On Monday 16 May, the Safe on the Floor conference took place at Amare (The Hague). This conference was organised to address transgressive behaviour at the workplace in the cultural sector and discuss how to tackle it. The conference was opened by state secretary for culture and media Gunay Uslu.
During the opening, NAPK board member Ernestine Comvalius handed the policy framework created by NAPK Safe on the Floor to the state secretary. This policy framework was developed for and by performing arts producers and offers them concrete tools to make their own policy on social safety. The policy framework can be requested from the NAPK.
Attention was also paid to the Social Safety Foundation for the Performing Arts, which was established last March. This foundation's website (www.socialeveiligheidpodiumkunsten.nl) was officially launched during the conference.
With about 250 participants, the conference was well attended by policymakers, cultural organisations and culture makers. Professional arts education was also represented. During keynotes, various speakers spoke about tackling and identifying cross-border behaviour. There were also sub-sessions in which various experts from the cultural sector and other sectors shared practical knowledge and information.
Although there is still much work to be done to get and keep social safety on the agenda in the cultural sector, and to initiate the necessary culture change, an important step was taken on 16 May. There will be a follow-up to this conference in the autumn.
The conference was organised by the Netherlands Association for the Performing Arts (NAPK), Platform Arbeidsmarkt Culturele en Creatieve Toekomst (Platform ACCT) and Mores.online (hotline for cross-border behaviour for the creative sector) and
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