Kick Off of Green Ethics in Turin: 3 days focused on participation and sustainability

Commitment, collaboration and contamination: these are the keywords that best describe the three days that all the partners of the European project Green Ethics spent in Turin. Eighteen organizations, including theater companies, universities, research centers, major cultural centers, social institutions, and public institutions from 12 European countries, came together to create an ambitious and innovative project aimed at raising awareness among European citizens about environmental sustainability through the performing arts.

From April 3 to April 5, we were in Turin as guests of the lead project partner SCT Centre|UniTo to discuss the progress of the project and the steps that will bring us to the realization of 110 live performances in public squares, 1,200 theatrical activities, and 50 workshops in ten European cities, involving around 45,000 citizens in a large Green Cultural Engagement project by 2026.

In addition to training and co-designing activities, on April 4 we attended the official presentation of the project with local and European institutions and the press, at the impressive Aula Magna of the University of Turin. In this important moment we had the opportunity to talk about the commitment and cultural initiatives that we will implement in the coming years to engage European citizens on the issues of environmental sustainability.

In the following days, partners were able to learn about and interact with the two cultural artistic formats that are part of the Green Ethics project: the interactive Goose Game created by SCT Centre together with Polo del '900 and the Cycling Powered Theatre by Mulino ad Arte association.

At SCT Centre's Spazio BAC, working together, we laid the foundations of the Green Ethics Live Game. Thanks to a performance of the show "OCA. L’arte che allena il pensiero" organized for project partners, we were able to learn about the peculiar characteristics of this format, which will be used for the Green Ethics project. Subsequently, we began to ideate some contents of the Green Ethics performances, starting from the scientific contents resulting from the research of the Polytechnic of Crete TUC. This creative work will continue in Crete, in October 2023, when artistic partners will meet to work and finalize the Green Ethics performances that will be presented in all partner countries in 2024.

The following day, we were guests of Polo del '900, a cultural space in the heart of Turin, open to new generations and new citizens. Here we worked on the realization of our Green Protocol: a set of guidelines shared by all project partners for the design of sustainable cultural events. We did this together with ZIP (Latvia), who guided us in a creative session to create the two aspects of the Green Protocol: management and events.

The Green Protocol was the focus of our work on the last day, in Piossasco, guests of the partner Mulino ad Arte. Here we met the professionals of Abbasso Impatto, who provided us with guidelines for creating a Green Protocol that balances environmental sustainability and inequality issues. Together with the University of Evora (Portugal), we then worked on the Quality Plan, a self-assessment manual for the project and its initiatives. There was great enthusiasm for the capacity building of the Cycling Powered Theatre with the support of the company Eletto-tech, which developed the prototype. We had the opportunity to discover the functioning of the kit that stores the energy necessary for the show. We saw the kit in action during a collective and interactive performance powered by the Cycling Powered Theatre kit, during which all partners performed a short show while the attentive and involved audience pedaled to provide energy to the stage and allow the show to continue.

Finally, we concluded our three-day journey with a rejuvenating walk among the plants and flowers of the gardens at Casa Lajolo, a historic residence in Piossasco that fascinated us and provided the ideal backdrop for the traditional group photo.
We'll see you in Crete for a new step of the Green Ethics project!