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Apply for the STIM scholarship!

Now all Stim members can apply for this year's Stim scholarship! The application is made via the member login at Stim's website, until September 8 at 11.59.

This is how STIM writes about the scholarship: "Part of STIM's music promotion mission is to draw attention to Swedish songwriters, composers, composers and lyricists. Through the scholarships, Stim and thereby all those who pay for the music contribute to regrowth and diversity in Swedish music life."

Read more here!

MCV's new membership category Musikcentrum New!

Meet our new membership category Musikcentrum New! Maybe you know someone who could apply? Please advise!

What is Musikcentrum Ny?

Musikcentrum Ny is a new membership
at Musikcentrum Väst (MCV) with the aim of reaching unestablished freelance musicians and artists who want guidance in the music industry and the freelance profession. The goal is to be able to offer various membership benefits that help unestablished musicians establish themselves on the Swedish music scene. Membership is a way to be part of MCV's large network of freelance professional musicians, come to our member meetings and certain continuing educations, and receive our mailings with all possible aggregated information that is relevant for you who want to work as a musician.

The membership is only for non-established people musician/artist and/or student. We welcome those who are not yet established as a professional musician/artist but have the ambition to eventually become a professional musician*. The age limit for membership is 18 + and above.

The biggest difference between a regular membership within Musikcentrum Väst is that members of Musikcentrum Väst are not part of our mediation or visible on Musikcentrum Väst's website. Another application is required to be said to be a professional musician and to be referred.

*Being a professional musician means that you work actively as a musician part-time/full-time (with plans to record music, go on tour, book gigs, etc.) or that the profession of musician generates all/parts of your income.

Do you have questions? Mail mcv@mcv.se!

Everything you need to know about digital marketing

 — Sustain webinar 5 September

In January, as an MCV member, you had the opportunity to participate in an extensive workshop in digital marketing. In this follow-up webinar on September 5th, we want to give you the chance to ask all the questions you felt you didn't get answered!

Saki Markovic works at Playground Music Scandinavia, where she has been responsible for digital marketing and social media for the past three years. Before Playground, she spent five years at Universal Music Sweden. Saki is a marketing expert with many years of experience working with artists, both locally and internationally. Some of the artists she works with are Mando Diao, Smith & Thell, Hooja, Tomas Ledin, The Rasmus and others.

It is important that you who plan to participate submit your questions in good time, so that the host has the opportunity to prepare the material that is relevant to you. There will also be time for questions during the meeting itself.


: 5 September at 14.00-15.30
Var:
zoom
Sign up:
via our latest member tip by email, no later than September 3


Our webinars are conducted via Zoom and are free for you who are members of Musikcentrum Syd, Väst or Öst, and have paid the 2023 membership fee.

The network — Culture, collaboration & development

Until autumn gives The network a free continuing education for those who want to lead socially sustainable cultural and community development.

-30 YH points
-Free and CSN eligible
-Between October 1 — December 22, 2023

"Culture, collaboration & development" provides knowledge about complexity in the cultural field as well as different models and methods for collaboration. The course provides skills in building trust and cooperation between different perspectives, leading co-creative social innovation processes and managing conflicts.

The application is open and applications are received continuously. Apply by Sept 20.
Read more here!

"Culture, cooperation & development" is organized by the Network and financed by the Authority for Vocational College and the Västra Götaland region.

Nominate for the Planet Award 2023!

Planet Festival held this year between October 27 and November 5! Now you can nominate the one or those you think deserve the planet price, Inspirer of the Year!

The prize has been awarded since 2013 and is a collaboration between the Planeta office and Folkuniversitetet. The prize can be won by an artist or organizer who, with music, dance or in other ways, inspires meeting places in a multicultural society. The prize sum is SEK 10.000. The winner is selected by a jury.

Nominations for the Planet Award 2023 are open, nominate here!

Take part in Kulturbryggan's webinars!

Culture bridge is tasked by the government to distribute around 25 million each year kronor to projects that renew and develop the cultural area. Within three different programs, you can either apply for seed money for a preliminary study or project grants to fully realize an idea.

During August and September Kulturbryggan holds a bunch of webinars. They are program-specific and deal with what a program aims for, how an application is assessed and what is important to consider if you want to apply. There is also a chance to ask questions that are answered during the webinar.

