The International Touring and Environmental Responsibility (ITER) programme, now in its fourth round, supports artists and cultural organisations to build and develop sustainable approaches to touring. The partnership between Arts Council England, Arts Council Norway and the Danish Arts Foundation aims to form new international collaborations and connections between the participating countries.
How do we support projects?
This announcement follows a three month long seminar programme from September – November where 54 organisations participated in sessions led by JB and designed and co-delivered with In Futurum, exploring sustainable touring and inspired the formation of partnerships and projects.
The ITER programme was excellent in both structure and content. It encouraged me to view our work on environmental responsibility and international collaboration through a fresh lens. I’m looking forward to applying what I’ve learned in real-world contexts and to continuing to develop the international relationships formed during the programme.
– Anais Biaux, Head of Festival Partnerships at Without Walls
About the selected projects
Three new projects from the ITER4 cohort have been selected to participate, spanning performance, artistic exchange and strategic operational knowledge sharing. Using funding awarded by ITER’s partners, they will explore the varied pathways into sustainable touring models and receive guidance, peer support, mentorship and resources from Julie’s Bicycle.
1. ‘Threshold – A new wild border journey’, by Mechanimal (England); Gulli Sekse (Norway); and ILT Festival (Denmark)
Threshold explores the ecological, artistic, and social potential of ultra-slow, low-carbon international performance touring. It redefines green touring by asking: What if slow travel is an artwork in itself? What if it can spark international conversations on urgent environmental issues?
Led by Tom Bailey (Mechanimal, UK), Gulli Sekse (Norway), and ILT Festival (Denmark), Threshold addresses the global climate justice issue of Arctic territory ownership as the ice melts and nations compete for resources. Through a slow 600km journey across 2 months in Arctic borderlands, in the ice and snow of Polar spring, Bailey will engage local communities, indigenous voices and landscapes in Norway, Finland, and Sweden. The journey (conducted by ski, sled and foot) will inform a new performance presented at festivals in Norway and Denmark. Threshold explores how slow touring might offer a rich, multi-faceted output of landscape-based artistic research, engagement of diverse audiences, and internationally touring performance.
2. ‘Regenerative Business Frameworks in the Arts’, by Wildtopia (Denmark); ReArtica (Norway); and Caravan/ Farnham Maltings (Distribution Partner – England)
This collaborative project aims to develop an applied, operational framework for regenerative business models in the performing arts. At a time when touring practices, funding structures and artistic work patterns are under pressure, the project explores how artists and organisations can shift from linear and extractive modes of production toward regenerative, circular and relationship-based ecosystems.
Through a practice-led and case-based approach, regenerative principles will be tested to see how circular resource flows, purpose-driven planning, value-sharing and regenerative mobility can be applied within artistic creation, organisational structures and international touring. Using entrepreneurial methods, dramaturgical tools and artistic system insight, the collaboration will explore a transferable business model with practical tools that support long-term sustainability, healthier work rhythms, deeper collaboration and more resilient approaches to international mobility.
3. ‘Green Folkways Exchange’, by Mariupol Theatre; Sarah Smout (England); Beatriz Gijón Gijón; Foreningen Ballhaus (Denmark); and Syv Mil / Shiftit (Norway)
Green Folkways Exchange is a transnational ecological folklore project focused on low-carbon, community-centred artistic exchange. Collaborating across partners in England, Denmark, Norway, and extending to Spain, Ukraine, Bosnia, Poland, Hungary, and Greece, the project invites local communities to explore ecological wisdom embedded in their cultural traditions through song, myths, rituals, agricultural practices and oral histories related to seasonal cycles.
Green Folkways Exchange is designed to be low-impact and budget-friendly, emphasising that “materials travel, not artists.” Rather than touring full ensembles, folklore materials are gathered locally and shared across partner countries as a living archive. These materials are transformed by local communities through workshops, collective creation and site-specific rituals, resulting in new expressions shaped by the local environment and cultural context.
The International Touring and Environmental Responsibility (ITER) programme is initiated and financed by Arts Council England, the Danish Arts Foundation, and Arts Council Norway, delivered and designed by Julie’s Bicycle in collaboration with in futurum.
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