Working Committees create a space for continued work on key cross-cutting issues within ASSITEJ International. Currently, the two Committees operating are the ‘Access’ Working Committee and the ‘Sustainability’ Working Committee. The Committees consist of sector professionals, local organisers of ASSITEJ International affiliated events, and members of the Executive Committee of ASSITEJ International.

They are tasked with producing toolkits that will serve as a means of communication, collection of knowledge, frameworks for change, and as reference for the sector. Additionally, they implement their learning in the organisation of ASSITEJ Artistic Gatherings and World Congresses and in the permanent policies and operations of ASSITEJ International.

The ‘Access’ Working Committee addresses the inclusive approaches necessary for equitable and equal access to ASSITEJ International activities across ability, gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, geography, religion, and politics.

The Committee is working towards a toolkit on the theme of Access in Theatre & Performing Arts for Children & Young People.

Based upon the advice and directives of the ‘Access’ Working Committee, work has already concluded on creating an Inclusive Communications Guide, focusing on how to make communications more inclusive in terms of disability, culture and society, language, technology, and social media.

The Committee will also be involved in ASSITEJ International’s new ‘Diversity Benchmarking’ programme launch. ‘Diversity Benchmarking’ asks ASSITEJ National Centres to identify realistic goals for change during the programme period, raising awareness of the lack of representation and the need to work towards diversity goals. As inclusion is context-specific, setting one standard for development across multiple national contexts is not realistic. National Centres of ASSITEJ International will be asked to select their own area of development on inclusion in the national context they represent. When the Centres produce their annual report to ASSITEJ International, the Centre will be asked to report on the goals they set for their national development. ‘Diversity Benchmarking’ will be the first step in long-term work to bring new people into the sector.

The ‘Sustainability’ Working Committee addresses the variety of ways in which sustainability can be understood, the environmental challenges to our arts community, illuminating frameworks and examples of innovative practice, and the concept of creative, sustainable practice. 

You can read more about our Sustainability Policy here.

During 2022, the Committee recorded and collated the experiences from Bibu – ASSITEJ Artistic Gathering 2022 (Sweden). The Committee continues to reach out to other associations in the cultural field to share knowledge and to collaborate on ways and means of achieving sustainability. It also continues to conduct work with ASSITEJ Serbia, ASSITEJ Cuba, and ASSITEJ France (Scènes d’enfance) as they prepare for the upcoming ASSITEJ Artistic Gatherings and World Congresses.

Through the ‘Sustainability’ Working Committee, ASSITEJ International, with 15 other international cultural networks, started its eco-certification journey with SHIFT Culture around their ‘Eco-Guidelines for Networks’. You can read more about our work on that project here.