Cultural Heritage & Sustainability

The outlook for the environment is bleak. According to a landmark study reported by the University of Oxford, 96% of climate policy has failed since the year 1998.* More recent news has confirmed that globally set targets are not being met, with proposed solutions for sustainable development lacking traction with businesses, policy makers, and the general public.

Since the eighteenth century, however, visitors to Salzburg have been deeply inspired by the almost contrapuntal harmony that exists between the city's sublime Alpine setting and rich cultural heritage. 

At SIAS we believe that Salzburg, its natural landscape, and vast cultural resources provide hope and inspiration for the way humans and nature can find sustainable solutions for the future of the planet. 

Drawing upon interdisciplinary methods and festival conditions, SIAS is committed to illuminating the web of deep-level connections among cultural heritage, the natural environment, and human-built networks.

Responding to the European Council's recent "Resolution for Culture" (2022/C 466/01), and working with longstanding thinkers, scholars, artists and ensembles, such as Orchestra for the Earth (est. 2017), we are finding creative ways to expedite positive solutions for climate change by awareness-raising, strategic education, and public-facing research.

*A. Stechemesser, et al, "Climate policies that achieved major emission reductions: Global evidence from two decades", Science 385 (23 August 2024), 884-892,