The ecological transition and environmental emergency fully concern the arts and cultural sectors. However, for many of them, budget and organizational constraints are creating tensions by limiting the capacity for action and forcing the search for innovative solutions that can be designed and implemented at the lowest cost. While examples of sustainable practices may emerge from qualitative work based on case studies, no systematic review has been carried out to characterize them, or to analyze their local development conditions and territorial disparities in terms of access to resources. Discussing and identifying these factors prove essential if we are to define and implement effective ways of ensuring the ecological transition among countries.

Alternative cultural organizations and spaces are both ideal observation grounds and experimental laboratories for identifying and studying ecological practices. Their local roots and organizational models make them laboratories for urban, cultural and social change. In the current context of environmental emergency, they can help to accelerate the ecological transition in different areas by being major vectors of social innovation in deprived neighborhoods, peripheral suburban areas and rural areas, encouraging the emergence and spread of mental, environmental and social ecologies conducive to ecological transition.

This contribution is divided into two parts.

The first crosses three strands of literature dealing with cultural third places, alternative/nonprofit organizations and social innovation. We aim to predict to what extent alternative cultural places and spaces are more conducive to the design and development of original ecological practices. The second part will present the preliminary results of a French and European survey of a sample of alternative cultural places and organizations, conducted in partnership with the UFISC organization in France (represented more than 2,400 cultural places and organizations) and the network Trans Europe Halles in Europe. The questionnaire will allow to collect three types of data: The ecological strategy of the surveyed organization; the features of the most original ecological practice the organization has adopted and expanded; its organizational and economic model. Using ACP and econometrics methods, we will build a taxonomy of ecological practices and then explain their adoption choice by organization according to their characteristics (organizational and economic models, location, disciplines and activities, social networks).

The aim is to obtain a detailed understanding of the processes by which original ecological practice emerges and spreads among the arts and cultural organizations observed, the opportunities perceived and difficulties met by the cultural players and, finally, the conditions for success and adaptation of these practices in other contexts.

References:

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Sánchez-Hernández, J. L., & Glückler, J. (2019). Alternative economic practices in Spanish cities: from grassroots movements to urban policies? An institutional perspective. European Planning Studies, 27(12), 2450-2469.

Olga Kolokytha and Matina Magkou

The innovative response of the cultural and creative sectors to major societal challenges is an emerging field of interest (Gustafsson and Lazzaro, 2021). Little is still known, however, about the sector’s response to ‘doing’ creative economy, ecologically, otherwise and differently (Banks and Oakley, 2021), responding to the green transition and issues of sustainability have not been sufficiently discussed by scholarship. The sector's contribution however is considered of particular importance, especially since some of the cultural and creative sectors such as the fashion industry or cultural heritage have been acknowledged as energy-intensive as well as producing much of Europe’s carbon footprint.

In our proposal we aim to discuss the role of umbrella organisations such as the European cultural networks in advancing the green transition and setting the scene for cultural management practices towards this direction. It was only in the late 90s that the potential of the European cultural networks was acknowledged and the conditions were put into place to enhance their role as contributors to the European integration process (Littoz- Monnet, 2013). This acknowledgment is showcased for example by the inclusion of a cultural networks strand in the Creative Europe programme, allocating structural and project based funding to a number of existing cultural networks, but also fostering the creation of new ones. However, during the last years they have evolved into partners of the European institutions in policy making, as well as the main intermediaries for European policies to reach cultural organisations on the ground.

Throughout their history, cultural networks have been pioneers in voicing the needs of their respective sector and establishing bridges between different actors and stakeholders (Magkou, 2021). Today they play a key role in advancing the cultural and creative sector’s green transition and contributing towards the aims of the European Green Deal. From one side, this is a result of an attempt to re-present themselves to fit a tight European agenda (Davies, 2016) that has explicitly placed the European Green Deal as its first goal (Von der Leyen, 2019). Most importantly however, their contribution emerges from the pressing needs of their members for capacity building and access to information and knowledge exchange, which has also turned them into key players in the sector’s green transition. The Voices of Culture initiative, part of the European Commission Structured DIalogue with the Cultural and Creative Sectors in the EU, have also put this topic high on the agenda opening the discussion with the sector (Voices of Culture 2023).

