Sustainability

Follow the European Theatre Convention on our ambitious commitment to become a climate-neutral network by 2030.

ETC Theatre Green Book Webinar #2: How to do a basic home survey of your building

5 October 2023, 11:00-12:00 (CEST).

More information

ETC Theatre Green Book - the Journey Begins!

In 2021, the ETC network agreed to a new Sustainable Action Code for Theatres. This included a radical commitment: to become a climate-neutral network by 2030.

But how do we get there?

The ETC Theatre Green Book (ETC TGB) is a new tool to make theatre activity sustainable - across productions, buildings and operations. It is currently in development and will be launched in 2024.

The ETC TGB is a collaboration between ETC and Renew Culture, the organisation behind the successful 'Theatre Green Book'. For the first time, this version will include a self-certification system, which will make visible when a theatre has reached baseline, intermediate, or eventually advanced level of sustainability.

A group of 10 ETC theatres across Europe (the ETC TGB Focus Group) is trialling the new tool in the 2023/24 season to reach baseline standard. Their reflections will be used to improve ETC TGB before its launch to the wider sector in Summer 2024.

Read the working draft (members only)

Join the next webinars (members only) 

Read the ETC Sustainable Action Code

The ETC Theatre Green Book Goes to Brussels

ETC is organising an in-house workshop at the European Commission to present the ETC Theatre Green Book on 6 October 2023.

Following the presentation of the tool at the European Theatre Forum 2023 in Poland and at the European Theatre Talks at Festival d’Avignon, members of the ETC Theatre Green Book Focus Group of 10-member theatres will share learnings & suggestions with members of the Directorate General for Education and Culture at the European Commission.  

ETC Theatre Green Book Webinar #1 Recording

How to Use the Measurement Tool for Productions

In this webinar from 14 September 2023, Paddy Dillon and Lisa Burger from Renew Culture explain how to use the new measurement tool in the ETC Theatre Green Book to track the sustainability of theatre productions.

This hands-on walkthrough uses the recent production of 'Orgia', by Teatro Arriaga Antzokia, as a test case. It was produced to ETC Theatre Green Book baseline standards.

The webinar also includes a Q&A session with reflections on how to ensure 'buy-in' from theatre colleagues and local networks.

Watch the webinar here (ETC members only)

Discover the new ETC Thetre Green Book Production Calculator

The ETC Theatre Green Book is split into three sections: Productions, Buildings, and Operations. 

To help assess the sustainability of your productions, we are presenting a new, easy-to-use calculator tool to track the impact of your choices for sets, props, and costumes.

The excel document includes automatic calculations to work out whether the source and destination for your materials is sufficiently 'green' to qualify for the various levels of the ETC Theatre Green Book self-certification: baseline, intermediate, or advanced.

Download the Production Calculator spreadsheet

Download an example of a completed spreadsheet from 'Orgia', the production by Teatro Arriaga Antzokia, which was created to ETC Theatre Green Book baseline standards

Watch the ETC Theatre Green Book Webinar explaning how to use the Production Calendar

All of these resources are currently for ETC Member Theatres only. Log in to access.

ETC Theatre Green Book Focus Group - Video Introduction

"It's great for us to be part of the ETC Theatre Green Book Focus Group, because together we can share our learning, our successes, and also our failures, which are inevitable on the road to sustainability."

Watch the short video with members of the Focus Group explaining what they hope to achieve in the coming season!

Watch the video

Meet the Focus Group Theatres

Ten ETC theatres have set out to trial the ETC Theatre Green Book in their organisations, with the pledge to reach 'baseline' standard by summer 2024.

Together, they are known as the ETC Theatre Green Book Focus Group.

They are:

Young Vic (UK), Teatro Arriaga (Spain), Národní divadlo – National Theatre Prague (Czech Republic), Deutsches Theater Berlin (Germany); De Toneelmakerij (The Netherlands); Staatsschauspiel Dresden (Germany), Théâtre de Liège (Belgium), Het Zuidelijk Toneel (The Netherlands), Centre Cultural de Belem (Portugal), Det Norske Teatret (Norway)

A pledge to become a climate-neutral network by 2030

In 2021, the European Theatre Convention (ETC) network of theatres made a radical committment: to become a climate neutral network by 2030. 

You can read ETC's groundbreaking 'Sustainable Action Code for European Theatres' in full, here.

Since then, ETC has launched a series of training courses for member theatres to become more confident with sustainability - in terms of communication, operations, and management.

The latest step is the ETC Theatre Green Book, a new tool with a leading organisation working on sustainability to drive the path towards climate neutrality through a new certification system. ETC is currently working with the European Commission on this.

Sustainability a key feature in the 'Opole Recommendations'

The Opole Recommendations, the document pubished following the European Theatre Forum in May 2023 in Opole / Poland, includes a key focus on sustainability.

The text stresses: "It is essential to emphasize the role of networks to drive sustainable change, and to remember that not all organisations start from the same place, knowledge or political
context when working on the climate crisis."

