A Roadmap for European Theatre until 2030

In Spring 2023, around 200 representatives of the European theatre sector gathered at JK Opole Theatre in Poland for a high-level event organised by the European Commission: the European Theatre Forum 2023 (ETF 2023) with a programme curated by the European Theatre Convention (ETC). This was the first time this event had taken place in person, following an online edition in 2020. The Forum reflected the diversity and state of knowledge throughout Europe.

 

It was an intense and productive three days of artist talks, panel discussions, workshops and consultation events, setting out a joint and unified vision to transform and future-proof the theatre sector in Europe and beyond. The key ideas, which addressed challenges ranging for theatres ranging from mental health and the climate crisis to AI, were summarised by six appointed ‘rapporteurs’ during the Forum’s final session.  

 

The outcomes of these deliberations are documented in the ‘Opole Recommendations’. This policy document, which presents a roadmap for EU institutions to support the European theatre sector in the coming years is crucial for the sector to advocate its importance in the run up to the European Parliament elections in June 2024. It comes alongside additional advocacy campaigns for European culture by Pearle (the "Performing Arts Employers Association League Europe") and other European networks, which lobby to ensure a stronger eco-system for the European theatre sector, with strong relationships with stakeholders of all types and increased public and private investments.

 

 

The Opole Recommendations are based around three overarching ‘Century Challenges’, which reflect the European Commission Creative Europe Programme’s priorities and the Council Conclusions on Culture for 2023-2026. These are:

 

The decision to use these challenges aligned the document with the voices of the sector and the European agenda on culture.

 

 

From as far back as Ancient Greece, when playwrights sowed the seeds of representative government through their choice of characters and storylines, we’ve known about theatre’s vital potential as a place for debate, satire and social reflection in strong democracies. The Opole Recommendations document emphasises this. It recognises that theatre has always been an intrinsic element of democracy and serves as a public space for debating and negotiating values that will then be reflected in democratic institutions.  

 

The document urges the EU to recognise the role of theatre in democracies by increasing "structural support for international collaboration within and beyond Europe through augmented and continued funding for co-productions, travel and networking,” and supporting "the incorporation of theatre in educational systems.” In more detail, it calls for:

 

 

Addressing climate change is a key task for theatres today, by bringing sustainable thinking into the mainstream and, as the Recommendations note, "transforming theatre productions, operations and buildings.”

 

During the ETF 2023, a new tool to encourage sustainable transformation by 2030 was unveiled: the ETC Theatre Green Book. This tool is a collaboration between ETC, Renew Culture and the renowned ‘Theatre Green Book’ initiative. The Theatre Green Book guides theatres step-by-step towards net-zero emissions across their productions, buildings and operations.

 

The ETC Theatre Green Book will include a self-certification process to energise the public and policy makers about how much progress has been made on sustainability in their organisations. This tool will be launched publicly at the next edition of the European Theatre Talks on 1 July 2024. Four classifications are available: Preliminary, Baseline, Intermediate, and Advanced (equivalent to net-zero). 

 

The ‘Opole Recommendations’ calls on the European Union to develop this self-certification tool as part of the Creative Europe Green Strategy. In addition, it calls for:

 

 

What impact will Artificial Intelligence and other disruptive technologies have on processes and working conditions in theatre? 

 

A study that ETC published earlier in 2023 showed that digital theatre had a nearly 800% boom during the pandemic. The study also demonstrated that most theatres (80% of those questioned) believe digital theatre helps train staff in new skills, but that the cost of producing digital theatre remains an obstacle.

 

The ‘Opole Recommendations’ highlight the importance of digital readiness for the sector, both to increase accessibility but also to support social cohesion. To do so, they push for the creation of a framework and policy regulations to bolster online discoverability and the support of new artistic and/or creative platforms owned by civil society organisations. In detail, the Recommendations call for:

 

 

At ETC, we are proud to have used our extensive knowledge and expertise to collaborate closely with the European Commission on this event and to have brought the European Theatre sector together. 

 

The big challenge is now to work on the implementation of the Opole Recommendations so that it becomes a reference for change, rather than piling up as another forgotten document on a shelf.

 

Following ETF 2023, ETC continued the much-needed dialogue between artists, the public and European policymakers by organising the ‘European Theatre Talks’ at the Festival d’Avignon 2023. This high-level event gathered some 80 people to keep the discussions about the key elements of the Recommendations going. 

 

From there, the ongoing dialogue should be in place to argue for the realisation of the key demands from the theatre sector on the three century challenges: Democracy and International Collaboration; Sustainability and the Green Transition; and digital readiness.

 

This involves theatres, and policy makers, but of course individual citizens and elections too. This was underlines at the biannual ETC Conference in April 2024 by Green Member of the European Parliament Niklas Nienaß. He is one of the founders of the Cultural Creators Friendship Group, a cross-partisan coalition in the European Parliament that supports the cultural sector. Niklas Nienaß stressed the importance of lobbying national politicians to increase funding for the EU. "In the next 50 years, where do we want to stand as Europe?,” he asked. "We want to be strong, cultural, creative, and diverse. So go ahead and [tell national members to] put their money where their mouth is, and spend that money on Europe -- and way more than 1% of GDP.”

 

Individual voters can also hold their elected European representatives to account in regards to the Cultural Deal for Europe, the policy campaign created by Europa Nostra, Culture Action Europe and the European Cultural Foundation, and endorsed by my organisation, the European Theatre Convention.

 

It is the diversity of knowledge and voices that will weave together a common vision and drive positive change in the future of the sector, inspiring audiences far and wide. The Opole Recommendations stand as a testament to the unity and resilience of the European theatre community and exemplify our collective commitment to addressing the pressing challenges of our times and envisioning a brighter future.