Glossary

The explanations in this glossary are not based on a dogmatic but on a dynamic understanding of terms: the meaning of the terms will continue to be explored and developed through the activities and projects. They will ultimately be defined in terms of «lived examples».

FAIR PRACTICE

Collaboration and behaviour are based on fairness, social and gender-based justice, solidarity, inclusion and sustainability. This is reflected in the wage policies, processes, structures, basic principles and appropriate remuneration for all participants. Fair practice highlights the importance of a good work-life balance and of being mindful towards yourself and others. Fair practice in the performing arts means being aware of your own role, acting appropriately and making an effort to ensure artists and the public work towards creating a just and sustainable society. Fair practice is a basic condition and an integral part of any activity, cooperation and project funding that takes place as part of m2act.

CULTURAL CO-CREATION

Within the context of m2act, cultural co-creation defines cooperation between participants who are on an equal footing. These cultural projects may already be in the development phase and/or implemented. The key focus is on projects which are developed and realised by artists and/or cultural institutions in equal partnership with specialists from other areas in accordance with their specific competencies and expertise. This allows artistic working methods to be combined with practical and/or scientific methods and approaches from other fields and disciplines, including social aspects, economics, society, research, science and politics. Cooperation at the interfaces between different fields in terms of the processes and the formats that are created offers a huge amount of potential to create high-quality and innovative cultural work.

SUSTAINABLE STRUCTURES

Basic parameters, processes and work contexts need to be sustainable. They are focused towards principles of fair practice and are based on dealing with environmental, economic and human resources in a responsible way. Acting sustainably within the performing arts means protecting the environment, creating fair and inclusive working conditions and managing financial resources in a mindful way. At the same time artists involve the public in these efforts and provide information transparently. Sustainable structures play an important role in raising environmental awareness in the performing arts and help to improve social and economic conditions for the artists. They create the basic conditions, which help to embed the performing arts more firmly in society and make them more relevant.

ACCESSIBLE KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER

Transferring and exchanging knowledge and experiences openly and without the need for remuneration are a core part of m2act’s DNA. This occurs in various creative, laboratory-style and discursive formats and projects using a variety of methods. Insights and results are shared, documented and made freely available to others to be further used and developed. Accessible knowledge transfer takes place between experts and interested parties, between specialists in different fields and between artists and the public. It is the core and the prerequisite for co-creative cooperation. It facilitates collective learning on equal terms. Accessible knowledge transfer – especially in terms of and as a basis for fair practice – supports structures, working methods and processes in the performing arts and enables them to be changed in a forward-looking and sustainable way.

Impact orientation

Impact orientation means that a project is designed and implemented in such a way that it actually achieves the preferred effect. It is about defining assumptions with which the transformation is to succeed. The Impact Guide of the Migros Pioneer Fund, in particular the model of the impact chain, serves as orientation. This illustrates that an offer (output) that is intended to bring about a change in behaviour in the target group (outcome) is based on a whole series of assumptions.