Cooprog experiments in the contemporary music sector
Report
In France, the experience of the Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat has demonstrated that citizens faced with a clear objective, backed by tangible scientific data, can co-construct ambitious responses to the challenges. Such was the method adopted by Zone Franche from 2021 to 2022 with its (mini) climate convention and a strong objective : to decarbonize a network whose entire DNA is geared towards international exchange, a challenge that appeared to be able to guide the action of all players in the music industry.
This work led to the drafting of a report with 148 proposals for a global strategy for the eco-responsible, committed and united world music sector, and a climate plea : “Penser les musiques du monde à l’horizon 2030”.
The mobility of artists is sustainable and can be achieved without contradicting the Paris agreements, but this implies changes in practices. As one expert points out in the climate convention report : “The structuring transformations in terms of the reasoned circulation of artists seem to be essentially based on the ability to work cooperatively, which implies a great deal of reflection on the part of the industry with regard to its highly competitive organizational model.” The Cooprog project is part of this dynamic.
Documents to download :
Cooprog
Initiated by participants in the European forum Where to land forum in autumn 2022, CooProg (www.cooprog.eu) is a platform conceived as a free, open-source commons to enable programmers to share and identify converging projects, and thus create geographically and temporally coherent tours with the aim of limiting the ecological footprint of live performance.
CooProg responds to these challenges with a simple, intuitive tool that enables programmers to share ideas, desires or programming intentions at an early stage, in order to identify converging interests in a given territory.
More than just environmental, Cooprog is a civic tool. It has cooperation at its heart, with the aim of creating a space of benevolence and solidarity for programmers in the service of the arts who share a common desire for change.
We already know : the project can’t stop here..
Le travail doit se poursuivre si l’on veut que CooProg s’installe durablement dans le paysage et qu’il produise ses effets sur l’évolution des pratiques de diffusion et la réduction de l’impact écologique des mobilités artistiques.
With this in mind, Zone Franche and jazzahead ! are now partnering the project to run an experimental phase of the software in the contemporary music sector.
Zone Franche experimentation
The Cooprog project seems to have strong development potential in the field of contemporary music, for which it is not currently suited.
The music industry is mobilized around transition issues for several years now.
Numerous initiatives have been launched, demonstrating the extent to which the issues at stake are understood, and the extent to which the players involved are mobilized.
Zone Franche, in conjunction with the ONDA, is conducting an experiment with French contemporary music players. The aim of the partnership is to examine how CooProg resonates with these players and what adaptations, if any, need to be made to ensure the tool’s lasting penetration of the current music industry.
jazzahead!, the world’s largest jazz salon in Bremen (Germany), is also experimenting with European players (German, Swiss and Spanish).
The project is divided into 3 phases :
- a phase of experimentation with Cooprog by a small number of programmers, to identify the adaptations needed for its deployment in the contemporary music sector.
- An IT development phase to propose a version of Cooprog adapted to the sector’s needs.
- Finally, a phase to roll out the software to all French and then European programmers.
The project team
In addition to the Zone Franche team, the project team is made up of :
Hugues Barbotin
Co-founder of the Terres du son festival, which he directed and programmed from 2004 to 2018. He also directed the SMAC “le Temps Machine.” Today, he is an eco-advisor, in charge of HB.Ecoprod, and supports players in the contemporary music industry in their environmental and societal transition.
He is accredited to carry out Carbon Footprints®, and is the coordinator of the Fresque du Climat, events, cultural mobility and “Ateliers 2 tonnes.”
Hermann Lugan
Independent eco-advisor dedicated to the ecological redirection of the cultural sector.
With ONDA and European partners, he has developed CooProg.
Formé à la méthode Bilan Carbone® et à l’accompagnement du changement (ARVIVA), il est conférencier Teach the Shift and animator of various frescoes, including the Fresque de la mobilité culturelle and the Fresque de la culture.
In 2021–2022, he will coordinate the European initiative Where to land.
Céline Schall
Researcher in Information and Communication Sciences and in Museology, Mediation and Heritage. Since 2004, she has been working on notions of mediation and cultural audiences.
Since 2017, she has been working in Esch (Luxembourg) and since 2021, developing research and training on the ecological and social transition of culture at the University of Luxembourg (position funded by the City of Esch).
Bleu Matin — Florian Ferbach and Pascal Besson
Bleu Matin is a digital application design and development studio founded by Pascal Besson and Florian Ferbach. A committed and impact-conscious cooperative, it works with its partners on socially and environmentally useful projects, such as CooProg.
Bleu Matin also publishes a low-code impact calculation solution, which it derives and adapts for different fields of activity, for example with SEEDS.
Link to the Bleu Matin website : https://bleumatin.fr/
The project partners are :
The Project is supported by :