The ETC Theatre Green Book was presented during ETF 2023. Following this, the recommendations on p14 include:

Develop the newly created European Green Theatre Certification, presented during the European Theatre Forum, as a tool to measure the impact of sustainable activity, track progress and ensure sector's accountability

 

Initiate a coordinated roll-out of the new tool on a sectoral, Member State and EU level

 

Include a requirement in EU grants for applicants to provide a plan for the circularity of materials used in theatre productions, thereby reducing waste to a minimum

 

Harmonise regulations across Europe so that historical buildings can be renovated for sustainable and inclusive purposes.

Read the Opole Recommendations in full

ETC is a member of STAGES, the International Sustainable Theatre Experiment

A group of leading theatres and academic organisations have embarked on an ambitious sustainability experiment in culture.

STAGES - Sustainable Theatre Alliance for a Green Environmental Shift, supported with 2 million Euros in co-funding from the European Union, will see 14 influential partners  spend the next four years testing radical solutions to the biggest challenges posed by the climate crisis.

These include the carbon impact of international touring; Long- and short-term sustainable transformation: and dreaming of new creative processes.

The project comes as theatres urgently require new ways to become resilient and inclusive after two years of the pandemic and recognise the clear need to make up for lost time in implementing the 17 UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Read more

Articles and Resources

Want to start your sustainability journey?

Article: Can Theatres Save the World from the Climate Crisis?

Article: Creating an Inclusive Digital Strategy with a Smaller Ecological Footprint

Article: Upcycling in Theatre, an interview with costume and set designer Reet Aus

Article: Is it Possible to Make an International Theatre Project with Zero Carbon Emissions? 

Voices of Culture (VoC) Report: Culture and the UN Sustainable Development Goals 

Ki Culture Sustainability Training Programme

The Ki Futures programme brings together resources and actions that empower institutions and individuals to bring about sector-wide change. 

Ongoing sign-up

More information

ETC Conference in Lisbon Highlights Philosophical & Environmental Need for Care

European theatres must rethink how they interact with staff, local communities and the environment in order to ensure society remains united, theatre professionals have been told.

Leading directors across the continent gathered at the European Theatre Convention (ETC) International Theatre Conference in Lisbon to hear how care is essential in theatres and productions to help face global challenges of inequality and insecurity.

They also discussed the importance of 'slowing down', and ensuring care is present in laws and regulations for artist working conditions that support everyone - in all their diversity - to fulfil their creative visions.

"The theatre can be a flood," said Alexander Zeldin, the writer and director who delivered the keynote artistic address at the conference. "Its waters seep into cracks unseen in our world, it irrigates life by giving us a chance to see it afresh. The flood is what allows us to go with new eyes across borders and boundaries that are set up by shame, politics, history, and economics." Read more

ETC Urges Legislators to Take Steps Towards a Climate Neutral Theatre Sector

The European theatre community have made an unprecedented call for policymakers and politicians across the continent to make sweeping changes in support of a “resilient” theatre sector, fit for the future.

A new policy document has been released by the European Theatre Convention (ETC) network of theatres, which counts 42 theatres from 26 countries, urging Members of the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the Council of the European Union to support pioneering theatre “that is as diverse as our local communities.”

It adds that policymakers must take steps towards a climate-neutral and sustainable theatre sector” and continue to lead the way “towards accessible theatre in a post-Covid world.” Read more

ETC Joins the International Climate Strike

ETC joined the climate strike in Berlin, the location of its head office at the Deutsches Theater, alongside an estimated 20,000 people – including young environmental campaigners Greta Thunberg and Luisa Neubauer.

1,400 such rallies are expected around the world ahead of the Cop26 climate summit, which many see as the last opportunity to limit temperature rises and collectively avoid climate ‘catastrophe’. Read more

European Theatres Pledge to Go Climate Neutral by 2030

Major theatres in 25 European countries have made a promise to reduce their carbon emissions to at least zero by 2030 as part of a plan, coordinated by the European Theatre Convention (ETC), to create a “more sustainable, conscious, mindful and just future”.

Leading European Theatres have made an ambitious promise to completely eradicate their carbon emissions over the next decade.

The 46 theatres in the European Theatre Convention (ETC) network, drawn from 25 countries, have pledged to become climate neutral by 2030 – stressing that they will make changes to activity across their buildings and theatrical productions. Read more

ETC Sustainable Action Code for Theatres

Creating now, a greener, more sustainable conscious and mindful just future by 2030.

We, theatres in Europe, are committed to measure, understand, reduce and offset our carbon footprint through information, mobilization and legislation on European level.

Theatres have the power to reach many people across society, to engage and initiate cultural debates. Creating a better and more equitable future is at the heart of our ‘recovery plan’ to overcome the Covid-19 crisis, providing resilience, all while reducing our impact on the climate crisis. We refer to the EU Green Deal and the Sustainability Goals of the United Nations to achieve a better and more sustainable sector by 2030. 