Kulturbryggan's webinars are held from August 30 through September 8.
All dates and times are available here!


Kulturbryggan's various programs: 

Artistic renewal
Creative infrastructure

New financing models
Seed money

All programs can be searched between it September 1-22!

🌱 Report from Greentopia 2023 🌱

“MCV is happy to once again be on site during the second edition of the climate conference Greentopia during Way Out West 2023! For MCV, it is of the highest value to participate in the debate about how i.a. organization and cultural events can be made even more climate-smart. The theme for this year's climate meeting is "EVenemang as a changing force”, and vI look forward to taking part insights into the environment and cultural life from leading researchers, activists and organizers."

That's what MCV wrote for this year's big cultural climate meeting during the music festival Way Out West 2023! This year, the climate conference Greentopia occupied the Auktionsverket's Culture Arena on Tredje Långgatan in Gothenburg. So it did not take place in the festival area like the previous year; something that was good for the concentration and focus needed to deal with heavy topics around sustainability, climate impact and actions for a better world. In a well-filled hall on Thursday after lunch, the conference started, with a bunch of important topics on the agenda.

In the opening speech of i.a. the moderators Isabelle McAllister and Andreas Magnusson the culture's unique position of power and ability to influence was taken seriously. Yes, actually the very purpose of this year's theme for the conference — "Events that change".

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THE CLIMATE — Vad is the way forward where everyone is involved?

In the first panel discussion "What is the way forward where everyone is involved?" we had to meet Marcus Lundstedt from the Stockholm Resilience Centre, who started by raising Sweden's goal of zero emissions by the year 2045. Included in the conversation were also Eleonora Ali Uddman, aactivist i Fridays For Future and Climate Live Sweden, with a particular focus on functional rights and equality in the climate transition; Kevin Noone, professor of chemical meteorology, at the International Sustainable Finance Centre, Stockholm University; Matthias Goldmann, which i.a. launched "Way Out West Goes Veggie" and which runs 2030 Secretariat — as well Sara-Elvira Kuhmunen from Sáminourra, the Sami youth association which works to safeguard and promote the interests and rights of Sami youth.

The general opinion from the panel and which was often raised during the conversation was that the work is going far too slowly with the green transition. Kevin Noone gave a drawing of the entire timeline of what it looked like from the first IPCC report coming out in 1990, up to the latest report that came out just a few years ago. At first, the reports were more modest in their rhetoric, but the certainty of how the climate is affected by our way of life has increased with each report, and the tone has become more and more alarming. The reports have been published approximately every five to seven years since the beginning. Kevin underlined the importance of the politicians having to act on the results of the researchers. Sara-Elvira raised the perspective of "green colonialism"*, with the example that i.a. "green mines" and other environmental investments are planned in Sápmi.

*Land exploitation - clear-cutting, roads, mines and now "green energy" in the form of industrial areas with wind power (...) The land is shrinking, the reindeer's food is disappearing and indigenous rights are being put out of play. https://amnestysapmi.se/gron-kolonialism-kan-utradera-skogssamisk-renskotsel/ https://www.sametinget.se/gruvor 


Elleonora raised the perspective and focus on how people with functional variations are affected by climate change. Mattias Goldmann was involved and helped WOW's sustainability work through the switch to vegetarian food throughout the area. Mattias showed that the biggest climate impact is caused by people traveling to the festival; the second biggest impact concerns the artists' travel, and the third biggest impact is precisely the emissions in connection with the food service. So, since the first two options are harder to influence, the food was something the festival could start working on right away.

Further in the panel, there was talk of "climate disinformation" (doubts about science and measures to slow the transition) is the biggest threat to climate change. Through clearer and perhaps simpler language and information, we can include more. Other tips and comments that emerged were to "agree on what is fact and what is opinion", as well as to "fix solutions so that people can imitate and copy each other."

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FANTASY - How can events shape the future?

The next panel discussion was on the ticklish topic of imagination. In the conversation participated Simon Stalenhag, writer and sci-fi artist; Tove Blomgren, from the design agency Sally / Ey Doberman as well as Hanna Grahn, Spotify. How can we use our imagination to create change for the future? The discussion revolved around imagination and creativity as generators of ideas about sustainability and the importance of imagination for new innovation. The concept of storytelling also dominated the conversation.

