Wie kann es sein, dass zivilisierte Gesellschaften die Lebensgrundlagen der Menschheit zerstören? Welche historischen Voraussetzungen, Weltanschauungen, wissenschaftlichen und politischen Ideologien haben uns so weit gebracht? Und wie sehen Welt- und Menschenbilder aus, die ein belastbares Fundament für ökologisches Denken, Handeln und Kommunizieren bieten?

Ab dem 26.08. treffen wir uns jeden zweiten Montag um 19 Uhr zur Diskussion und zur Erweiterung unserer Vorstellungshorizonte, damit eine ökologisch begründete Welt darin Platz findet, erzählbar wird und uns erlaubt, Verantwortung für unser Denken und Handeln zu übernehmen.

Alle Termine: 26.08 / 09.09. / 23.09. / 07.10. / 21.10. (19.30 Uhr) / 04.11. / 18.11. jeweils 19 Uhr

Alle sind herzlich zum Mitreden und Mitdenken eingeladen. Gute Voraussetzungen dafür sind, der Wunsch, urteils- und handlungsfähig zu werden und wenn möglich an allen Terminen teilzunehmen.

Das Angebot ist kostenlos. Bringt ein Sandwich mit!
Interessierte melden sich bei switzerland@apractice.art

Treffpunkt:
Kulturhaus Helferei
Kirchgasse 13, 8001 Zürich

Der Runde Tisch Ökologie ist eine Initiative von «A:Practice» (Barbara Ellenberger und Matthias Michel). A:Practice ist in Kooperation von The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative (FATC), Südafrika, und KlimaKontor, Schweiz, entstanden. A:Practice kann u.a. als Organisationsentwicklungstool für Kulturinstitutionen dienen, die sich angesichts eskalierender ökologischer und sozialer Krisen neu positionieren wollen.

In Kooperation mit dem Kulturhaus Helferei.

«3 hours with Barbara echoing in all dimensions of our project while we are feeling as centered as never before in the face of the challenges ahead of us.» Oona & Daniela

We are very thankfull for the trust and support we got from Migros Culture Percentage m2act! Now we are on their website:
a) as a m2act-supperted project
b) as part of the Migros Culture Percentage m2act-Toolbox
Both descriptions of how A:Practice can be implemented in different contexts might help you to find your own application!

Our project "A:Practice - collaborative practices for climate resilience" was selected as part of Pro Helvetia's Synergies-programme. The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative (FATC) (South Africa) and KlimaKontor (Switzerland) will continue their collaboration. Many thanks to the great jury!
Our motivation arises out of a generalised global need for new thinking in the face of escalating climate collapse, new ways of tackling food production at a local level to break the reliance on industrialised agriculture.
The programme emerges at a localised level, from a 2022 Pro Helvetia funded residency where creative climate leader and companion Barbara Ellenberger spent time in a co-creative process with The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative (FATC) in Mpumalanga, South Africa. During the residency, the collaborating parties worked to define the emergent practices and theories that FATC has been developing and prototyping over the past five years, in response to environmental degradation, climate change and pandemic.
These experiential practices and philosophies, which combine art, agroecology and management training, have been successfully formulated in a practical framework to support cultural organisations on the path to climate-positive transformation.

During the Creative Climate Leadership Week (CCL) Switzerland 2024, I thought about how A:Practice can be put to good use. And in this context also about myself as a "leader". I realise that in my previous role as an artistic managing director of theatres, I also saw myself more as a "companion". I initiated projects and drove them forward, but always with the focus on empowering everyone involved. In the context of A:Practice, I also see myself more as a companion than a leader. Especially here.
A:Practice serves as a tool for institutional self-reflection. The action matrix offers a holistic perspective on the global ecological situation and supports institutions in the transition from recognising their own limits and significance to explicit commitment as ecological actors in solidarity and cooperation with other actors.
Working with the action matrix leads to action. It illustrates how operational and substantive measures can be interlinked and implemented simultaneously, and supports their strategic bundling. Everyone can contribute directly and play their part. This contributes to the empowerment of everyone, promotes enthusiasm and vigour and thus increases the speed of implementation and reduces bureaucratic effort.
I can get involved in these processes as a facilitator - someone who listens, who resonates, who knows when an impulse is needed and when not - as a companion in a diverse, adventurous process towards a more ecological world.

Today, when launching the website, I am thinking of these three images. I was still in South Africa, on the farm where FATC operates. Under pressure due to my changed return date (ship schedules are not as exact as those of trains), which was moved up by three weeks, we sketched out a first Matrix of Action after three months of collective reflection and discussion. While drawing, I thought of the weaver birds. They start their nest with a single blade of grass, giving no hint of the beauty and functionality the nest will eventually have. Putting one stroke after another, sketching out everything we know, and seeing what emerges was our motto.
Meanwhile, Matthias helped to conceptually solidify the matrix, and Hubertus Design has visually refined it.