Talking the talk of culture and sustainability

The very etymology of accounting reminds us that to account is not only to measure, but also to tell stories – stories that shape how we see, value, and justify the world. But what stories are told when it comes to sustainability, and how are they told?
This book discusses the intricate genealogy of the relationship between sustainability and the cultural sector, tracing its journey from radical promise to managerial mantra. Focusing on how cultural organisations – especially UNESCO World Heritage Sites – translate sustainability into plans, metrics, and reports, it exposes the fragile balance between ideals and implementation, between universal frameworks and organisational realities. Through a critical reading of “sustainability talk,” it reveals both the complicity and the creative potential of sustainability reporting – as a space where power, responsibility, and meaning collide. Ultimately, it calls for sustainability to be reclaimed as a cultural practice: plural, dialogical, and profoundly human.

Chiara Carolina Donelli is an Assistant Professor Tenure Track of Accounting and Business Administration at the University of Pavia. Previously she was working at the Venice School of Management, Ca’ Foscari University. She holds a PhD in Economics and Management of Innovation and Sustainability from the University of Parma, focusing on sustainability and governance in cultural organisations. She was a visiting scholar at the University of South Australia in Adelaide and the Pentland Center for Sustainability in Lancaster. Her research interests include sustainability and sustainability reporting, collaborative governance, and alternative (and counter) forms of accounting, particularly in the non-profit and cultural sectors. She combines academic research with activism and field work.