An Interview with Marijana Topo, PR and Communications, Videomedeja & Meander Festival (Novi Sad)
Sustainability as a working philosophy
Marijana Topo didn’t come to ESG through policy documents. She came through the daily reality of organising a video art festival — the decisions about materials, logistics, partnerships, which artists to platform, which communities to engage.
“Working in festival production, one thing becomes very clear: ESG in the GLAM sector needs to be practical, simple, and directly usable. Otherwise it won’t be adopted.”
This is her central conviction, and it shapes everything she says. Videomedeja doesn’t have a formal ESG strategy. What it has is a set of working principles — around diverse artistic voices, international collaboration, socially relevant themes — that align with ESG values without being labelled as such.
“Many cultural organisations already engage with ESG topics,” she observes, “but these efforts remain fragmented and not clearly connected.” The result is that ESG stays at the level of individual motivation rather than institutional practice.
The social dimension: a natural fit
Of the three ESG dimensions, Topo identifies Social as the most developed in her context. Videomedeja’s focus on artistic expression, diversity, and international collaboration naturally creates space for social impact. The Environmental dimension, by contrast, is where she sees the clearest gap.
“Decisions around materials, technical setup, or logistics are often made based on cost and availability, without considering environmental impact. Without ESG competencies, there is no clear approach to choosing more sustainable options, reducing waste, or measuring impact.”
This is not a question of values. Everyone in the room cares about the environment. But caring isn’t a methodology. And without a methodology, good intentions produce inconsistent results.
The governance challenge
Topo is also candid about governance — the G that most cultural organisations find hardest to articulate. At Videomedeja, governance exists in the form of standard organisational practices. But it’s not explicitly framed through an ESG lens.
“ESG is not yet embedded in strategies, roles, or evaluation systems, which makes it harder to implement consistently,” she says. “In practice, this means that even when there is interest, ESG often remains informal and dependent on individual initiative.”
The solution, she argues, isn’t more policy language. It’s structural connection. “ESG is much more likely to be taken seriously when it is clearly required or encouraged through funding criteria, calls, or reporting obligations. When these elements are missing, ESG often remains informal.”
What would actually help
Topo’s wishlist for ESG4GLAM is specific: clear, easy-to-use tools. Real examples from practice. Flexibility for organisations of different sizes. Connection to funding and partnerships — because that’s what makes ESG relevant in everyday work.
“Learning happens best through doing and through exchange with others,” she says. “For the ESG4GLAM project, it would be important to create something that feels like a practical toolkit, not just a framework — something people can actually use while working.”
She’s particularly enthusiastic about portfolio-based validation: evidence of what a professional has actually done, rather than a test of what they know in theory. “The most convincing approach would be to assess ESG skills based on real projects and outcomes — how sustainability, inclusion, or responsible practices are actually implemented.”
The real success metric
When asked what success looks like for ESG4GLAM, Topo’s answer is characteristically direct: “A successful outcome would be something that the sector can actually use in everyday work, not just a theoretical framework.”
Accessible to those with no prior ESG knowledge. Useful for small organisations as well as large ones. Connected to real decisions, not abstract principles. And capable — eventually — of making ESG a natural part of how cultural projects and programmes operate across Europe.
“Ultimately, success would be when ESG is no longer seen as an extra topic, but becomes a natural part of how projects, programmes, and organisations in the GLAM sector operate.”