Double x m2act: Interdisciplinary projects - apply now!
Double is launching a one-time, cross-disciplinary open call together with Migros Culture Percentage m2act. The aim is to apply and disseminate the existing knowledge and proven approaches developed by m2act-funded projects in new contexts. In this way, sustainable effects are achieved and the innovative capacity for fair practices and sustainable structures in the cultural sector is strengthened.
In 2026, m2act expanded its support for fair practices and sustainability from the performing arts to all disciplines. Over the past five years, significant progress has been made in the performing arts: working conditions have been closely examined, and topics such as care and sustainability have long since become part of everyday practice, finding their way into institutions and campaigns. By opening up to other disciplines, m2act aims, on the one hand, to promote fair practices and sustainability across all fields. If we want to bring about change in the cultural landscape, it makes sense to do so as broadly as possible across all disciplines. On the other hand, the existing knowledge from the performing arts is to be made accessible to other fields. This is what enables the joint open call for with Double.
Mentees may apply with projects from the fields of theater, cabaret, dance, classical music, jazz, film, art, and literature. Priority will be given to projects that are designed to be interdisciplinary.
Foto: Véronique Hoegger
Barbara Ellenberger
Barbara Ellenberger (born in 1964) is a dramaturge. For over twenty years, she has (co-)managed theatre organisations as chief dramaturge, director of acting or artistic director. She teaches regularly and explores issues relating to co-creation and ecological transformation in the cultural sector. In 2020, she co-founded KlimaKontor Basel and, later, Tasty Future. In the context of a research grant from Pro Helvetia, she began developing A:Practice in 2022 in collaboration with The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative (FATC) in South Africa. In 2023, as part of a Landis & Gyr residency in London, she further developed A:Practice into an online tool called ‘Matrix of Action’. In 2025, thanks to funding from SYNERGIES (supported by Pro Helvetia), A:Practice was once again implemented and further developed in collaboration with FATC in South Africa, and, thanks to Migros Culture Percentage, m2act was published online as a freely accessible tool. In 2024, Barbara Ellenberger was part of the first Swiss cohort of Julie’s Bicycle’s Creative Climate Leadership Programme (CCL).
Coaching offer:
Through this coaching programme, Barbara Ellenberger communicates about A:Practice as part of a practice-oriented research process. A:Practice is an artistic tool for organisational development that, particularly in the cultural sector, helps to define measures that address environmental and political challenges. At the heart of A:Practice lies the ‘Matrix of Action’, which provides guidance through transformation processes, facilitates immediate action and enables the parallel implementation of various sustainability approaches. A:Practice supports cultural organisations, groups and individuals in contributing to social change as sustainable actors. The programme is also particularly well suited to teams working in a transdisciplinary manner. Through collaboration with Barbara Ellenberger, A:Practice facilitates a comprehensive, ecological perspective of the company process at hand, thereby enabling artistic, institutional or curatorial identity to be refined.
Languages: German, English
Direct link to the online application portal for applying to Barbara Ellenberger
Important Note: Applications can only be submitted via the Migros Culture Percentage online application portal. If you do not yet have a login for the application portal, you must create one first before accessing the application or request form.
Foto: Agathe Raboud und Nidea Henriquez
Agathe Raboud and Nidea Henriquez / Arts_Sainement (A_S)
Arts_Sainement (A_S) is a movement created in 2020 by ten independent artists in French-speaking Switzerland to fight against all types of abuse of power, discrimination, harassment and hostile behaviour in the performing arts in the region.
The aim of the association is to support victims and those affected by abuse, as well as to prevent, raise awareness of and open up dialogue on issues of abuse, in the performing arts sector. Furthermore, it acts as an advisory and resource centre – or centre of expertise – which, wherever possible, coordinates the cases it handles with all stakeholders and advises them on matters relating to employment relations and cultural policy.
The association is in contact with its counterparts at the national level and has received a ‘trust’ award for young initiatives from the Legs Pro Culture Foundation (Erbprozent); it will also receive support from m2act for the next two years.
Coaching offer:
Arts_Sainement (A_S) offers coaching for professionals in the performing arts who wish to work in a more respectful, mindful and equitable environment.
The mentoring programme forms part of the association’s mission: to support individuals in their professional development whilst promoting ethical, inclusive and sustainable practices in the performing arts.
We propose that the individual or organisation we are supporting integrate these approaches into their practice in a holistic manner, through opportunities for dialogue and collective intelligence centred on the realities of the sector. Possible topics to explore together include power dynamics in creative work, healthy collaborative practices, consent and boundaries. We aim to engage with our ‘double’ using an intersectional and inclusive approach, whilst respecting confidentiality and allowing people to proceed at their own pace.
