, it faces a new challenge: not just to rethink its own operations through an environmentally responsible lens but to lead the way, setting an example for other industries.
Now let’s pause the romanticism because this is where Green Culture comes in, a project designed to support cultural institutions in their ecological transition, helping museums, galleries, theaters, and creative spaces embed sustainability not as a footnote, but as a fundamental value.
Led by Circolo del Design, Fondazione Santagata, and Legambiente Piemonte e Valle d’Aosta, and funded by the Ministry of Culture’s call for proposals to create capacity-building programs for the ecological transition in the cultural sector, Green Culture is a project dedicated to Italian cultural and creative organizations, helping them develop and navigate their own unique and complex path toward sustainability.
Materahub was chosen as one of 75 Italian organizations to participate in the Green Culture capacity-building program, which began online in November and continued in person in Turin from March 10th to 14th. This intensive experience allowed us to take a crucial step forward in our commitment to sustainability. Guided by Green Coordinators, experts from diverse backgrounds who brought strategic vision and problem-solving skills to the table, we developed our first concrete roadmap for our ecological transition to be implemented over the next three years.
While Materahub has long been dedicated to fostering innovation and sustainable development, this initiative gave us the opportunity to push even further—ensuring a just and effective green transition, supported by essential monitoring tools and impact metrics.
Our roadmap will be finalized by summer 2026, marking the official start of its implementation. One pressing issue we tackled was Digital Waste, a growing but often overlooked environmental challenge. To address this, we aim to develop a shared protocol for online data storage and sharing, ensuring more responsible digital practices. We also explored free digital tools like Google Cloud’s Carbon Footprint and the Website Carbon Calculator, which help measure and reduce the environmental impact of online activity. Small steps like these can make a significant difference.
Another idea born from this experience is the creation of an Open Library,a shared repository of protocols, tools, guidelines, and best practices, freely accessible to everyone looking to integrate sustainability into their work.
Sustainability isn’t just about reducing waste or shrinking carbon footprints—it’s about reshaping the way we think, create, and inspire. As we took part in the Green Culture we have turned environmental responsibility into a driving force for cultural innovation and a more sustainable world.
At Materahub, we wholeheartedly embrace this vision, actively engaging in every phase of the Green Culture program, alongside numerous other EU initiatives like Green CCircle, a Creative Europe-funded project we’re currently working on. We were proud to bring this project to Turin, showcasing it as a best practice to be shared and adapted by everyone involved in the co-design phase. But Green Culture wasn’t just about acquiring knowledge, it was about building connections. And this reinforced a crucial truth: the green transition is not a solitary pursuit but a shared journey.
Real change happens where commitment meets collaboration. With a shared vision and a unified effort, we have the power to redefine the cultural sector, not just as a space for expression, but as a catalyst for a more sustainable planet. And if culture can inspire us to dream of space, it can surely inspire us to reimagine and build a greener future.
