CAMPO

REMUNERATION, GOOD GOVERNANCE AND INTEGRITY

"Fair practices. That's solidarity among colleagues, zero tolerance for transgressive behaviour, actively working on anti-racism, trust and safety, gender equality, anti-mysogyny, ecology and much more. Fair practices. That's never finished, you can keep working on that." (www.kunsten.be)

After a participatory work process, the charter fair practices was approved by the members of oKo (the national consultation of arts organisations of which CAMPO is a member, www.overlegkunsten.org) and, together with an online toolbox, made accessible to everyone in the arts sector.

These principles apply to collaborations in all artistic disciplines and genres:

• solidarity: collective social responsibility for valuing work and quality collaborations;
• transparency: equal discussion about expectations and the appreciation of everyone's input;
• sustainability: accumulating knowledge and experience in professional collaborations within the applicable frameworks;
• responsibility: sharing responsibility based on mutual trust.

 

This is the guiding framework for twelve agreements, as a handhold for practice. Individuals and organisations, including CAMPO, subscribe to them through the ‘Juist is juist’ (‘Right is right’) campaign and thus make movement together.

 

Fees

In our personnel policy, there is no distinction (anymore) in the position of employees. Self-employed or salaried, everyone is paid correctly. On juistisjuist.be you can find the principles and collective agreements for the arts sector. Fair pay for fair work, that's what it comes down to.

'Juist is Juist' defines clear and fair principles and practices for collaborations in the arts sector. It does so for all disciplines: performing arts, music (from pop to classical), visual and audiovisual arts. Everyone who creates, performs, exhibits, curates and resides has access to information on proper working relationships thanks to 'Right is Right'. And that for all parties involved: clients and contractors, producers and co-producers, venues and performers.

Art is developed, made and presented by people: artists and art workers. To fully achieve artistic quality and play a cultural-social role in the process, these people must be able to work in good conditions.

 

Good governance

CAMPO subscribes to the principles of Good Governance and has incorporated them in an 'Internal Regulations' and 'Director's Code of Ethics'.

Transparency in decisions, no conflicts of interest, a nice balance between directors, management and staff. But also safety on the workfloor, feasible hours, sound financial management, sound archiving, sustainability.

In June 2020, a new Culture Governance Code was introduced by decree. An updated internal regulation was approved on 18 October 2023.

• The organisation is explicit in its mission to create, transfer and/or preserve cultural value.
• The organisation applies the principles of the Culture Governance Code, proportionate to its size and maturity, and periodically explains how it has done so. The organisation follows the recommendations but may deviate from them with the right motivation.
• Board and management act with integrity and in the best interests of the organisation.
• Board and management are aware of their own roles and the mutual division of tasks, responsibilities and powers, and act accordingly.
• The board performs its monitoring, advisory, strategic and employer's role in a professional, constructively critical and independent manner and safeguards substantive and/or artistic integrity.
• The board is composed in a balanced way that guarantees expertise and diversity and assumes a commitment to the organisation.
• The board is responsible and authorised for the general and daily management, functioning and results of the organisation.
• The board and management handle the organisation's people and resources carefully, ethically and responsibly.
  
   

Integrity

CAMPO does not tolerate any act that poses psychosocial risks to its employees, including acts of violence, harassment or unwanted sexual behaviour. This applies to employer and employee, but also to third parties (artists, residents, partners, trainees, volunteers, visitors, etc.) who come into contact with the organisation for the performance of their work.

One of our colleagues was trained as an internal prevention adviser. The external prevention advisor for psychological risks is at IDEWE, who can be informed directly in serious cases. Our confidential advisor was also appointed at IDEWE.

All definitions, procedures, (prevention) measures and contact details of confidants are included in the labour regulations. 

Diverse and inclusive work

CAMPO supports several organisations that focus exclusively on inclusiveness: MAF with WIPCOOP, Platform-K, Refu Interim. We collaborate within DIG (Diversity and Inclusion Ghent, the successor to the former Diversity Yard and permanent working group within the GKO, the Ghent arts consultation platform: www.gentskunstenoverleg.be). We want to put the DIG commitment statement into practice and follow up the checklist on inclusive entrepreneurship.

Our collective commitment to Diversity and Inclusion as Ghent's cultural sector (DIG)

• We choose equal inclusion. We are willing to really hand over keys and redistribute our power. Unreachable target groups do not exist, unreachable organisations do: we focus on discovering and eliminating internal barriers and blind spots.
• We install a DIG team within our operation. At least one DIGGER from our organisation participates in the Learning Networks Diversity and Inclusion Ghent. We commit to sharing our experience and knowledge openly and vulnerably with other organisations.
• We work together on the basis of a code of conduct on safe space.
• In the coming years, we will translate these collective intentions into concrete and ambitious actions tailored to our operations. We focus on increasing the participation and representation of people with migration backgrounds in all layers of our operations. No diversity without inclusion: sustainable representation is always embedded in structurally inclusive policies.
• We translate our commitment into a budgetary framework.
• We implement the DIG self-reflection tools in our operation. We self-critically evaluate our actions and monitor their quality and impact.

 

Climate awareness and sustainable arts practice

CAMPO is a member of and director at Greentrack and propagates the mission and vision of this think-and-do tank of the Ghent cultural sector that builds a sustainable future through exchange and experimentation. We endorse Greentrack's ten-point programme (www.greentrack.be) and implement the proposed actions.

• We try to keep our energy consumption as low as possible and reduce it every year. To this end, we opt for renewable energy and energy-efficient equipment, switch off equipment when we are not using it, try to insulate the buildings in which we work as much as possible, raise awareness among users of infrastructure and equipment and, where possible, take structural measures to reduce energy demand. When planning productions, rational use of energy is one of the design principles we apply.
• We opt for sustainable mobility and public transport as much as possible and try to motivate our visitors and employees to do so. When reimbursing travel expenses, we encourage sustainable choices. When we do take the plane, we try to compensate for CO2 emissions.
• Our meals and the catering we offer to artists and visitors are vegetarian, organic and local as much as possible. When travelling, we look for similar food. The water we drink and offer to others is as much as possible tap water. We take actions to avoid food waste and encourage external caterers we hire to follow the same principles.
• We try to reuse our materials as much as possible and consider sustainable production and renewability when making new purchases. We share materials and spaces with each other and with others. Wherever possible, we choose Fair Trade products.
• We use water sparingly and encourage our visitors to do the same. Wherever possible, we use rainwater. To avoid water pollution, we use biodegradable (cleaning) products.
• To reduce waste, we work with reusable cups or glass as often as possible. We print promotional material sparingly. We recycle other waste; wherever possible, we compost green waste.
• We are aware of the impact of the financial system and choose a sustainable bank. If this is not possible, we submit to our bank that sustainability is an important principle and ask for ethical banking products.
• We are committed to accessibility in the broad sense of the word. Employees, visitors and volunteers with the most diverse backgrounds and disabilities should also be able to come to us as much as possible.
• We are committed to social justice sustainability, which is reflected in the remuneration policy and fair remuneration of artists and employees. We pay attention to work-life balance and the participation and involvement of employees and stakeholders.
• We are aware of our exemplary role and want to inspire and commit to a socially just and sustainable society wherever possible, both in our operations and in artistic practice.
   

These policies came about through the commitment, expertise and perseverance of advocates, funds, sector organisations, trade unions, think tanks and action groups.

For the text material, we thank Kunstenpunt, the Social Fund for the Performing Arts, The Fund for Cultural Management, oKo and the 'Juist is Juist' campaign, the Ghent Kunstenoverleg and DIG, Greentrack, De Gentse Landschapstekening 2021, ...