Although there are initiatives within the independent performing arts aimed at promoting equal opportunities, equality, and the reduction of exclusion, venues still face structural barriers in implementing these goals:

• Marginalised individuals remain underrepresented in institutions and public discourse.
• There is a lack of tried and tested strategies for creating lasting openness.

With the “Shaping Diversity” project, we are helping to dismantle these barriers. In 14 venues of the independent performing arts, we are initiating tailored, discrimination-aware change processes that actively involve both staff and management levels. The resulting practical models will be compiled into a guide intended to help other cultural institutions foster inclusive and anti-discriminatory working cultures.

The “Shaping Diversity” project is funded under the programme “Shaping the Transformation of Work through Social Partnership: Promoting Further Training and Equality” by the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) and the European Union through the European Social Fund Plus (ESF Plus).

The participating venues are:

Ballhaus Ost, Berlin, FFT Düsseldorf – Forum Freies Theater, LOFFT – DAS THEATER, Leipzig, Schwankhalle, Bremen, Sophiensæle | Freies Theater in Berlin, tanzhaus nrw Düsseldorf, and Theater RAMPE, Stuttgart

The social partners are:

German Stage Association (Deutscher Bühnenverein) and United Services Union (ver.di)

“Shaping Diversity” is supported by LAFT – Landesverband freie darstellende Künste Berlin e. V., Landesverband Freie Tanz- und Theaterschaffende Baden-Württemberg e. V., Landesverband der Freien Theater in Sachsen e. V., and NRW Landesbüro Freie Darstellende Künste e. V.