Creating Futures: Rethinking Cultural Institutions, Infrastructure, and Investment

Amid shifting geopolitical dynamics, shrinking civic space, and growing reflection on how culture is governed and funded, existing models of cultural institutions, shaped by long-standing approaches to public subsidy, curatorship, and governance, are being tested by changing conditions and emerging needs.

Creating Futures: Rethinking Cultural Institutions, Infrastructure, and Investment convenes 45 institutional leaders, cultural funders, policymakers, private sector stakeholders, and creative economy actors for a global exchange on the future of cultural infrastructure. Taking place at Salzburg Global in 2026, this high-level program will explore emerging institutional models, strategic investment approaches, and the evolving role of culture in shaping cohesive, resilient, and forward-looking societies.

Cultural funders and public institutions around the world are confronting the limits of conventional investment models and governance frameworks with growing recognition that existing systems—across public, private, and philanthropic sectors—are not always aligned with current realities or future needs. This moment demands deeper collaboration, mutual learning, and renewed imagination across regions and sectors to shape more inclusive, sustainable, and responsive cultural infrastructure.

This program will offer a vital platform for strategic dialogue, reflective practice, and cross-regional exchange, designed to surface practical insights, strengthen relationships, and support the cultural ecosystems of the future.

The program will focus on:

• Expanding the Definition of Cultural Infrastructure: Exploring how cultural ecosystems are supported through informal networks, civic-led initiatives, and hybrid models alongside formal institutions, and how this broader understanding can inform more inclusive and effective infrastructure strategies. 

• Designing Sustainable and Context-Driven Investment Models: Examining how funders, governments, and private actors can adopt ethical, locally anchored, and context-responsive funding strategies that reduce reliance on external donors and support long-term cultural sovereignty, equity, and resilience. 

• Rethinking Institutional Governance and Accountability: Investigating alternative models of leadership, ownership, and decision-making within cultural institutions, and identifying governance approaches that are more transparent, participatory, and responsive to evolving societal needs. 

• Aligning Cultural Infrastructure with Global Development Goals: Exploring how cultural systems contribute to broader development agendas—such as education, equity, sustainability, and peacebuilding—and how they can be more strategically integrated into global policy frameworks.
  

Timeline:

Programs at Salzburg Global are co-designed with participants who work together to determine the program agenda. Participants should be available for the following dates:-

• Co-Creation Meeting 1 (Online): March 19th 2026, 15:00 to 16:30 CET

• Co-Creation Meeting 2 (Online): March 26th 2026, 15:00 to 16:30 CET

• In-Person Program (Salzburg, Austria) April 13th (from 15:00) to 18th (departure day), 2026

The program will start around 15:00 Central European Time on April 13 and it will end on April 18 (this day being departure day only)

• Online meetings in 2026

Application Information:

Selection will prioritize participants from across the Majority World*, including Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and parts of the Middle East. We prioritize the participation of individuals from communities historically less visible in the arts and culture sector. We will actively seek to represent people of color, disabled individuals, those who identify as LGBT**, and participants from low-income, Indigenous, ethnically diverse, or migrant backgrounds.

There are limited spots for partially funded participation via scholarships (covering travel, room and/or board costs), to get involved in this program.

*Majority World: This term shifts focus to the fact that the majority of the world’s population lives outside of the wealthiest, traditionally Western countries, primarily referring to countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and parts of the Middle East. It reframes perspectives to recognize the diversity, innovation, and critical viewpoints from these regions without reinforcing outdated hierarchies.

**LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. This term is widely recognized in human rights discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world. It is intended to be inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, that express sexuality, gender, intersex, and gender non-conforming identities.

Application Deadline:

October 31, 2025 (17:00 Central European Time)

If you have any exceptional circumstances that inhibit your application through this online portal, please get in touch with us at

ialbertini@salzburgglobal.org.