Friendly Reminder – Mail out with important deadlines and to-do lists for artists and cultural practitioners by Sparx

Migros Culture Percentage Sparx uses the «friendly reminder» to help you keep track of important deadlines and to‑dos. From budget planning and insurance to mental health, the friendly reminder regularly drops tips and reminders into your inbox and helps you get everything done on time and without stress.

Once a month, a friendly reminder is sent out. Each month is dedicated to a specific topic. The friendly reminder shares different tips, points out important tasks, and offers additional support.

Important: Only those who have registered will receive the friendly reminder!

What does this tool consist of?

Regular email updates with tips and tricks

 

Why is this tool needed?

To explain complex topics such as tax or finance in a simple and straightforward way.

 

What can this tool do?

It provides an overview and offers further support to artists and cultural practitioners with administrative and organisational tasks.

 

Who is this tool for?

Artists and cultural practitioners who wish to professionalise themselves.

Impressum

Authorship:
Migros Culture Percentage Sparx

Contact:
Lilli Megerle, lilli.megerle@mgb.ch

 

Published 15.5.2026

Diversity Finder – The Platform for Lived Diversity

Migros Culture Percentage’s Diversity Finder introduces contacts for social and cultural issues with biographical expertise in diversity topics. Associations, organisations, companies and public institutions may use the platform to find experts who can support them with projects and diversity-sensitive processes. They use their perspective to shape content and processes more effectively. There are currently nearly 30 experts on the Diversity Finder.  

What can this tool do?

The platform makes it easier for interested parties in associations, organisations, companies and public institutions to access experience and expertise on diversity issues. They use their perspective to shape content and processes more effectively.  For example: an organisation wants to strengthen diverse teams. It wants to take the starting positions and needs of all people in these teams into account, and the opportunities of the team members should be fairly distributed. An expert from the Diversity Finder can then support the sensitisation and further process.

What does this tool contain?

Nearly 30 experts introduce themselves with a personal profile on the Diversity Finder. Profiles can be filtered by topic, language and region. The profiles describe the focal points and personal references to the topic. Once you have found the right person for your project or process, you can contact them directly.

Why is this tool needed?

Some people in our society are barely visible: we learn little about them in newspapers, on the internet or on television. This includes, for example, people with a history of migration, people with disabilities and people who do not identify with their assigned gender. The Diversity Finder makes different realities of life more visible through the experts.

Who is the target audience?

The Diversity Finder is aimed at interested parties in associations, organisations, companies and public institutions who want to take diverse perspectives into account. The experts can support projects and accompany diversity-sensitive processes.

Impressum

Ownership: Migros Culture Percentage 

contact: info-soziales@mgb.ch

Social Affairs and Societal Issues | Migros Commitment 

 

Published 13.3.26

Open art+care Zooms: Online format for discussion and thematic input (DE/EN/FR)

The Open art+care Zooms are an open, moderated online format for the personal exchange of experiences relating to artistic work and care responsibilities. They take place monthly and are open to all interested people without registration. The German- or English-language Open art+care Zoom takes place on the first Monday of each month, and the French-language Zoom on the first Wednesday of the month.

The dates are published on the art+care website in the agenda; the Zoom link is shared in advance via the Signal group and the art+care newsletter.

Important:
The Open art+care Zooms are not recorded and their content is not published.

The focus is on exchange, mutual support and the joint development of strategies for combining care responsibilities and artistic practice. The discussions in a small, protected setting are intended as an important contribution to necessary changes in the cultural sector.

What does this tool consist of?

  • Monthly, moderated Zoom discussion rounds (openly accessible via access link)
  • Publication of dates and access links via the Signal group or newsletter
  • Sometimes with brief thematic input at the beginning of the Zoom session
  • Duration: 1 to 1.5 hours

What can this tool do?

  • Exchange experiences and provide mutual relief (the feeling of not being alone)
  • Jointly develop strategies for combining artistic activity and care responsibilities
  • Build alliances and networks and strengthen the care discourse in art and culture

Why is this tool needed?