We initially got an exciting review of Simon's art projects and visual motifs that depict a kind of nostalgic dystopia in pictorial form. An incredibly inspiring way to show how we are destroying the earth — check out Simon's work here!

Tove talked about a couple of quotes: "A do or die challenge" — about the fact that in the future there are no longer any "non-radical" scenarios; all ways forward are radical, quite simply. "We are in a crisis of imagination"; a quote that is about the fact that nowadays we think very short-term and don't really have the ability to fantasize, i.e. we can no longer imagine how bad it will be for us in the future if we don't changes us and our behaviors.

What can we do in the shorter future, like five years? How can we visually show what it could look like? At Tove's design agency, they work to create visions that show a sustainable future. They build e.g. up rooms that you can enter and fantasize about a better world, also visions of areas and streets with greenery and completely without traffic.

Hanna Grahn talked about the sustainability work at Spotify. They want to use their platform (both users and artists/musicians) to create awareness, through e.g. storytelling. An example of this is the launch of Ragna, a series (a type of radio theater) about sustainability.

The concept of "green wishing" was raised in the conversation — i.e. that we just continue with business as usual; that it would even be possible to live as we do now and in the future.

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FRAMTIDS - How can events inspire hope in the age of the climate crisis?

Furthermore, a seminar followed Kara Djurhuus, head of philanthropy at the Roskilde Festival, about how they work with sustainability issues and their entire community for climate promotion measures. Roskilde is at the forefront of the issue and for value-driven work, i.e. the emphasis on which focus, work and perspective they want to change. Roskilde is the biggest music festival in Northern Europe. According to Kara, festivals are strongly rooted in youth culture and art, "cultural approaches". Roskilde therefore supports newly established/upcoming artists and musicians and activists with e.g. donation work*, knowledge transfer, networks etc

Roskilde runs a Community Center on the festival grounds with a stage, open space, workshops and breakout rooms where sustainability work can be discussed and where there is a surface to deal with the issues, the struggle and activism. They also hold art workshops to stimulate the imagination of a better world.

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RESISTANCE - How can events help us leave the old and enter the new?

Day two at Greentopia kicked off with a conversation about "ecological masculinity". A speech was given by Martin Hultman from Chalmers University, which i.a. addressed the perspective and importance of transformation to, not just knowledge. We therefore need to be far more powerful by shifting logic in the global community, through changes in our economy and our perspective on nature. Furthermore, Martin addressed various forms of climate denial, something that is more common among men than among women:

* Organized climate denial — maintained by e.g. coal, oil and gas companies and various think tanks, etc. In Sweden, the climate deniers are organized in "Klimatsans", "Stockholmsinitiativet" and others.

* Ideological climate denial — i.a. The Republicans, right-wing national parties in Europe such as Sannfinländarna, Dansk Folkeparti, SD and others. The term "industrial modern masculinities" is used here.

* Response Denial — Investments and Subsidies of Fossil-Dependent Infrastructure; for example airports, motorways and technologies where so-called "rebound effects" are not taken into account (negative side effects of changes that are mainly intended to be sustainable).

* Everyday denial — that people continue to travel abroad, eat industrial meat, use their SUV car, etc. It's about misinformation, hatred of Greta Thunberg and "eco-modern masculinities".

Industrial modern masculinities are thus a concept that highlights how we act is connected to the masculinity norm and the climate issue in general. Using the word "masculinity" can be helpful in the debate, as it falls somewhere between the individual (which can be very sensitive to criticize) and the structural.

Martin further explained the concept of "ecological masculinities" which can be about:
Diversity of masculinities; relational understanding and practice of people, animals and nature; to draw attention to and change male dominance patterns (ecofeminism) and to strengthen the human power for solidarity and care (feminist nursing theory).

The talk was followed by a panel with Shanga Aziz in Locker Room Talks and Gurgin Bakircioglu, opinion leaders who challenge the norms with e.g. a documentary about sport and veganism. Overall, the conversation revolved around the challenge of getting men into the climate debate together with a role play on stage about masculinity norms. During this seminar, the audience also got to play role-plays with each other where we assumed different sides of the debate as either deniers or those willing to change. 