Languages: French, German, English
Direct link to the online application portal for applying to Agathe Raboud and Nidea Henriquez
Important Note: Applications can only be submitted via the Migros Culture Percentage online application portal. If you do not yet have a login for the application portal, you must create one first before accessing the application or request form.
Foto: Rafael Egloff
Rahel Bucher, Selina Wälti and Martina Marti / Heitere Fahne
Heitere Fahne is an inclusive cultural and culinary venue in Wabern, near Bern. Run by the Frei_Raum collective, Heitere Fahne has been championing inclusive culture, (cultural) participation and encounters between people from all walks of life, as well as utopian endeavours, since 2008. We are a group of around 50 people from different backgrounds but with shared values and goals: people with and without disabilities, people with a migrant background, craftspeople, artists and people working in the cultural sector, people with mental health concerns, and social workers all working together.
Coaching offer:
An inclusive cultural sector needs diversity in front of, behind and on stage! However, a lack of educational opportunities often prevents people with special backgrounds or life situations from entering the professional cultural world.
Heitere Fahne has therefore launched a cultural training programme for people with different learning abilities – Practical Training for Culture Makers.
The two-year training programme (practical training on communication, culture and design according to INSOS) is designed to equip trainees with the key skills they need to become cultural professionals: acting, event planning, supporting artists, communication, booking and much more. "The aim of the training is to enable people not only to consume or produce culture, but also to help shape social spaces, interactions and social change through their work.
We are taking an interested cultural organisation on this journey with us and sharing our experiences of designing and delivering the training programme, with the aim of enabling the selected organisation to offer this training programme itself in future.
Language: German
Important Note: Applications can only be submitted via the Migros Culture Percentage online application portal. If you do not yet have a login for the application portal, you must create one first before accessing the application or request form.
Lisa Stepf and Olivier Keller
Lisa Stepf (born in Kassel in 1979) studied Cultural Studies and Aesthetic Practice in Hildesheim and Marseille. She has been a scholarship holder under the Körber Foundation and the EU pilot project SPACE for curators. She is a freelancer based in Switzerland and works as a curator, lecturer, performer and cellist. For the past 20 years, she has been working internationally with Berlin-based theatre company Flinn Works and has been a member of the management team of interdisciplinary string ensemble Quartett PLUS 1. She has worked as a curator for organisations including Radialsystem V in Berlin and develops new concert formats in various contexts, including for Ensemble Resonanz, the Luxembourg Philharmonic and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. She teaches at Bern Academy of the Arts and the Basel Academy of Music in the field of new concert formats and runs workshops on feminist leadership and the DasArts feedback method – including regularly as part of the independent arts scene in Aargau, as well as during the 25/26 season at TOBS! as the centrepiece of the ‘Shaping Feedback Culture’ project by m2act.
Olivier Keller (born in Winterthur in 1980) studied theatre studies, Nordic studies and history in Bologna, Bern and Stockholm. Between 2008 and 2011, Olivier Keller repeatedly distinguished himself as a director of world premieres at Bern City Theatre. From 2012 to 2022, Olivier Keller was Co-Director of Theater Marie in the canton of Aargau. During those ten years, numerous productions in a variety of formats – contemporary drama, spoken theatre, musical theatre and documentary-based projects – were created. Olivier Keller has also worked at the Theater St. Gallen, the State Theatre Vorarlberg in Bregenz, the Théâtre Poche in Geneva, the Uppsala City Theatre, the Zurich Theater Spectacle and the Ballenberg Open-Air Theatre and in the independent theatre scene. Since 2024 he has been working at TOBS! Theater Orchester Biel Solothurn, where he, alongside Patric Bachmann, is responsible for the programme and the theatre’s staff. As well as holding the position of Co-Director of Drama, he also works there as a Director.
Coaching offer:
"During the 25/26 season, we successfully implemented the DasArts feedback method at the TOBS! theatre – and would now like to support other organisations and institutions in using this constructive, peer-to-peer feedback method as a tool for bringing about a fundamental change in communication.
We offer insights into our experiences, whilst at the same time working with the coachee to transfer these insights to another art form and develop steps to implement the method. It's great for us to see cases where applicants are already familiar with the method, but we are also keen to inspire newcomers to take an interest in it. By offering guidance on facilitating the method for 2–3 feedback sessions, as well as providing facilitation training as part of the coaching programme, we empower coachees to be able to conduct feedback sessions independently by the end of the process. Requirements for applicants: Artistic projects that can be opened up for feedback sessions during the rehearsal or development process. We look forward to working on an equal footing with coachees who value collective thinking as part of an artistic process and share our belief that giving and receiving feedback should be a gift."
Languages: German, English
Direct link to the online application portal for applying to Lisa Stepf and Olivier Keller
Important Note: Applications can only be submitted via the Migros Culture Percentage online application portal. If you do not yet have a login for the application portal, you must create one first before accessing the application or request form.