We suggest that European cultural networks function as cultural intermediaries, beyond an economic reading of the word that expands to society and community. While some authors (Hesmondhalgh, 2006; Maguire and Matthews, 2012) have advanced and questioned the concept of cultural intermediaries, others reclaim and re-value the term to make visible their socially grounded cultural work (Perry et al, 2015). They provide resources and expertise, encourage exchange of good (and bad) practices and advance collectively the thinking and the practice of the sector around thus acting as intermediaries in the green transition of the CCIs.

Our methodology is based on a document review of activities and initiatives put in place by European cultural networks to address the green transition. We examine 10 networks including the European Theatre Convention, European Music Council, IETM, Network of European Museum Organisations, European Fashion Alliance, Trans Europe Halles, European Festivals Association, ENCATC, Pearle* and EUNIC. We have collected different kinds of documents, including organization statements, policy proposals, event announcements and toolkits. A key criterion for inclusion in our corpus was that the documents addressed both the mission and moral responsibility of the cultural sector to respond to climate change, but also concrete measures and approaches to go forward. Taking a thematic analysis approach (Nowell et al. 2017), we have taken notes on our corpus of documents to identify and record patterns in relation to our overarching research question. Our research is also based on our observations and participation in various initiatives related to our research topic. The first presenter was one of the participants of the Voices of Culture meeting on Culture and Creative Sectors and Industries driving green transition and facing the energy crisis, while the second presenter has worked closely during the last years with a number of our networks that form our case studies following events and sector conversations around the topic.

First, the thematic analysis has allowed us to identify and map the relevant actions and initiatives related and contributing to green transition, and then proceed to categorize these initiatives and discuss how they influence the developments of new practices in the arts management sector with regards to sustainability and green transitions. It also allowed us to observe different patterns depending on the cultural sector represented by the cultural network. Secondly, this mapping and thematic analysis allows us to discuss in what ways the cultural networks are enabling the development of specific arts management practices, practical guidelines and tools for the sector to respond to the climate imperative.

The research is currently in progress but the results are expected to inform both the sector and academia in two different ways: firstly by reflecting on the useful resources produced by the networks to enable the development of hands-on management tools to contribute to sustainability and green transition goals. And secondly on advancing the thinking around the contribution of the cultural sector and intermediaries to provide inspiration and ideas for innovative solutions towards green transition to non-cultural sectors, while showcasing the power of the cultural sector in pioneering change and driving innovation to non-cultural sectors and society as a whole. On a meta-level, our results also demonstrate the contribution of the cultural and creative sectors to at least three of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, namely the Responsible Production and Consumption (SDG 12), the Climate Action (SDG 13) and the Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17).

References

Banks, M. and Oakley, K. (2021). Cultural industries and environmental crisis. New approaches for policy. New York: Springer

Davies, I. (2016). Cultural networking in Europe today and tomorrow- a reader. Culture Action Europe. available at: https://cultureactioneurope.org/knowledge/cultural-networking-in-europe-today-tomorrow/cae_cultural-networking-in-europe-2016/

Gustafsson, C., Lazzaro, E. (2021). The innovative response of cultural and creative industries to major European societal challenges: toward a knowledge and competence base. Sustainability, 13 (23), 13267; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313267

Hesmondalgh, D. (2006). Bourdieu, the media and cultural production. Media, Culture and Society 28 (2), 211-231.

Littoz- Monnet, A. (2013). Cultural networks as vectors of European integration. In McMahon (eds) Post identity? Culture and European integration. London: Routledge

Magkou, M.(2021). Communicating the needs of a sector in times of crisis: European cultural networks, advocacy and forward- looking cultural policies. European Journal of Cultural Management and Policy, 11 (1), pp. 31-44.

Maguire, J., Matthews, J. (2012). Are we all cultural intermediaries now? An introduction to cultural intermediaries in context. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 15 (5), 551-562

Nowell, Lorelli S., Jill M. Norris, Deborah E. White, and Nancy J. Moules. 2017. “Thematic Analysis: Striving to meet the Trustworthiness Criteria.” International Journal of Qualitative Methods 16(1): 1-13.

Perry, B., Smith, K., Warren, S. (2015). Revealing and re-valuing cultural intermediaries in the ‘real’ creative city: insights from a diary-keeping exercise. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 18 (6), 724-740.

