On 18 June 2026, ETC held its first ever mid-term review at the European Commission of its Break the Mould programme. In a workshop format, together with over 20 representatives from the European Commission the ETC team dove into the programme’s five pillars, milestones and goals, focusing on:
- the European Theatre Ecosystem
- the Diversity of Theatre Models Across Europe
- ETC’s role as a European cultural network,
- theatre as a democratic and social infrastructure, and
- the relevance of theatre within emerging European cultural policy frameworks.
What did we learn?
Using real-life examples from our daily work, inputs from ETC Board Members helped bring our activities to life. The session embedded our work within a larger policy framework and allowed for fruitful discussions between theatre practioners and policymakers. More importantly, it energised and focused efforts for the next two years, as ETC ramps up efforts in all programme areas.
The session kicked off with the addresses from Georg Häusler (Director for Culture, Creativity and Sport in the European Commission) and ETC Executive Director Heidi Wiley.
From there, ETC board members Tom Leick Burns, Lotta Lekvall, Irene Moundraki and Marina Maleni provided an overview of Europe’s theatre ecosystems and models. These dicussions dove into subjects like ETC’s role as a European cultural network, theatre as a democratic and social infrastructure, and the relevance of theatre within emerging European cultural policy frameworks.
The session was rounded out by ETC’s outside evaluator Marie Le Sourd, Secretary General On-The-Move, who used real-life examples to show how ETC’s goals translate into real-world impact.
The second part featured interactive Table Talks. These offered a look behind the scenes at ETC Advocacy & Leadership, as well as cultural policy tools including Culture Compass, AgoraEU, and the future European Prize for the Performing Arts.
A special thanks to our host and participants!
