This text is part of the special section Arts and culture in Quebec
Eco-responsibility is one of the crucial axes of the Action Plan for Sustainable Development 2023-2028 of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ). Overview of the environmental measures implemented by the funder of the cultural sector to fight against climate change and encourage creators to follow the movement.
“The cultural community has always been at the forefront of environmental issues,” says Anne-Marie Jean, president and CEO of the CALQ. “We just have to think about preserving the rivers. We have often seen artists be the standard bearers of these campaigns. So, we said to ourselves that we had to help the community and do this as a group,” she adds.
As part of its Mission Support program, the CALQ has new requirements for the organizations it supports financially, with ecological concerns in mind. They must, for example, have a sustainable development action plan and commit, by 2028, to documenting their carbon footprint.
To do this, they must register with the Creative Green platform, where organizations detail their carbon footprint data based on their activities. The CALQ supports the Quebec Council for Eco-Responsible Events to guide organizations in their use of the Creative Green service.
Support and set an example
Agreements have also been concluded with the Conseil des arts de Montréal and the City of Quebec to support projects specific to eco-responsibility: artistic creation with an environmental dimension, deployment of footprint reduction strategies, etc. “It affects the whole disciplines, to breathe new life into organizations that will move forward with certain projects with an eco-responsible content,” specifies Véronique Fontaine, director of planning and programs at the CALQ.
Such criteria have also been added with regard to the granting of tour funding, with regard to travel and accommodation for artists, for example. Véronique Fontaine cites, among other things, the encouragement of the compression of activities over shorter periods during external stays or even the use of Green Key certified hotels.
With these recent directives, the CALQ wishes to adopt a support approach – non-punitive – with stakeholders in the cultural sector and stimulate reflection. “We wanted to send the message that we are here to support initiatives that may generate additional costs, but which, in the long term, can have a positive effect for the environment, in its way of better structuring its activities for the preservation of the environment. environment,” notes Véronique Fontaine.
Finally, the CALQ leads by example and this year celebrates 10 years of its electronic service delivery, called My CALQ file (see box). While the thousands of requests addressed to the CALQ formerly circulated on paper and USB keys, the requests transmitted today are done virtually and in a greener manner. “It’s savings in terms of human resources and the environment. It’s a fairly significant gain,” underlines Mme Fountain.
Proactivity
Among the groups subsidized by the CALQ in its eco-responsibility perspective is Écoscéno, a non-profit organization that supports the artistic community in its socio-ecological transition.
Écoscéno provides training in eco-design and eco-responsibility to industry professionals. Choice of eco-responsible materials, collection of residues after the curtain falls to avoid landfilling, initiative to pool inventories enabling four Montreal theaters (Duceppe, Center du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui, Quat’Sous and Théâtre Denise-Pelletier) to share their material resources: these are some methods promoted by Écoscéno.
“The cultural sector has a great influence on changing mentalities. Mobilizing ourselves to find solutions and reflect on our effect on the environment leads to changes in practices and a necessary change in culture. We are tending towards a more eco-responsible way of living, overall, for the population in general, for all the audiences with whom we work,” expresses Anne-Catherine Lebeau, general director and co-founder of Écoscéno, welcoming in the same breath the involvement of the CALQ. The latter, she affirms, is “one of the most proactive in Canada” in the application of such orientations.
“The cultural sector is fragile at the moment,” she says. Implementing these measures can be seen as an additional constraint, but it is also an opportunity to come together and find common solutions to create differently and build a more resilient environment. »
My CALQ file in figures is…
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