Elaborate stage equipment and transporting performers and audiences generate high carbon emissions and have a negative impact on the carbon footprint of theatre, dance and orchestra productions. Collaborating with other venues, avoiding air travel where possible and reusing stage sets, props, costumes, etc. are effective measures for preserving resources.
Examples from Switzerland and abroad
- The reflector team supports theater companies in reducing their ecological footprint. Together, suitable measures are identified and implemented.
- With its work studio, OFFCUT Zurich is committed to sustainable scenography in Switzerland. Objects, spatial sculptures and scenographies are conceived and realised with recycled materials. In its material markets in Zurich, Basel, Bern and Lucerne, OFFCUT also collects and sells various used and leftover materials for creative reuse, thus giving waste materials a new life.
- The Theatre Green Book: this initiative provides standards for guiding sustainable change in theatre productions, and was developed by English engineering company Buro Happold in close collaboration with theatre professionals.
- The internationally successful ÖKOPROFIT programme supports businesses in the planning and implementation of sustainable environmental measures. After completing the basic programme, companies are awarded a certification and gain access to an environmental management system. ÖKOPROFIT has also been available in Switzerland since 2019.
- The initiative FÄN – Fonds Ästhetik und Nachhaltigkeit (Aesthetics and Sustainability Fund), founded in Germany, advocates for more sustainability both in funding structures and in the productions themselves. Over 160 voices from art, science and the in-between have already joined FÄN.
Couldn’t find what you were looking for?
We’re currently working on this page. In the meantime, visit our Film page for plenty of recommendations and measures that apply across industries. The checklists from the film industry will certainly help you make your work more environmentally sustainable.
Got experience in stage productions, as well as an interest in sustainability?
Do you work in the theatre sector? Are you interested in more sustainable production methods and would you like to contribute to the development of this website’s content? Then please feel free to get in touch with us. We’d be happy to include your practical knowledge on our website.
