As part of our ongoing commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, our DEI Place Report focuses on our home of Schloss Leopoldskron
Since its founding in 1947, Salzburg Global has become one of the world’s foremost forums for global dialogue, exchange, and collaboration. Schloss Leopoldskron, or Leopoldskron Palace, our home for 77 years, has become a space for Fellows to exchange ideas, explore new possibilities in idyllic surroundings, and work together to shape a more peaceful and just future. The Schloss itself – constructed in 1736 – carries a 288-year-old history that is complex, beautiful, difficult, and at times contested. Over nearly three centuries, the Schloss’s history has been marked by cycles of power, persecution, and renewal. It is impossible to properly tell the story of Salzburg Global’s DEI journey without understanding the evolution of Schloss Leopoldskron.
“Since the Venetian Salon Protest, our approach has been to try to tell the whole evolving history of the building in a way that we've never done before. We have concentrated on exploring and unearthing more contemporary and contested narratives and to re-evaluate our spaces in an era of decolonization. This evolving historical narrative and its influence on our space is now a core part of everything that we do in our home of Schloss Leopoldskron.” - Benjamin Glahn, Salzburg Global Deputy CEO
The DEI Place Report tells the story of the Schloss and Salzburg Global’s strategic approach to adding a 21st-century layer to the space. In the report, readers will encounter reflections from staff, Fellows, and board members on Salzburg Global’s DEI approach as it relates to Schloss Leopoldskron. Throughout the report, we showcase the following learnings and insights from our DEI journey:
- The benefits of utilizing a consultative, transparent, educational, and additive approach to curating historic spaces
- How defining Institutional Values is crucial to re-curating historic spaces
- The impact of implementing a Shared Vision and why this is foundational to telling an institutional history and investing for the future
- How contested Historical Spaces need to be challenged by feedback
- The importance of Proactive Change to adding a "21st-century layer" to historic spaces
We hope that the learnings in this report will be of value to our Fellows, our partners, other convening organizations, stewards of historic buildings, and curators in museums and galleries to contribute to a broader discourse on fostering inclusivity and the evolution of historical spaces.
Read the DEI Place Report here.
Read more about our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
