In December 2023, Green Art Incubator, in collaboration with partner organizations Lokomotiva Skopje, Arte Urbana Collectif, and Pro Progressione, organized the first of the main activities of the two-year RE-IMAGINE project – the Green Education and Narrative in Performing Arts Training for Trainers. This online training aimed to build the capacities of our partner organizations and expand their existing knowledge and skills in the context of green transformation, promoting principles of ecological sustainability in the performing arts and ensuring the effective and comprehensive transfer of green knowledge throughout the project.
The training program focused on three key areas: ecologically sustainable preproduction, green artistic approaches and production, and sustainable distribution in performing arts. Participants had the unique opportunity to learn from three leading experts in this field:
- Iphigenia Taxopoulou, Secretary General of mitos21 and associate of Julie’s Bicycle, kicked off the training with her extensive insights into sustainable practices within the performing arts sector. Her lecture provided a comprehensive overview of the history of green practices in theatre arts and highlighted the importance of integrating sustainability into every aspect of production, starting from preproduction and planning.
- Ian Garrett, a distinguished faculty member at York University in Toronto and co-founder of the Centre for Sustainable Practice in the Arts (CSPA), led the second session. Ian shared his wealth of experience in sustainable production practices, emphasizing practical strategies and innovative approaches that organizations can adopt to reduce their environmental footprint.
- Abigael Winsvold from Acting for Climate concluded the training with an engaging session on ecologically sustainable aspects of postproduction. Her presentation focused on the importance of implementing green guidelines during the distribution of projects, offering valuable examples and showcasing her troupe’s work in this field.
The Training for Trainers was a crucial preparatory activity for the upcoming Re-Imagine Green residency program, which the Re-Imagine project consortium will implement over a year and is intended for representatives of civil society organizations in the performing arts field in partner countries. By enhancing the capacities of our organizations, we have ensured optimal preparedness for mentoring program participants in developing and implementing projects in accordance with eco-sustainability guidelines in this field.
