SUSTAINABILITY IN THE ARTS
A board game for working teams and organisations

Developed within the CoopAnimArt project by SÍN Arts Centre in consultation with Artemrede
Concept: Anikó Rácz, Tímea Török
Graphic design: Szilveszter Jenei
Sustainability consultant: Pippa Bailey

INTRODUCTION
The board game “Sustainability in the Arts” was created within the framework of the CoopAnimArt Erasmus+ programme, which was a partnership project between six European organisations active in performing arts, training and socially engaged work.

The idea of sustainability has been an umbrella concept of all topics and developments, and as such a board game was created within the programme. The development was conducted by two partner organisations, Artemrede in Portugal and SÍN Arts Centre in Hungary.

BACKGROUND
When we started unfolding the idea of Sustainability, we came across the research titled Rewiring the Network conducted by IETM and IDEA Consult in 2021. We were hugely inspired by its findings primarily because it discusses sustainability in a much broader sense than the green topics. The model was also the basis of the structure of our Dragonfly programme.
We were primarily interested in the five areas in which sustainability is examined: Artistic, Social, Human, Ecological and Economic. We welcomed such a comprehensive approach to sustainability and took it as a basis for our game development. Moreover, the model was also the basis of the structure of our Dragonfly programme.

While nature remains in the focus, we believe that making steps towards sustainability necessitates a shift in mindset on many levels. We have found that these five categories have an intricate, complex correlation with one another in this shift.

As regards to nature we bear in mind the following considerations when thinking about our activities and plans for the future:

• Exploring the local natural environment and challenges (air quality, water source, etc.)
• The natural characteristics of the bioregion and its ecology, its wildlife and how this can inform our work.
• Exploring the rights of local nature, such as land, sea, trees and wildlife
• Understand, respect and integrate the local cultural environment, including First Nations cultural protocol.

THE GOAL OF THE GAME
The game invites working groups – collectives, NGO’s, structures, institutions – to think through their current status and determine areas of development towards a more sustainable operation in these five categories with the help of the board game.

Our aim was to bring this vast concept down to the level of action, to understand what each of us can do to make one (or two or three…) doable but challenging steps forward according to individual capacities and readiness. The game was also developed with the idea to offer space and time for discussions about sustainability within teams, to encourage collaborative thinking and action.

This game is intended for those working teams that are interested in making a step forward towards sustainability but have not developed a strategic plan for it but are willing to discuss and act on it in a more structured way.

The goal of the game is that teams determine 3 to 4 activities that are relevant for their activities and way of working towards a higher level of sustainability that they commit to develop in the next 3-12 months.

Once the 3-4 activities are determined by the team there is a separate session recommended for their action planning and monitoring of the development.