United Nations. (2015). Transforming our World. 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Available from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/21252030%20Agenda%20for%20Sustainable%20Development%20web.pdf

Voices of Culture (2023). Culture & Creative Sectors & Industries driving Green Transition and facing the Energy Crisis. Brainstorming Report. Available from https://voicesofculture.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/VoC-Report_Greening-CCSI.pdf

Von der Leyen, U. (2019). A Union that Strives for More: My Agenda for Europe. European Commission: Brussels, Belgium

1. A world on fire. The environmental crisis as the great disorganiser
It is irrefutable that the current context of environmental crisis and climate emergency is one of the most important contemporary collective challenges, and one of a colossal dimension. In the face of repeated and substantiated calls from the international scientific community, governments and organisations of all sectors and scales are progressively incorporating environmental and ecological issues into their strategies and decisions. The arts and culture are no exception to this state of urgency. Indeed, ecological distress is already impacting artistic and curatorial decisions, as well as challenging production, touring and management models (Janssens & Fraioli 2022; VoC, 2023; Vries 2021). The environmental emergency can rightly be seen as a major disorganiser of the modi operandi of the arts and culture field, insofar it questions the assumptions of cultural policies, the underpinnings of funding mechanisms, and the routines of creating, producing, managing, distributing, and experiencing art.
Likewise, the scope of transformation required by the ecological imperative may (and perhaps should) lead to a fundamental transfiguration of cultural policies – one that is able to future-proof them towards a fairer, climate-changed, carbon-negative world.
The incorporation of environmental sustainability criteria into strategic documents, legislation and funding mechanisms for the sector is well underway, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In the context of the European Union, the European Green Deal is of significant political and strategic importance: it has a rhetorical and symbolic dimension, but it also earmarks EU investments and support mechanisms. In the culture and creative sector, it is already clear that initiatives and instruments are moving closer to the "green agenda": see the New European Bauhaus, the missions and "destinations" of the Horizon Europe programme, or the efforts to "green" the European Commission's flagship programme for the sector, Creative Europe, 2023. In nearly every policy document and funding scheme, green seems to be the (key)word. What is the effect of this at national level? What exactly is changing, or needs changing, in cultural policy to meet the ecological imperative?

2. Green. Everything. Now.
The preliminary results of our research reveal the extent to which establishing a connection between the ecological emergency and cultural policy is seen by practitioners and policymakers as legitimate and urgent, almost in a self-explanatory way. Green. Everything. Now. Certainly, many of the publications, guidelines and action plans that are being disseminated at an accelerated pace do maintain that environmental sustainability principles should guide the actions of cultural professionals and arts organisations and “be at the heart of [their] missions, projects and objectives" (Lalvani, 2023:8), thus indirectly validating the involvement of cultural policy in this planetary fight. Our research, however, starts from an ethically and epistemologically cautious reading of the outpouring of "best practice" manuals, toolkits and guidelines, especially those with a pragmatic vocation, which seem to assume that this link is obvious, instead of challenging, debating and examining it.
Hence, our investigation is driven by a multitude of interrogations: Might there be differences between recognizing the seriousness and undeniable urgency of the environmental crisis in general, i.e, between acknowledging the ecological imperative (Jonas, 1984), and establishing a concrete link with the formulation of cultural policies? How is this overwhelming “green agenda” being translated into national cultural policy-making? Is this process of “global synchronization of policies” (Tran, 2023:2) allowing for locally-sensitive and context-driven adaptations? How are policy-makers going about this process? Could the green transition of the cultural sector transform into a case of “policy diffusion” – where fast spreading catchwords and bullet-pointed action plans travel across countries in a homogenizing process – or rather a circumstance for “policy translation”, with diverse socio-political imaginaries, traditions and needs being absorbed and transformed through share sense-making? (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983) Finally, could greening the sector be seen as leverage for innovation in cultural policies?
3. Methodological approach
This paper will delve into these interrogations by drawing on complementary methodological strategies. First, it will explore some of the results of a nation-wide survey investigating practitioners’ discourses around the distribution of ecological responsibility in the arts, and their positioning vis-à-vis the role ascribed to cultural policy. This online survey - implemented between January and April 2023 - was applied to 594 arts organisations (which in 2021-2022 had received financial support from the Directorate-General for the Arts