Many people in the arts and culture sector experience overload, guilt, pressure to justify themselves and the feeling of constantly lagging behind. The format creates a safe space to share these experiences and develop empowering alliances, solution strategies and energy for change.

Who is this tool for?

The format is open to anyone who is interested. It is aimed in particular at people in the arts and culture sector who have care responsibilities or are interested in care, solidarity-based practices and structural change in the cultural sector.

Concept & moderation:
art+care core team
contact@artandcare.org
artandcare.org

For Zoom link & updates:

art+care Newsletter

Signal group art+care Cosmos

published 23.03.2026

Working conditions for the costume industry

This tool is a reference document drawn up by Costumières & Cie to define fair, clear and respectful working conditions for the costume professions. It is the result of collective work by members of the association, based on their practical experience in the field.

Faced with practices that are often unclear, unequal or precarious, it proposes a common framework for recognising the artistic contribution, responsibilities and specific needs of costume designers and costume teams.

Conditions de travail – Costumières & Cie (FR)

This document is not a legal contract, but a tool for dialogue and professional positioning. It aims to strengthen recognition of the profession and support fairer collaboration in cultural productions.

Whom is this tool designed for?

It is primarily for costume designers and costume teams, but also companies, productions, cultural institutions, funding departments and partners wishing to work together in respectful and professional conditions.

What does this tool consist of?

This document contains detailed recommendations on the roles, missions, remuneration, material conditions and work organisation of professional costume designers. It lays down a common basis for approaching a mandate, from the design phase through to the end of a production’s operation.

What’s the purpose of this tool?

The members of Costumières & Cie have found that the working conditions offered vary greatly from one project to another, and do not always reflect the reality of the job. The lack of a shared framework makes professionals vulnerable and individual negotiations difficult. This tool meets a collective need for recognition.

What can this tool do?

It enables discussions on a shared basis, makes collective professional requirements visible, and supports a better understanding of costume work by employers, institutions and cultural partners.

Costumières & Cie – collective work resulting from a participative process with the members of the association’s committee

info@costumieres-et-cie.ch

www.costumieres-et-cie.ch

Published 19.03.2026

From thread to needle – building sustainable governance

This video follows the strategic retreat conducted by Costumières & Cie in 2025 with the support of Migros Culture Percentage m2act. It documents a key moment of collective reflection in which the board reviewed how the association operates and contemplated its values and future needs. This video provides a testimony of this crucial moment for the organisation and a way of sharing it with the public.

What does this tool consist of?

This tool is a documentary video showing what happened before and after the retreat in the words of those involved. It outlines the collective process that led to the drawing-up of Costumières & Cie’s charter and working conditions

What’s the purpose of this tool?

The processes of collective reflection, governance and organisational transformation are rarely captured. This video reveals how a brief but intensive period of time can have a profoundly transformative impact on a group if properly supported. It shows how – in a cohesive environment where people listen to each other – unexpected collective collaboration can be achieved – at both human and structural level.

What can this tool do?

The video allows its audience to share in a real-life experience of group work, inspires other associations or cultural groups and puts the tools produced by Costumières & Cie in context. It helps people understand the human, political and professional issues involved in the cultural sector.

Whom is this tool designed for?

This tool is aimed at Costumières & Cie members, cultural associations, institutions, partners, funding providers and anyone interested in issues related to collective governance, working conditions and structural organisation in the arts sector.

Additional toolbox by Costumières & Cie

Working conditions for the costume industry

Impressum

Film director: Erika Irmler
Costumières & Cie – video produced as part of the retreat in 2025 supported by the Migros Culture Percentage’s m2act

Contact: info@costumieres-et-cie.ch

www.costumieres-et-cie.ch

 

Published 19.03.2026

Kleintheater Luzern: «All Inclusive»  – A Box for More

As people without a disability perspective, how can we contribute to making access to society and culture more inclusive? Kleintheater Luzern is working hard to find an answer. As a first step, the theatre’s co-management, inclusion officer and an inclusive working group have developed the «All Inclusive» toolbox. It supports individuals, groups and institutions from the spheres of culture, school and public administration on their path to greater inclusion. The toolbox helps jump-start efforts to break down barriers. Inclusion starts everywhere. «All Inclusive» is practical, light-hearted and result-focused.

