Arts and Culture Are Key Drivers of Sustainable Transformation
On February 24, 2025, in Duisburg, Germany, the Netzwerk Zero | öKoKom & Greenstage conference brought together cultural institutions, municipalities, and sustainability experts from the region of North Rhine-Westphalia to explore the role of arts and culture in driving sustainable transformation.
As part of the event, the Wuppertal Institute, one of the Greenstage partners, introduced SAPA – Sustainability Assessment for the Performing Arts, a self-assessment tool developed as part of the EU project Greenstage. The SAPA tool helps cultural institutions evaluate and enhance their sustainability efforts through structured dialogue and strategic planning.
A big thank you to our associated partner, Consol Theater Gelsenkirchen and Georg Kentrup for sharing their first-hand experience with SAPA-Radar, which visually maps a theatre’s status quo in the areas of ‘Economy’, ‘Ecology’, ‘Social Responsibility’, and ‘Community, Culture & Communication’ in a network diagram. SAPA quickly leads to results and focuses and organises sustainability processes and measures in cultural institutions in a participatory manner. This was also experienced and positively emphasised by the workshop participants.
Beyond the workshop, the event—initiated by the Kulturstiftung des Bundes and NRW KULTURsekretariat—highlighted the importance of collaboration between cultural institutions and local administrations in driving sustainable change.
We’re excited by the enthusiasm surrounding SAPA and look forward to seeing it applied in practice across Europe!
Photos by Julia Beringer
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