Thriving Together: Unlocking Sustainable Futures for Community Arts

This week, I had the privilege of speaking at the Community Arts Indaba in Knysna, hosted by the Community Arts Centres Network of the Western Cape (CACNET). Under the theme Thrive and Engage, the gathering brought together passionate arts practitioners, cultural leaders, and government officials to explore strategies for growth, collaboration, and innovation in the sector.

My session on Sustainability & Tactics: Embedding Sustainable Practices proposed a 5 C mnemonic for thinking about and applying sustainability in community arts organisations – Capacity Building, Compliance, Community, Collaboration, and Creativity – providing a simple yet practical framework to integrate financial resilience, ethical governance, and adaptive artistic innovation.

Sharing learnings and insights from Sibikwa Arts Centre’s broad and integrated approach to sustainability through the 5 Cs, my presentation shared a framework, encompassing:

• Organisational Sustainability – Strengthening leadership, governance, and staff development to ensure resilience.
• Financial Sustainability – Developing diversified income streams and strategic partnerships for long-term viability.
• Social & Cultural Sustainability – Fostering inclusion, community engagement, and the preservation of cultural heritage.
• Environmental Sustainability – Embracing eco-conscious practices for environmental justice awareness, education and action.

Key takeaways from the Indaba that resonated deeply included:

• Embedding what we value – staff well-being, community, collaboration, longevity, and ethical leadership – into our operational policies to ensure impact, fairness, innovation and succession.
• Aligning our organisational objectives with global goals – such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – and recognizing our role in responding to World Economic Forum (WEF) risks to position ourselves as key contributors to a bigger picture.
• Forging ‘unlikely partnerships’ and embracing unexpected pathways to expand opportunities, visibility, reach, and impact.
• Becoming more conscious in our learning and engagement – reading more, engaging differently online, and ensuring informed advocacy and activism – recognizing that knowledge is key to driving meaningful change, innovation and sustainability, and that the digital space offers unlimited opportunities to equip and enable our organisations as key players.

The Indaba highlighted a shared urgency to ensure that community arts not only survive but thrive in changing economic, social, and environmental landscapes. It also affirmed that the solutions lie in us – through strong partnerships, effective governance, and bold, creative thinking.

A huge thank you to CACNET, STAND Foundation, Western Cape DCAS, and National DSAC for driving this crucial conversation and to all the inspiring voices who contributed their knowledge and experiences. The future of community arts depends on the sustainability of our institutions and a collective approach. Let’s not just keep the conversation going – let’s turn it into action that sustains, grows, and transforms our sector!