Embracing ambivalence: responsibility discourses around ‘greening’ the performing arts

ABSTRACT

Abstract How does the performing arts sector feel about the need to ‘green’ the performing arts? A sense of urgency around climate change and ecological degradation is informing profound changes in the way the arts field sees itself and inducing a debate around sustainability and the arts’ perception of responsibility. Despite the undeniable planetary emergency, the lumping together of environmental issues and artistic practices remains complex and controversial, demanding careful examination. By exploring the preliminary results of a nation-wide inquiry and workshops within artistic institutions based in Portugal, this paper discusses the overarching challenge of environmental sustainability, examining the ways in which ecological responsibility is apprehended and justified, and seeking to contribute to a more nuanced and context-sensitive understanding of the ‘green transition’.

KEYWORDS:

• Environmental sustainability
• performing arts
• eco-responsibility

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 IPCC (2023).

2 See: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2023/09/27/court-case-over-climate-inaction-against-32-countries-opens-at-the-european-court-of-human

3 Examples include the manifestos ‘Culture Declares Emergency’ or ‘Handle with Care: Envisioning a Culture of Care’, or the projects ‘Perform Europe’, ‘Eco-Shift Culture’ or "STAGES – Sustainable Theatre Alliance for a Green Environmental Shift’ and practical tools such as the ‘Theatre Green Book’, among many others, of different formats and scales.

4 Examples are numerous and almost impossible to account for, ranging from State-level legislation, Portugal’s Climate Law of 2021; to action at regional or municipal level, the strategy of adaptation to climate change (2021–2030) of Catalunya; at a sectoral level, the example of ‘Plan C* Culture for the Climate’ (2022) also in Catalunya; or the Arts Council England’s ‘Our environmental responsibility: from understanding to action’ (2021); and at an European level ‘Greening the Creative Europe’.

5 The Directorate-General for the Arts is a body within the Ministry of Culture of the Portuguese Republic. Its mission is to support, implement and coordinate the arts in Portugal (https://www.dgartes.gov.pt/pt/sobre_nos/apresentacao). In the performing arts, it is the main policy-maker and funding body. We considered organisations which had received financial support in the years 2021 and 2022.

6 The workshop was originally developed by the Competence Centre for Sustainability of the University of Lausanne and Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne and is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. The National Theatre in Lisbon (TNDMII) is one of the 12 high-profile theatres which have implemented it. In the Portuguese case, this was made under a Strategic Cooperation Agreement between TNDMII and the University of Coimbra/CEIS20 – Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, which is responsible for the research project GREENARTS. Green Production – Performing Arts in Transition’ under the Grant 2022.01609.PTDC by FCT.

7 Indeed, the survey has both quantitative and qualitative questions, a mix we deemed appropriate given its context of implementation: the first ever nationwide survey on this issue. However, in this paper, we use and reflect mainly on the qualitative answers. A comprehensive analysis is available at: https://l1nq.com/12sSJ

8 In this specific part of the workshops (conducted between July and September 2023) the total number of participants was 23.

9 As a means of anonymisation, the respondents' answers/interviews will be identified with [R] – Respondent.

10 https://juliesbicycle.com/

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia [grant number 2022.01609.PTDC].