European Theatre Convention e.V.
Acronym: ETC
General Information
Identification Code: 721873432604-06
Website: [object Object]
Entity Form: association (eingetragener Verein)
Registration Category: Non-governmental organisations, platforms and networks and similar
Registration Date: 9/20/2018
Last Update: 12/21/2023
EP Accredited Number: 0
Mission & Interests
Goals: ETC is the largest network of publicly-funded theatres in Europe, with 57 members in 30 countries. We organise a wide range of activities to create brilliant new theatre, support and develop people working in theatre, and fight for the European theatre sector in a political context.
ETC promotes European theatre as a vital platform for dialogue, democracy and interaction that responds to, reflects and engages with today’s diverse audiences and changing societies and brings Europe’s social, linguistic and cultural heritage to audiences and communities in Europe and beyond.
Transformations is the name of ETC’s programme of activities for 2021–24, thanks to funding and support by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union among others. ETC continues its exciting offer from recent years – including conferences, artistic programmes and workshops – and adds new grants, new networking experiences and new chances to travel and exchange ideas.
Interests Represented: Does not represent commercial interests
Interests:
- Climate action
- Culture
- Education and training
- Environment
- External relations
- Research and innovation
- Trans-European Networks
- Youth
Levels of Interest:
- global
- european
- sub-national
- national
Activities
Main EU Legislative Proposals: ETC’s work is based on multiple principles in line with Creative Europe’s and the European Commission’s New European Agenda for Culture's, Gender Equality strategy 2020-2025's and the European Green Deal’s key priorities.
Thanks to generous EU and national funding, ETC has deepened its knowledge of the sector between 2017-2021 through programmes like ENGAGE and as partner of the newly created European Theatre Initiative of the European Commission and organiser of the first ever European Theatre Forum, as well as through activities such as studies (Gender Equality & Diversity in Theatre Study), publications (including three well-received casebooks on theatre practices), working groups (Drama Committee, Green Theatre Committee) and policy recommendations for theatre (covering themes: gender equality & diversity, digital, participatory, youth, Dresden Declaration).
ETC's main fields of action for the period 2021-2024 are:
- European Theatre Initiative and European Theatre Forum
- Sustainability (ecological and social) with a pledge for the network to reach carbon neutrality by 2030
- Intercultural Artistic Programme & Cultural Diversity: ETC develops innovative and transnational story-telling as well as new collaboration formats in the perspective of a diverse European repertory for drama theatres with a strong focus on young audiences and the use of technologies.
- Learning & Mobility: ETC offers instruments for multilingual theatre programming in Europe to promote and serve a linguistic and culturally diverse community on a permanent basis, resources for life-long learning about and through theatre. Professional development programmes aim at strengthening peer-to-peer learning and intercultural exchange in the theatre sector.
- Audience Development & Access to Culture: On European level, ETC establishes audience development strategies for theatres and gathers in a comparable format data on existing and non-existing audiences to investigate and develop common patterns and evolve relations between theatres and their public across Europe. Cross-sectorial research projects examine the use of participative formats and digital technologies in order to reach out to wider and new audiences.
- Digitalisation & Innovation: ETC incorporates and develops working methods and digital technologies as fundamental tool for theatre networking, empowers theatres to address the digital change in our society by reflecting this in artistic works as well as in a financially and environmentally responsible manner, new business models of organisational and economic structures in theatres.
- Leadership: ETC takes responsibility, gives visibility to and promotes the impact of European theatres as relevant and innovative places of reflection and exchange to foster diversity, respect and tolerance.
Communication Activities: The ETC is an artistically driven theatre network. We believe that freedom of expression and freedom of the arts are unconditional values and human rights of our democratic societies. Within the ETC and our member theatres, we support artists and creators of all cultures and religions, aiming at nourishing with our work, projects and joint actions a divers Europe of different traditions, opinions and an intercultural dialogue based on humanity.
Three of ETC’s most recent projects have been allocated funding by the Creative Europe Programme:
The 2-year applied research project European Theatre Lab: Drama goes digital set out to research a digital strategy for the major state-funded theatrical institutions of continental Europe with the goal of expanding access to the arts via new technology. Under the leadership of ETC, the cross-sectoral project united artists and public theatres from seven countries with research institutions and researches from the fields of technology, science, media and the performing arts. The recently by ETC published publication “Digital Theatre. A Casebook” represents findings and reflections for the creative community based on the project and aims at sharing knowledge while inviting artists, scientists, theatre professionals, and cultural and societal decision makers to learn from ETC’s experience.
“ENGAGE – Empowering today’s audiences through challenging theatre” was an international 4-year programme (2017-2021) for European theatres with which ETC was selected as strategic partnership network by the European Commission. In order to renew, strengthen, diversify and ensure the bright future of theatre’s tradition in Europe, ETC has developed a ground-breaking project intended to champion, foster and develop theatre suitable for our fast-changing world and shifting audience needs. The programme curates new forms of youth theatre, participatory theatre and digital theatre to connect with new and wider audiences.
Moreover, it aims at empowering Europe’s theatre professionals through professional development programmes and by representing ETC’s member theatres’ needs at an European level. In dialogue with the European Commission, ETC was represented in stakeholder groups such as 'Audience development via digital means' and 'Participatory governance of cultural heritage’ and was a consortium member of the platform ‘Promotion of Multilingualism’, and participated in multiple "Voices of Culture" structured dialogue (Cultural Heritage, Gender Equality in the CCS, Culture & the Sustainable Development Goals).
ETC coordinated and organised the first European Theatre Forum in November 2020 in the frame of the German EU Council Presidency, in partnership with 12 other European networks, with the financial support from the European Commission and the German Minister of State for Culture and the Media.
Transformations is the name of ETC’s programme of activities for 2021–24. ETC continues its exciting offer from recent years – including conferences, artistic programmes and workshops – and adds new grants, new networking experiences and new chances to travel and exchange ideas.
We Aim To:
• Create a long-term vision for ETC & European Theatre
• Continue to lead the way towards sustainable development & resilient theatre
• Increase access to theatres in a post-Covid world
We Will Support
• Pioneering theatre that is sustainable, diverse & digital
• Steps towards a climate-neutral theatre sector
• new artistic co-creations, training and networking programmes
Inter-institutional or Unofficial Groupings: N/A
Head Office
Address: c/o Deutsches TheaterSchumannstraße 13A
Post Code: 10117
City: Berlin
Country: GERMANY
Phone: [object Object]
EU Office
Address: c/o Deutsches TheaterSchumannstraße 13A
Post Code: 10117
City: Berlin
Country: GERMANY
Phone: [object Object]
Financial Data
New Organisation: false
Closed Year: [object Object]
Current Year: [object Object]
Membership Information
Members10 Percent: 0
Members25 Percent: 0
Members50 Percent: 1
Members75 Percent: 0
Members: 1
Members F T E: 0.5
Structure
Structure Type: Structure
Is Member Of: ETC is a membership organisation consisting of full members, associate members and honorary members (nominated natural persons). Full members are producing theatres or producing theatre festivals with a public mission to support creation and access to culture. Associated members are independent theatre structures or cultural organisation and cultural institutions. Founded in 1988 by initially three theatres from Belgium, France and Germany, ETC has steadily grown over the last 30 years and has become the largest network of its kind. It counts today 55 member theatres and 2 honorary members, representing 30 countries in the European Union and beyond.
See current members list: https://www.europeantheatre.eu/page/theatres/etc-members
Organisation Members: - associate member of Pearle*
- member of Culture Action Europe