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SUSTAINABLE + INTERNAL DEVELOPMENT - how can an inner and outer journey help us change the events industry?

Jakob Trollbäck and Louise Koenig from the communications agency The New Division, talked about the launch of the global goals, "Sustainable Development Goals" → https://www.globalamalen.se/  Out of 169 goals in total, 17 are summarized in main goals with a focus on: abolishing extreme poverty, reducing inequalities and injustices in the world, promoting peace and justice and solving the climate crisis.

Jakob and Louise also presented their five designs dimensions which will help us in our work with the goals. They also emphasized the importance of working on all goals at the same time, as far as we can. Everything is connected.

The five dimensions:

* Being — the relation to oneself. How we cultivate and develop our inner life and deepen the relationship with our thoughts, feelings and body.
-Our inner compass (sense of responsibility and commitment to values ​​and purposes that look to a larger whole).
-Integrity and honesty (ability to be sincere, honest and act with integrity).
-Openness and learning (fundamental attitude of curiosity and openness to being vulnerable, embracing change and evolving).
-Self-awareness (ability to reflect on own thoughts, feelings and wishes, to have a realistic self-image).
-Presence (ability to be here and now, open-minded presence).

* Thinking — cognitive abilities. How we develop our thoughts by exploring different perspectives, evaluating information and creating an understanding of the world as an interconnected whole.
-Critical thinking (ability to neutrally and critically review approaches, information and plans).
-Complexity awareness (understanding of complex systems and ability to work with complex relationships and causal relationships).
-Perspective skills (ability to seek out, understand and actively use insights from different perspectives).
-Meaning creation (ability to see patterns and structure the unknown, to consciously create meaning and narrative).
-Long-term orientation and vision of the future (ability to see choices for the future today and to formulate visions).

* Relate — to care about others and the outside world. How we feel appreciation, care and community with others, such as neighbors, future generations and our planet.
-Appreciation (relating to others and to the outside world with a basic sense of appreciation).
-Belonging (having a deep-rooted sense of belonging with others, that we are part of a larger whole).
-Humility (ability to act in accordance with what a situation requires without being preoccupied with one's own importance).

-Empathy and compassion (ability to relate to others, oneself and nature).

* Collaborate — social skills. To make progress on shared challenges, we need to develop the ability to include, create space and communicate with stakeholders who have different values ​​and competencies.
-Communication skills (a willingness to listen to others, present opinions in constructive ways).
-Co-creation (ability and motivation to develop and facilitate co-creative relationships based on psychological security and cooperation).
-Inclusive attitude and intercultural competence (willingness and competence to embrace diversity and include people and collectives with different opinions and backgrounds).
-Trust (ability to show trust to create and maintain trust in relationships).
-Mobilization skills (being able to inspire and get involved in common interests).

* Act — to drive change. Characteristics that help us break old patterns, generate new ideas and act with perseverance in uncertain times.
-Courage (ability to stand up for one's values, make decisions and act forcefully; to challenge and change existing structures and approaches).
-Creativity (ability to break free from conventional patterns, to develop and express original ideas).
-Optimism (ability to maintain and communicate hopefulness, to have a positive attitude and to be convinced that meaningful change is possible).
-Persistence (ability to maintain commitment and remain determined and patient even when efforts take a long time to bear fruit).

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THE SPOTLIGHT - How can the stars of culture and sport inspire action?

An exciting conversation with artists, inspirers and activists about their sustainable commitment as public figures. On stage met José González, artist and musician; Sarah Parkman, artist and musician; Linnea Claeson, social debater (former handball professional) and Emil Johansson, ski activist.

Some quotes from the panel:
“The music is a function, not a product. It exists to own and share together and coexist in.”
"The greater artist you are, the greater responsibility you have".
"Freedom of speech is not about want to get resistance”.

There was also talk of activism around music; to talk about and act on important topics in a public context — if an artist e.g. is at a gala, award ceremony or other media context and thus has a chance to do some kind of campaign.


This was a selection of all the talks held during this year's Greentopia. The will to change and the motivation are now extra replenished and well fueled after two incredibly inspiring days. Thank you Swedish Live and everyone involved for this arrangement!

/Annelie for MCV