Here is more information about the Kleintheater Luzern project «Inclusive cultural sector» and the documentary film «Alle inklusive – ein Kleintheater will mehr».

What does this tool consist of?

The physical toolbox consists of 3 parts.

  • No Taboo: a word game teaching inclusion terminology.
  • Workshop: a guide to help teams develop concrete measures.
  • Bits and Pieces: a website offering exercises, insights and important links on the topic of inclusion.

 

Who is this tool for?

«All Inclusive» is aimed at non-disabled individuals, groups and institutions from culture, schools or public administration.

Why is this tool needed?

«All Inclusive» poses key questions and invites us to answer them together:

  • What does inclusion mean in this context?
  • What knowledge is already available, what do we still need to learn?
  • What goals do we want to achieve and what challenges do we face in the process?
  • What motivates us to keep going and what support do we need?

 

What can this tool do?

«All Inclusive» makes people aware of barriers and empowers them to start breaking them down.

Tags

#inclusion
#culture
#inclusive
#society game
#workshop
#workshop
#theatre
#disability
#small theatreluzern
#barriers

Impressum

Kleintheater Luzern www.kleintheater.ch

Fabienne Mathis, Janine Bürkli

Publisher: Der gesunde Menschenversand GmbH, menschenversand.ch

«All Inclusive» was developed in collaboration with the Competence Centre for Diversity, Disability, and Inclusion (CCDI) at the University of St.Gallen amongst others. It has been tested by Theater Neumarkt Zurich, Theater Stadelhofen, the Lucerne Museums, Kunstmuseum Luzern and the ThiK Theater im Kornhaus Baden.

More Impact with Culture

In collaboration with Büro für Wagemut, m2act has created a short guide to help you gauge the potential impact of your project idea.

What does this tool consist of?

The tool consists of a two-page step-by-step guide with a case study and a template for individual use.

 

Tags

#Effect
#Overview
#Focus

What can this tool do?

This short guide has three aims:

  • Overview: It helps you summarise your project quickly and clearly. This can serve as a basis for presentations to partners, foundations, the public or other interested parties.
  • Focus on the essentials: It helps you to stay focused on your goal and distinguish the essentials from the non-essentials during the project.
  • More impact: It can help you recognise gaps, add points, adjust things and sharpen the project where necessary.

 

Who is this tool for?

More Impact with Culture is aimed, in particular, at people who have a project idea with which they want to contribute to a fairer, more inclusive and sustainable culture and society.

Why is this tool needed?

Projects aiming to bring about social change offer activities that are intended to trigger certain ways of thinking and acting which would not occur to the target group without the project. The impact of the project is measured in terms of this way of thinking and acting.

In order to design a project effectively, it helps to roll up the project from the back and to understand its impact chain more precisely.

 

Impressum

 

 

Documentary film on the transcontinental collaboration of GROUP50:50

In November 2023, the members of GROUP50:50 met in Berlin for a week to reflect on their collaboration and, in particular, on the process of creating the post-documentary musical theatre «The Ghosts are Returning». The group consists of artists from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Switzerland and Germany. They thematise colonial crimes and neo-colonial mechanisms of exploitation in their work. Half of the positions are always filled by people from the DR Congo, the other half is made up of members from Germany or Switzerland.

What kind of tool is it?

The reflection process was documented in short interviews with the participants. These were edited into a ten-minute film that gives viewers an insight into the advantages and pitfalls of transcontinental cooperation. It also explores how the week of reflection unfolded. A central theme of the week of reflection was collaboration within an asymmetrical distribution of resources, which remains clearly apparent even when the group demographics (in this case, consisting of Congolese and European members) are balanced.

