Talking the talk of culture and sustainability: Exploring Sustainability Reporting in the Cultural Sector

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.