Across Europe, dance organisations and the arts in general are increasingly concerned with environmental sustainability. As part of its EDNext 2022-2024 programme, European Dancehouse Network has focused on the issue of environmental sustainability in its first year. The research publication Environmental Sustainability in Contemporary Dance: Emerging Issues, Practises and Recommendations was commissioned to Jordi Baltà Portolés, who works as a consultant and researcher at Trànsit Projectes, a cultural management company based in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona.
The publication provides the context, references and examples of where and how dance intersects with environmental sustainability, and which set of actions can lead to effective action. Divided into four chapters, the publication first introduces the objectives of the report and the methodology used (1). In the second chapter, readers will familiarise with key terms and concepts of sustainability and the environment, and why the dance sector should (or should not) engage with environmental sustainability (2). The third chapter identifies six central thematic areas: sustainability narratives and themes in contemporary dance, approaches to creation, production and presentation, mobility; transforming organisations to respond to environmental sustainability, partnerships and community relations and policies and support (3). In its final, fourth chapter, the report provides a set of actions to be undertaken by EDN, some general guidelines for EDN members and other dance organisations, and a number of recommendations for public authorities and related bodies at EU, national, regional and local levels (4).
