Scent Culture Institute is a hub for projects on smelling in culture, business & society based at Bern & Zurich in Switzerland:

• We offer thought leadership on the use of the senses in an increasingly experiential & aesthetic economy through consulting services, workshops and presentations.
• We initiate and lead cutting edge research projects at Bern University of Applied Sciences.
• We are cultural producers.
• We offer innovative teaching & training in world class art, design & management education programs.
• We are active members of international networks: business, culture, academia.
• We want to be local activists – Join us!
• We continuously explore, occasionally discuss emerging trends or interesting cases and share our views.
• We invite you to pay attention to your nose, attune to its input, its wisdom, its whimsy.

The formation of Scent Culture Institute responds to undergoing changes in business, postmodern life and intellectual thought. Here is the story.

Western culture & society will only develop further, if it turns scent into a stimulus for critical reflection – not an invitation for hypnosis. Since founding Scent Culture Institute in 2014, we have been working on this premise. More recently, we have fleshed out some of the guiding ideas in our contribution to Designing with Smell: Designing with Smell: Practices, Techniques and Challenges: Culturalizing scent! Activities of Scent Culture Institute have frequently been featured in international media.

Please feel free to skim through our multi-facetted history of snapshots:

Scent culture workplace

Reaching out to the public via Neue Zürcher Zeitung

Analyzing an olfactory identity with scholars in organization studies

Enjoying feedback

Panel with Christophe Laudemiel at UBS Arts Forum chaired by Dr. Karolina Jeftic at UBS

Sensory profiling with executive in a training session on customer experience

Translating scent in the context of project identity work in an Executive Education program

Visiting Andreas Wilhelm with business students from the University of St.Gallen

Talks & workshops

Panel at Esxcene in Milano organized with Bodo Kubartz: Barbara Herman, Rosella Caputo, Lisa Bonfatti

Making scent a topic at the Academy of Management

Enjoying feedback on a workshop

Displaying workshop results

Speculating on olfactory impressions at Scent Culture Initiative

Exploring smell at workplaces

Collective sense-making with managers

Lucas Heusser presenting his thesis at Süskind in Zurich

Speaking at the World Perfumery Congress

Community building in Zurich with Brigitte Witschi, Mayumi Matthaeus, Saskia Wilson-Brown and Ashraf Osman

Working with raw materials at the University of the Arts in Berlin

Connecting to the artworld and co-curating an exhibition series at Kunstmuseum Thun

Panel at Museum Tingueley

Presenting at CKSTER festival

Enjoying the feedback on being part of an exhibition contribution

Introducing the Art and Olfaction Awards at Esxence in Milano

Geruch & Team: “Ich kann Dich riechen” – a snapshot from working with managers

Discussing olfactory perceptions at the SCO workshop in Talinn with scholars in organization studies

Associating smelly perceptions at Scent Culture Initiative

Visualizing scents & analyzing the visualization of scent at the University of the Arts Berlin

SCI’s first logo

Visualizing scents & analyzing the visualization of scent at the University of the Arts in Berlin

In the field exploring the creative practices of perfumers

Initiating a broader debate on the (Non-)sense of smelly wheels

An independent student study

Being interviewed by CKSTER

Sharing olfactory perceptions in a workshop

Exploring Osmodrama with UDK students and meeting the artist Wolfgang Georgdorf in Berlin

Moderating team development games with executives

How do you see the field and where are you?, initiating a discussion at the Institute for Art and Olfaction in Los Angeles

Talking about the car as an olfactory artifact at Mediamatic in Amsterdam

Sensing the city at Bern Urban Scent Walk

Exploring the smellscape at the University of St.Gallen

Creating an olfactory identity at the CKSTER festival in Bern

Hunting scent bubbles at Bern Urban Scent Walk

Documenting at Bern University of the Arts

Lucas Heusser and Jasmin Rehman having fun at Scent Culture Initiative in Zurich

Let us connect!

Stay updated and browse through our presence on social media.

If you have any questions about Scent Culture Institute or ideas you would like to discuss, please do not hesitate to contact us ! We are particularly interested in possible partners from other social or cultural domains. Thank you for your interest!