Cultural sustainability, and sustainability in general, are widely recognised as important in Sweden. Working towards the goals of Agenda 2030 is, for example, to be integrated in all areas of government policy. The Nordic Council of Ministers’ Cooperation Programme for Cultural Policy (2025–2030) is described as contributing to their overarching Vision 2030 of a “green, competitive, and socially sustainable Nordic Region”. It outlines several goals for how Nordic actors in arts and culture are to support this ambition, including strengthening the cultural sector to become more inclusive and competitive, and supporting the development of climate-friendly cultural productions. Another Nordic initiative is the Nordic Green Roadmap, which provides guidance for how cultural institutions in the Nordic region can improve their environmental sustainability (Nordiska ministerrådet 2023; 2024).
In a 2025 report, the Nordic cultural analysis centre Kulturanalys Norden observed that many Nordic governments express ambitions for arts and culture to contribute to making Nordic societies more sustainable, as well as for the cultural sector itself to become so. This includes improving working conditions for artists and cultural professionals, as well as making more environmentally conscious choices within the everyday practices of the sector. The report also claims that “There are also points of overlap between the two overarching perspectives on the role of culture within sustainable development. For instance, a more sustainable cultural sector can contribute to a more sustainable societal development overall. Hence, the policy initiatives examined in this policy brief, to varying degrees, relate to both perspectives.” While the concept of sustainability tends to be used in broad and visionary terms in various policy documents, it is – according to Kulturanalys Norden (2025) – often unclear how the intentions framed in these policies are to be implemented. Yet sustainability as a norm appears to have a strong presence in the culture sector of Sweden and the other Nordic countries.
Comments are closed.