ACT – Art, Climate, Transition
ACT is a European cooperation project on ecology, climate change and social transition. In an era of climate breakdown, mass extinction and growing inequalities we join our forces in a project on hope: connecting broad perspectives with specific, localised possibilities, ones that invite or demand that we ACT.
From september 2019 to august 2023
ACT: Art, Climate, Transition appears as a third evolutionary phase of Imagine 2020, which started in 2010 as a cooperation of arts organisations, raising awareness in the cultural field on climate change. Confronted with the ongoing climate crisis, sheer imagination is not enough. ACT is urgent and topical in addressing ecology and climate change, deeply rooted and entwined in a political economy that favours inequality and exhaustion. There is no sustainable transition without climate justice.ACT implemented 397 actions and events in the field of contemporary arts, ecology and a fair transition including: coproductions, exhibitions, festivals, knowledge sharing, performances, publishing, and participatory projects with local communities.
To address the current pressing ecological and social issues, we need to combine a significant European exchange with the specificities of local contexts. Transnational mobility is a priority, in this double movement of taking the time to develop roots locally and to exchange internationally. We need to redefine our ethical awareness and ecological understanding of interaction between species, humans and their political and natural environments – through capacity building - training & education.
ACT was structured around a mobility strategy, strengthening connections between local and European contexts. The diversity of our localities holds great potential for deep learning. We developed initiatives supporting artists to meet in several places, at different moments and in varying formats, to stimulate mutual learning. These formats were organised in 7 work packages: rooting & circulating, spaces & means, commissions, coproductions, agenda events, communicating and learning to impact.
ACT implemented 397 actions and events in the field of contemporary arts, ecology and a fair transition including: coproductions, exhibitions, festivals, knowledge sharing, performances, publishing, and participatory projects with local communities. 88% of the activities produced new art works. ACT engaged with 964 artists and 571 CCP (Cultural and Creative Professionals) from 63 different countries, thus contributing to the professional development of the European cultural sector, fostering expertise around arts and ecology.
Partner instituions
- Artsadmin, London United Kingdom
- Bunker, Ljubljana Slovenia
- COAL, Paris France
- Commongrounds / Arie Lengkeek, Rotterdam The Netherlands
- Culturgest, Lisbon Portugal
- Domino, Zagreb Croatia
- Kaaitheater, Brussels Belgium
- Kampnagel, Hamburg Germany
- Lokomotiva, Skopje North Macedonia
- New Theatre Institute of Latvia, Riga Latvia
- The Change Management Research Group, The Hague The Netherlands
- Theater Rotterdam, Rotterdam The Netherlands
ACT was developed with a multidisciplinary approach - performing and visual arts, discourse programmes, community-based activities, among others.The rooting & circulating WP (work package) included activities engaging with specific qualities, geographies, values and realities of our localities, while also feeding European exchange. This WP included main items of our shared work. With Collection Europe, collegially selected arts projects were brought to life. Relay lectures conceived and organised in a collaborative manner between partners of ACT. A series of 4 international Summer Labs for artists working around a specific theme, in close interaction with local communities and civil society organisations.
The spaces & means WP included activities claiming places for ‘cultures of othering’ or ‘futuring’, by showcasing artistic work in festivals and local programmes. The commissioned work asked for a clear thesis, which was artistically addressed. The process was developed over a longer period of time and the results were publicly presented on different occasions. ACT partners promoted internationally new creations of artists, through coproductions, also by involving committed external partners. The agenda WP connected the arts to the times and places of public and international debate. In our shared agenda we decided to define two major moments to join forces and seek to inspire and influence. The shared communications strategy supported the local visibility and legibility of the European project, the facilitation of shared knowledge, mutual learning, shared productions, and two campaigns related to the agenda-events. The objective of the research element within ACT was to build actionable knowledge for artists and art organisations on how to create impact through the arts.
ACT promoted: 17 artistic residencies, 49 communication activities, 68 coproductions, 22 exhibitions, 16 festivals, 50 knowledge sharing events (conferences, workshops, labs), 12 networking activities, 34 participatory projects, 91 performances, 3 publications, and 18 research-related works. In 4 years, ACT reached out to over 1 million people across Europe, who engaged with the project as audience members, visitors and participants. As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the partners developed online tools to connect with online audiences. Over 1.2 million people reached out to ACT’s public events through online channels.
Issues related to the ecological crisis have been receiving ample attention from ACT partners for a long time. Being part of ACT created opportunities to enrich those programmes and strengthen their visibility. Creative Europe support helped to bring these topics to the forefront of the local and national agendas. By being part of ACT, partners partook in an exchange of experiences on a transnational level, deepening their expertise and knowledge beyond local contexts. The European co-financing also allowed for a stronger presentation of international voices on local stages and exhibitions. Reversely, partners were able to promote local artists internationally.
ACT amplified environmental issues through the arts, main-streaming certain questions and making them part of a broad public debate. After many years of investment on the work of Imagine2020 and ACT, these issues have become more and more relevant in the creative sector. The ACT project supported different generations of artists to grow in an international environment. ACT aimed for a more sustainable model of making, producing, and presenting art and by the principle of financial solidarity surrounding it. The impact of the project is about creating space for the development of art with potential to be a ground for discussion, knowledge production, sustainability and innovation.
