Isn’t the opera sector wonderful? Still, I don’t know a single colleague for whom the sector is in a perfect position. In many cases, far from it. What would you like to change? And how you will you make that change happen?
Maybe it’s greater investment and less precarity in public funding. Maybe it’s a change in policy that puts culture at the heart of education. Maybe it’s positive news stories about opera in the public eye. Maybe it’s an openness to and appetite for opera from the whole of contemporary society. Whatever support you would like to gain, whatever change you would like to see, that’s where advocacy comes in.
Advocacy is about building more compelling, credible, and sustainable cases for opera's value. It can involve exchanges with policymakers, politicians, funders, sponsors, the media, audience, or the public at large. The ways we communicate about our own work as opera organisations are vital for influencing the conditions in which we will create and share opera for years to come.
For that reason, Opera Europa commissioned Elena Politseva, independent researcher and culture advocate, to create an Advocacy Toolkit specifically for opera organisations. Opera Europa launched the new Toolkit at the autumn conference in Geneva. It is now available to all members via the Opera Europa Member resources’ Document centre. So, who’s it for?
As Elena Politseva writes, “Advocacy is not a niche or crisis-driven activity, but a shared, integrated responsibility across the opera ecosystem – from major institutions to smaller companies, training organisations to professional associations.” We encourage all colleagues to take a look – from CEO to Fundraising Manager, from Education Officer to Financial Director, from Sustainability Coordinator to Artistic Director. We are confident you will find points that resonate with your work. In the words of Kasper Holten, CEO of the Royal Danish Theatre: “I am thrilled that this new toolkit will help us all understand the important role of being advocates for our art form and institutions better, and I have learnt many important points from the material. It invites you to consider your practices and to be inspired to refresh your efforts through the excellent material.”
The Toolkit exists in two versions. At just 20 pages, the Executive Summary offers a condensed edition. If you’re really short on time, we suggest reading the coloured introductions to each section for an overview of what’s on offer – it should take 3 minutes! The complete toolkit spans some 76 pages and goes in to detail. You may want to approach this one chapter at a time, or use chapters as the basis for developing your advocacy work with colleagues over a series of meetings or workshops. Finally, an 8-step roadmap for action is a practical tool to guide you step-by-step in your advocacy activities. Each version is designed to be used by companies at a range of scales, in diverse national contexts, and by people with varying degrees of previous experience in advocacy.
If you have questions or feedback about the advocacy toolkit, we would love to hear from you. Please contact hannah@opera-europa.org. We wish you every success with your advocacy efforts!
Download the documents in the right side bar of Member Resources!