The short film, which consists of excerpts from the interviews, aims to encourage
other groups to address the entanglements between personal and structural conflicts that can occur in heterogeneous groups. Unravelling these misunderstandings, inequalities and injuries takes courage and time. By sharing their – sometimes very personal – insights, GROUP50:50 wishes to highlight that these negotiation processes are worth the effort.

Impressum

Authorship: GROUP50:50
Cinematography & editing: Franck Moka, Joseph Kasau,
Voiceover & surtitles: Luca Maier

GROUP50:50

Published 13.3.2026

art+care Newsletter – Visibility of current topics and activities of the community

The art+care newsletter is a collaborative publication format that brings visibility to topics, actors, and activities within the community. It is published monthly and serves as a curatorial tool for the network, bringing together discourses on care, art, and solidarity practices and offering different perspectives. This format provides a publicly accessible platform for networks, projects, and resources.

Most of the content shared in the newsletter comes from the multilingual Signal groups of the art+care community, where all chat members can contribute.

The tool shows that a newsletter can be used not only as an information channel but also as a participatory knowledge archive. Such a newsletter can support communities in continuously promoting visibility, exchange, and networking.

Newsletter subscription

What does this tool consist of?

Updates on art+care activities and current contributions from the entire community (called art+care Cosmos)

Why is this tool needed?

Strengthening the care discourse and interdisciplinary exchange in art and culture

What can this tool do?

Creating visibility and knowledge transfer

Who is this tool for?

A newsletter for anyone interested in contributions and formats related to the topic of art and care work

Concept & editing:
art+care core team

Content:
Contributions from members of the Signal groups (art+care Cosmos)

Contact:
contact@artandcare.org

Website:
artandcare.org

Newsletter registration

Signal Group (art+care Cosmos)

Published 05.03.2026

A:Practice

Action Matrix – Turning Cultural Institutions into Ecological Players

A:Practice enables a global perspective on the planet’s ecological situation and defines four fields of action that can help to restore balance.

The tool was developed in collaboration with The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative (FATC), South Africa, and KlimaKontor Basel, Switzerland.

What does this tool comprise?

A:Practice is centred around its “matrix of action”. This matrix provides guidance; it facilitates immediate action and the simultaneous implementation of various sustainability concepts. It is compatible with other approaches to organisational development.

Why is this tool important?

We see that ecological crises continue to escalate while social upheaval is on the rise. At the same time, we see the great potential of cultural institutions to contribute to a society that thinks and acts ecologically. We meet people in charge of institutions who feel the need to move from knowledge to action.

Tags

#climatepositive
#solidarity
#south africa
#global perspective
#collaboration
#responsibility
#action
#transformation
#ecological narrative
#joy

What does this tool do?

The A:Practice Matrix of Action

  • supports the development of institutional ecological competences
  • empowers the organisation to take action in line with its specific location, resources and qualifications
  • facilitates immediate action across all levels of the organisation
  • invites all members of the organisation to contribute in line with their skills, motivation and personal interests
  • makes it possible to implement multiple measures simultaneously
  • reduces bureaucracy
  • promotes trans-institutional networking
  • provides a dramaturgical framework for ecological narratives

Who can use this tool?

A:Practice can be used by any individual, group, company, etc. Above all, it is intended for those who work in cultural institutions. It is also aimed at the people in charge of these institutions’ positioning and content: artistic directors, directors, management teams, authors, dramaturges, artists, curators, mediators, etc.

Website

apractice.art

 

Contact

southafrica@apractice.art

switzerland@apractice.art

Impressum

The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative (FATC), est. 1995

KlimaKontor Basel, est. 2020

Barbara Ellenberger (A:Practice Switzerland)
Matthias Michel (A:Practice Switzerland)
Peter John Sabbagha (A:Practice South Africa)