CCB Magazine

Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK) has created two positions for sustainability officers. Nina Schallenberg, curator of the Nationalgalerie at Hamburger Bahnhof, is one of them. What does the work of a sustainability officer look like? What challenges does the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation face? 
 

INTERVIEW   Jens Thomas

CCB Magazine: Hello Ms. Schallenberg. You are a curator with a PhD from the Nationalgalerie am Hamburger Bahnhof. How did you become what you are today?

Nina Schallenberg: I studied art history, philosophy and modern German literature. It was clear from the start that I wanted to work in the museum sector, and so after completing my PhD and a traineeship at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, I accepted a position as head of collections at the Wilhelm Hack Museum in Ludwigshafen. I have always been attracted by the museum's involvement with art objects. From Ludwigshafen, I then came to Berlin to the Nationalgalerie.

CCB Magazine:A few months ago, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation appointed you, together with Daniel Naumann, as its sustainability officer. Together, you are to draft a sustainability strategy for the SPK's cultural institutions. How did that come about?

Nina Schallenberg:At the end of 2020, a number of colleagues from the SPK got together to think about sustainability in the SPK and to consider what could be set in motion in this regard. From this, a taskforce was formed to develop a roadmap to greater sustainability at SPK facilities. Employees from all five SPK facilities are involved in the task force. In addition, there are six sustainability working groups that are also dedicated to specific projects across the foundation in the areas of resource conservation, recycling, mobility, biodiversity and food. Since last October, we Sustainability Officers have been providing a central point of contact for all these activities at the foundation. We bring the threads together. We link the ideas and initiatives and also try to anchor the topic of sustainability in all of the foundation's processes.

CCB Magazine:You say that all five SPK facilities are to become more sustainable. Which ones are we talking about here?

Nina Schallenberg:The SPK includes the National Museums in Berlin, the Berlin State Library, the Secret State Archives, the Ibero-American Institute and the State Institute for Music Research.

CCB Magazine:That's quite a lot, almost two dozen museums alone, if I'm not mistaken.

Nina Schallenberg:That's right. There are many different museums housed in very different types of buildings, and they also run very different programs in terms of content.

CCB Magazine:The impetus for more sustainability came from the SPK staff, you say. How does the management react to this?

Nina Schallenberg:There is clearly a sense of a change of direction here. Neither the president nor the directorates had to be fundamentally convinced that the issue of sustainability needs to be approached more systematically than was the case in the past. Finally, there are also clear demands from the political arena for a change of course; there will be stricter requirements. It remains to be seen to what extent statements on the part of the management levels will not only remain lip service, but personnel and resources will be made available and programs will be called into question.

CCB Magazine:What specifically is being demanded of politics? And what is the SPK demanding in return?

Nina Schallenberg:For example, policymakers are demanding that we be able to map our consumption in the foreseeable future and develop a strategy on this basis to reduce consumption. The goal at the end of the day is an improved carbon footprint. Conversely, we demand that politicians provide us with more support for this process - in terms of personnel and investments. We have already received support in this respect through the provision of BKM funds for our "green inventory," an initial recording of our environmentally relevant data. I am curious to see what specific funding opportunities will be set up in the future for sustainability projects in the cultural sector.

CCB Magazine:The focus of the transformation process is strongly on the ecological. To what extent is social sustainability also taken into account? For example, in the form of fair wages.

Nina Schallenberg:At SPK, we have developed a vision of sustainability that includes the social component. This vision has also been communicated quite officially to the outside world. Nevertheless, I have to say that as sustainability officers, we initially focus on the ecological area. But the economic and social pillars cannot be separated from the ecological one, and we try to take all three pillars into account in our decisions. There is a working group at SPK that deals with the issue of diversity, also with regard to the personnel structure of SPK.

CCB Magazine:Keyword diversity and inclusion - what do they demand here that should change in the future?

Nina Schallenberg:In principle, everyone should have the opportunity to have access - to all areas, to all levels. We are nowhere near that - neither with regard to visitors and users nor with regard to our teams. As I said, Daniel Naumann and I are currently focusing on the ecological aspects of sustainability, which is why I can't answer your question now. Hopefully, things will look different in one or two years.

CCB Magazine:Very good. Then I can ask you about it again in two years.

Nina Schallenberg:At the moment, we are working on developing new structures and processes. The issue is how ideas and initiatives from the SPK facilities can best be implemented. At the same time, we are analyzing the political decisions that we already have to implement - for example in the area of construction or procurement. To provide a framework for all these approaches, SPK has decided to seek EMAS certification. Setting up and implementing this EMAS process are among our central tasks as sustainability officers.

CCB Magazine:For those who don't know: What exactly is EMAS certification and what does it bring?

Nina Schallenberg:EMAS certification involves implementing an environmental management system as a public authority or institution. EMAS is an abbreviation for Eco-Management and Audit Scheme - it focuses on ecological aspects. The first step is to set up a sustainability team that brings together colleagues from all institutions. They support data collection and the development and implementation of measures to make our operation a more sustainable one. It's a process of continuous improvement - a cycle of recording, developing, implementing, controlling, further developing and so on.

CCB Magazine:What distinguishes you personally as a sustainability expert - what expertise do you bring to the table?

Nina Schallenberg:As a curator, I have already dealt with the topic of sustainability, consistently worked with my own inventory and, for example, tried to keep material consumption at exhibitions low. The management and specialist knowledge that I now need is partly acquired through further training and, of course, I read a lot about the subject. You just have to dig in.

CCB Magazine:Cultural institutions have different problem areas when it comes to their climate footprint. At the Schaubühne, for example, the most pressing problem is guest performances and the associated CO2 consumption due to travel, transportation, etc. Where is the biggest construction site at the SPK?

Nina Schallenberg:I cannot tell you that with complete certainty because we have not yet recorded the actual situation. As things stand today, we assume that the operation of our technically - especially air-conditioning - highly equipped buildings accounts for the largest item of our CO2 consumption. The preservation of our cultural heritage puts us in a dilemma: on the one hand, we are obliged to preserve the objects for future generations; on the other hand, we must significantly reduce our CO2 emissions if we do not want to be a driver of the climate crisis. International loan traffic and the associated transports and business trips certainly also contribute to high CO2 consumption in the area of museums, similar to the Schaubühne. We are already very excited to see what insights we will gain from our upcoming "Green Inventory" and what solutions we will then arrive at.

CCB Magazine:Ms. Schallenberg, thank you very much for the interview.

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