Within the performing arts, there are many areas with potential for improvement when it comes to economic, environmental and social sustainability. From the choice of materials for costumes, masks and scenography, to the travel of participants and systematic work to reach out and include more people. Malmö Opera has long had an ambition to be at the forefront of the industry when it comes to sustainability, which has now resulted in us, as the first opera and music theatre house in Europe, having achieved verification under accreditation for the international standard ISO 26000.
Malmö Opera has also been inspired by the Theatre Green Book, which has been and is guiding many activities in the performing arts industry. To take the next step, we have recently undergone a verification process with the external accreditation party Verify Agency of Sweden AB with the ambition of achieving verification according to the international standard ISO 26000.
On 10 October, it was announced that Malmö Opera, as the first opera house in Europe, had been approved after an audit.
“Malmö Opera shows extraordinary leadership by voluntarily and transparently having its entire work with social responsibility verified.”
“As far as we have been able to see in the available databases and publications covering accredited European verification systems, Malmö Opera is the first opera house in Europe to achieve verification according to standards linked to ISO 26000. This positions them as a pioneer in sustainable development in the European cultural sector,”
says Eva Vati, CEO of VERIFY Agency of Sweden AB.
“We are very proud to be the first opera house in Europe to achieve sustainability verification through ISO 26000. The performing arts sector has a lot to do in terms of sustainability and we at Malmö Opera have decided to be involved in driving this work,”
says Christina Hörnell, CEO and Theatre Director at Malmö Opera, and continues:
“To have an impact, sustainability must become part of everything we do every day. The verification gives us a systematic way to work with this and shows that we are on the right track. Now the real work begins together with everyone who works at and with Malmö Opera. We look forward to that.”
The audit was conducted by Verify Agency of Sweden AB, under accreditation by Swedac, Sweden’s national accreditation body.
The report is available at https://www.malmoopera.se/om-oss/hallbart-operahus
ISO 26000 is an international standard for the social responsibility of organizations. The verification is conducted by independent external auditors and is based on seven fundamental principles that together define the concept:
- Accountability
- Transparency
- Ethical behavior
- Respect for stakeholder interests
- Respect for the law
- Compliance with international standards of conduct
- Respect for human rights
The verification is renewed and updated annually.
ISO 26000: https://www.iso.org/iso-26000-social-responsibility.html
Theatre Green Book: https://www.svenskscenkonst.se/theatre-green-book/
For further information, interview requests, etc. please contact Pål Katsler, Head of Communications: pal.katsler@malmoopera.se or +46 (0)708-19 82 46.
