Equal Arts Digital Portfolio is a Free

The Equal Arts Digital Portfolio is a free, open collection of 52 real practices that advance gender equality in the performing arts. It is not a theory paper or a list of good intentions. Each entry shows something an organisation, artist or educator has already done, so other people can adapt it.

It was created through the Equal Arts project (Project ID 2024-1-ES01-KA210-VET-000248043), funded by the European Union under the 2024 Round 1 KA2 Small-Scale Partnerships in Vocational Education and Training (KA210-VET) call. The project ran from 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2026. InDance International (Spain) led it, in partnership with Le Voci di Astarte (Italy) and SITES / Bruiser Theatre Company (Ireland). The portfolio is one of the project’s main lasting outputs, alongside the Women in Leadership playbooks and the Certificate in Performing Arts Leadership.

The problem it responds to

Women are well represented in dance, theatre, performance and media, but they are far less visible in the roles that decide what gets made, funded and credited. As the Equal Arts micro-learning units show, women are routinely placed in supporting roles such as producing, administrating and enabling, while decision-making and recognition sit elsewhere. Many also build careers with little mentoring, little rest and no safety net, and burnout follows.

The sector has plenty of reports about these problems. What it often lacks is practical, trusted examples of what to do about them. Most organisations don’t need to be convinced that gender equality matters. They need to see how another company wrote a policy, ran a programme or changed a working culture. The portfolio fills that gap.

What “best practice” means here

In Equal Arts, a best practice is something that has been tried in real working conditions and can be adapted by someone else. Each practice is documented so that a reader can see what was done, why it mattered and how it might fit their own setting.

One example is La Mecànica’s anti-discrimination protocol. The company created a framework for preventing and responding to sexual, sexist and LGBTIQ+phobic aggression, with clear measures for action, support networks and confidential communication channels. It applies in rehearsal rooms, on tour and in community settings. The sector’s working conditions make harassment easy to leave unreported. These include close physical proximity, long unsocial hours, touring away from home and steep power imbalances. A written protocol changes that by telling everyone, before anything goes wrong, who to contact and what will happen.

The same collection also reflects creative practice. Projects such as the Dans’illot Festival, an annual dance festival with an open creation call, create ongoing opportunities for artists. Productions such as The Second Woman, a 24-hour theatre and live cinema piece about the unfair treatment of women, and Odiseas, an immersive theatre show about identity, technology and relationships, show how artistic work can carry these questions to audiences. Equality is not only a matter of policy. It is also shaped by what gets made, who makes it and who gets to see it.

Who it is for

The portfolio is designed for several audiences at once:

• Performing arts organisations can use it to review their own policies, and find models for safeguarding, programming and leadership development.
• Educators and trainers, especially in vocational education and training, can bring real cases into the classroom and show students what good practice looks like.
• Artists and producers can see how others have built sustainable careers, and borrow approaches for their own work.
• Policy makers and funders can draw on it as evidence of what is already working in the field.

Because it is free and online, someone in a small independent company can use it as easily as someone in a large institution.