Towards Sustainable Arts - Global Edition

The impact of climate change is being felt all over the world. At the same time, there is growing awareness that solutions do not need to be purely technological or economic — they can also be social and cultural. Art and culture play an essential role in this transition: by inspiring, raising awareness, engaging communities, and imagining new futures.

With Towards Sustainable Arts – Global Edition, the Boekman Foundation and DutchCulture present a new international publication that offers insight into the many ways in which the cultural sector around the world contributes to ecological sustainability. The publication builds on the report Towards Sustainable Arts: European Best Practices and Policies (2022), and expands the perspective with practical examples from eight countries outside Europe: Brazil, Canada, Ireland, India, Sint Maarten, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Zimbabwe.

These countries show a broad spectrum of approaches and practical examples, ranging from policy-embedded sustainability to grassroots initiatives arising from local communities. For example, in Brazil, cultural heritage is used as a powerful tool for climate awareness. In Canada, the focus is on policy measures such as mandatory CO₂ reporting in the cultural sector. In Sint Maarten, the cultural community takes the lead with creative solutions to plastic pollution. In India, traditional crafts are inherently sustainable but vulnerable under the pressure of globalization, while in Turkey, artists operate in a repressive context where bottom-up initiatives are essential. Ireland demonstrates how government policy aims to embed sustainability in culture, and in the United Arab Emirates, culture is even used as a strategic instrument within national climate goals. In Zimbabwe, it is primarily individual artists and curators who, often without policy support, work sustainably and create awareness.

The contributions are structured around four central themes:

    • Policy and resources – from national strategies to local subsidy instruments
    • Strategies and initiatives – how organisations integrate sustainability into their mission and practice
    • Raising awareness through art – how artists make climate issues visible and tangible
    • Artistic solutions – innovative practices that contribute to systemic change

What connects these global examples is the belief in the power of culture as a driver of change. The publication emphasises that sustainability has no uniform approach, but is a context-dependent, dynamic process — rooted locally, yet connected globally.

Towards Sustainable Arts – Global Edition is intended for policymakers, cultural professionals, researchers, and artists. It is an invitation to look beyond one’s personal context, to learn from others, and to build together a cultural sector that actively contributes to a sustainable, inclusive, and just future.

The publication includes contributions from: Luciane Coutinho (Brazil), Devon Hardy, Ian Garrett, Christine Danceuse (Canada) Lipika Bansal, Meera Curam (India), Paraic McQuaid (Ireland), Ludmila Duncan (Sint Maarten), Hande Paker (Turkey), Jorge Cerveira Pinto (Portugal), Mahnaz Fancy (United Arab Emirates), and Percy Zvomuya (Zimbabwe).

Editors: Kimberley Bebendorf, Jelle Burggraaff, Marcel Feil, Imke van Herk, Thomas de Hoog and Jan Jaap Knol.