ETC’s Sustainability Action Code for Theatres is the ambitious vision to create sustainable progress in Europe’s theatres by the end of this decade, aiming to reach a climate positive network and memberhip. It is based on the three basic pillars considering the social, economic and environmental transformation of our work for a more sustainable, diverse and just use of our resources, to create, present and share theatre made in Europe.

Read the full code

ETC Green Theatre Committee Members Announced

This month, ETC held its first Green Theatre Committee meeting! The Committee members will develop strategic input for our next 3 year programme on social, economic and environmental sustainability, referring to the UN Sustainable Development Goals as targets to achieve by 2030 in theatres across Europe -- and as a show of sustainable progress.

Committee members:

Silvano Catufa, Technical and safety manager, Teatro Stabile di Torino (Italy)

Frank Holldack, Head of Design & Costume, Schauspielhaus Graz (Austria)

Joachim Klement, Artistic Director, Staatsschauspiel Dresden (Germany), ETC Board Delegate

Solenn Koç, Environmental Advisor, Théâtre de Liège (Belgium)

Michaela Rýgrová, Environmental Activities Coordinator, National Theatre Prague (Czech Republic)

Heidi Wiley, Executive Director, ETC.

Gunnar Will, Senior Energy Manager, & Juliane Becker, Project Manager, Adelphi, External Expert Consultants

Launch of the ETC Green Theatre Committee

Following our last conference ‘Green Theatre’ in November, and the three workshops on green theatre practices in management, communication and biodiversity in December and January, we want to move to the action part in February.

The task of the committee is to develop and formulate a Sustainability Action Code for ETC Member Theatres to be presented at our next conference in June 2021. The code aims to - similar like the ‘Diversity in Action’ ETC code of conduct for ETC Member Theatres - serve as guideline for ETC’s network of Member Theatres to implement a sustainability strategy in each venue. The committee will meet from March to May in self-organised online meetings. It will be accompanied by ETC Board Member Joachim Klement (Staatschauspiel Dresden) and Heidi Wiley (ETC).

We want to act to make theatre continuously relevant, to be a sustainable public place in each community, to be a relevant art form to continuously stir and mirror societal debates, to imagine our future. We want to act to address environmental sustainability using the role of theatres to meet the objectives of the SDG’s and the European Green Deal, driving social innovation and contribute to the cultural shift needed for sustainable transformation of contemporary society. We want to act to create the sustainable transition of our sector.

Committee members will be announced soon.

Read more

Wild Spaces: Action Areas for Sustainable Theatres

What strategic action can theatres take to become sustainable, and have an immediate impact on local biodiversity? This workshop was facilitated by ETC and NABU (Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union).

Visit the page

Sustainable Cultural Management & Green Communication workshops

ETC was delighted to offer members the opportunity to participate in one of two parallel workshops on sustainable practices in cultural organisations. The sessions are facilitated by ETC and experts from Julie’s Bicycle.

• Workshop 1: Introduction to Sustainable Cultural Management
• Workshop 2: Introduction to Green Communication

Learn more

ETC International Theatre Conference, 'Green Theatre'

Climate change and environmental deterioration are existential threats to our future – this isn’t new. Nevertheless, almost all sectors, including the arts, are lagging behind on effectively implementing the sustainable development goals (SDG’s) as formulated by the UN years ago. What can theatres do to reduce their carbon footprints? Why and how do we need to act and change our ways of producing, working and travelling?

Speakers included:

Barbara Gessler, Head of Unit Creative Europe, Directorate General for Education and Culture, European Commission
Jörg-Andreas Krüger, President of NABU
Catriona Patterson, Transformation of Culture, Programme Lead at Creative Carbon Scotland 
Dr Reet Aus, Fashion Designer and Environmental Activist 
Vincent Baudriller and Caroline Barneaud, Director and Director of Artistic and International Projects, respectively, at Vidy-Lausanne Theatre 
Annette Gerlach, ARTE journalist.

Watch the recorded session here

Read more

European Theatre Forum

Day 2: Environmental Sustainability & the EU Cultural Policies / “Greening” the Theatre & Performing Arts Sector.

The second day of the Forum addressed the urgent topic of climate change and environmental sustainability and the role the sector can and must play towards a fair, green transition. Young voices were heard and their words led into two focussed sessions, looking at sustainability from the perspectives of policy making, science and culture, but also through the lens of good practice from the theatre and performing arts sector.

Speakers included:

Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Culture, Education and Youth
Alison Tickell, Director of Julie’s Bicycle
MEP Laurence Farreng (FR – Renew) & MEP Niklas Nienaß (DE - Greens) 
Tara Runze & Dario Vecchi, Activists at Fridays for Future 
Natalie Driemeyer, Dramaturg, Curator, WORLD-CLIMATE-THEATRE 
Ben Twist, Director, Creative Carbon Scotland 
Eva Johansone, Culture Journalist, Project Coordinator of Art. Climate. Transition, New Theatre Institute of Latvia

Watch the recorded session here.