The cities of Dresden and Leipzig are now making their CO2 calculator for the cultural sector available nationwide and free of charge. The reason for this is the very high demand from other cities, said Andrea Hensel, specialist for transformation and sustainability at Leipzig's Department of Culture.
The so-called E-Tool Culture was created in 2023 and received this year's Saxon Digital Prize in the "Society" category. The web-based emissions calculator for the cultural sector can be used by event organizers permanently and free of charge at www.e-tool.de. There are also no license fees, it said. However, technical support is not possible.
One of the biggest sources of emissions is the transportation of audiences and artists
The Culture e-tool is designed to calculate the CO2 emissions of cultural institutions and events. It calculates all emission sources according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, a globally recognized standard.
The largest sources of emissions include the arrival and departure of audiences and guest artists, the transportation of technology or exhibits, the purchase of materials for cultural events and third-party services such as catering companies.
Carbon footprint as a basis for transformation in the cultural sector
"A key added value of the E-Tool Culture lies in its high level of user-friendliness," emphasized Leipzig's Mayor of Culture. The greenhouse gas balancing is clearly presented and made accessible to non-experts.
In addition, the tool has a mode with advisory functions and numerous additional tools - for example on the economic efficiency of photovoltaic systems. "Reliable carbon footprints that can be created with reasonable effort are the basis for a sustainable transformation in the publicly financed cultural sector," explained Dresden's Mayor of Culture Annekatrin Klepsch.
Dresden and Leipzig involved several companies and partners as well as the Fraunhofer Center for International Management and Knowledge Economy in the development of the tool. The Culture e-tool is based on the existing tool of the "SME Initiative for Energy Transition and Climate Protection". It has been available to all craft businesses free of charge since 2021.
Dresden and Leipzig already have many climate protection activities
Leipzig and Dresden have already been active in the field of climate protection and sustainability in the past. In Dresden, for example, several cultural institutions developed individual sustainability strategies as part of the "Culture for Future" project. At the beginning of 2022, 37 cultural institutions signed the "Dresden Charter for Sustainability in the Cultural Sector".
In Leipzig, there is also the event series "Circular Economy in the Cultural Sector". A climate protection network for the independent cultural scene was founded here in spring 2024. Both municipalities want to be climate-neutral by 2040.
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