Statement of the Environmental Panel of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague

Both us and our future generations will have to tackle the outcome of the climate crisis. Sooner or later, we will have to make changes to the way our society functions. The changes will affect visual arts, theatre, music and audio-visual arts. We therefore consider it of utmost importance to cease overlooking this and to take steps towards the required change.

The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague is a public tertiary school. Its mission is not only to educate students and conduct research in its field, but also to develop and cultivate public debate and actively participate in seeking solutions to societal problems. The Environmental Panel of AMU is one of the means to fulfil this role.

The Environmental Panel is an advisory body to the Rector and the Academic Senate of AMU. Its task is to note the intersections of the values of environmental sustainability and fairness with the activity of a public educational institution, both on the level of ideas and in practice.

So that AMU can be the bearer of such values, the Environmental Panel has decided to take a series of specific steps. The first one is the coordination of a comprehensive environmental audit of AMU’s building and internal processes. The audit will give the school’s officials and the academic community data on which areas of the institution’s operation should be reassessed, improved and changed. We will discuss the proposals that emerge from the audit and make decisions along with the academic community on all levels – from employees to academic personnel to students.

The next step is cooperation with the general public and self-government. Our vision is to make AMU the prototype for sustainable tertiary schools, which could serve as an example for other tertiary schools as well as other public institutions. This is where we see an opportunity to closely connect our efforts with the activities of officials, companies and non-governmental organisations that share our visions.

In addition, the Environmental Panel has an important symbolical role – just by its existence, it points to the climate crisis and to the issues of our attitude to the environment. By the same token, it is a link between AMU’s individual faculties, allowing them to share their knowledge, support each other in this respect and bring various viewpoints based on their professional targets.

The ultimate ambition of the Environmental Panel is to pursue long-term changes on a broad scale. AMU will be proactive in this approach in relation to both the Czech and international public, for example through organising symposia and lectures opened to the broadest audiences possible.