New Nordic project examines the role of arts and culture in a sustainable development

The theater Teatret Svalegangen is one of the partners in the new Nordic project about culture and sustainability. Here is the performance 'Happy Sustainable Days' from the theatre's big project 'United Change', which focuses on the Sustainable Development Goals. We supported the beginning of the project and the kick-off event was part of our regional culture festival REDISCOVER in 2019. Photo: Montgomery/Teatret Svalegangen.

10.02.2022

How can arts and culture play a bigger role in the sustainable development and agenda? And what is the cultural sector’s unique contribution? These are some of the questions that we going to examine in a new Nordic project in collaboration with partners in Denmark, Sweden and Finland.

Sustainability and the green transition is the biggest agenda everywhere these says. This is also true in the cultural sector, where many new initiatives with a focus on sustainability and the global goals continue to emerge. But what is sustainability when it comes to arts and culture? How can sustainability offer a new understanding in and of culture, and how can culture offer a better understanding of what sustainability means? The new Nordic project ‘Sustainability in Culture - The unique role of culture in a green and sustainable agenda', which is supported by The Nordic Culture Fund, will examine exactly that.

A common understanding of the role of culture
The project started 1st December 2021 and will end 31st December 2022. During the project period, the partners will gather knowledge from projects working with sustainability in the cultural sector in all three countries. The goal is to provide a better common understanding of what the unique role of arts and culture is - and can be - in a more sustainable development of society in the future. And this is both from the perspectives of cultural institutions and public authorities.

Theatres working with sustainability
Our EU guidance programme, Pathway to Europe, at the Central Denmark EU Office, is the project coordinator. Besides ourselves in European Region of Culture, the project partners in Central Denmark Region include the two theatres, Teatret Svalegangen and Secret Hotel. In addition to this, the Swedish region Västra Götaland and a cultural institution in Sweden as well as two Finnish partners will also contribute to the project.