The Nederlandse Associatie voor Podiumkunsten, NAPK for short, recently joined as a partner of the Dance Safe Alliance. As a trade association for performing arts organizations in the Netherlands, NAPK is committed to both positioning the performing arts towards government and politics, and to supporting its member organizations in the performing arts sector. This includes the theme of social safety. We wanted to hear more about their work, so we spoke with Maaike van Steenis, project coordinator of the Foundation for Social Safety in the Performing Arts.
NAPK and Foundation Social Safety Performing Arts
“The NAPK is a members association. One of the core tasks of NAPK is to support its members on themes within the performing arts field. Social safety is one such theme. How can you prevent the development of an unsafe climate within your organization? And how do you deal with transgressive behavior in the workplace? To support employers, on the initiative of the NAPK, the Social Safety Foundation for the Performing Arts (SVPK) was established.”
Knowledge Sharing and Complaints Committee
The Foundation supports organizations in developing and implementing social safety policies. Maaike explains: “We offer information in various formats, for example, a model protocol, webinars, peer to peer coaching and training. An example of such a training is ‘How do you have a conversation with your employees about safety?’ We also organized an online roundtable session last year about the growing aggression among young people when the topic of homosexuality or gender is discussed in theater; a recent development that organizations are facing. What can you do to ensure that your employees experience safety when there are nasty reactions in the audience? In such a session, numerous experiences are shared and together we discuss how we can respond. These topics are relevant to our organizations, thus we respond and see how SVPK can provide appropriate support.”
“The Stichting Sociale Veiligheid Podiumkunsten supports organizations in developing and implementing social safety policies.”
Another branch is the independent complaints committee, which NAPK set up in 2022. Maaike explains, “Employees, as well as freelancers and interns of the affiliated performing arts organizations can go here if they cannot be helped further by a confidential advisor. The complaints committee can be called in for independent investigation and to give advice to the employer.”
Together towards a socially safe sector
“There is a lot to learn from each other within the cultural sector. We regularly receive requests from other organizations to help organize meetings, or are asked for advice on setting up a complaints committee. So we exchange a lot of information with other parties. We also see the sharing of this knowledge as an added value within the cooperation of the Dance Safe Alliance,” said Maaike van Steenis.
“There is a lot to learn from each other within the cultural sector. We believe that sharing our knowledge makes a valuable contribution within the Alliance.”
Maaike Steenis