Published on 9 October 2025
Aware of the societal and environmental impact of its activities, Archaos has been working for several years to reduce its impact on the environment and strengthen its commitment to the community.
In order to structure and sustain our actions, we launched a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiative in September 2020. An assessment carried out between July and September 2020 enabled us to identify ten priority issues, on the basis of which a ten-year plan of objectives was defined. Since then, CSR has become one of our strategic priorities and has been fully integrated into our multi-year objectives framework.
Today, the entire contemporary circus sector is concerned with these issues. At our level, we have made the Biennale Internationale des Arts du Cirque (BIAC), held every two years, a genuine laboratory to test innovative practices. Concrete actions are implemented at each edition. In 2024, we carried out our carbon assessment in collaboration with eight other national circus centers coordinated by the Territoires de Cirque association. This assessment enabled us to define our areas of focus.
At the same time, Archaos is a member of Cofees (the collective of environmentally responsible and socially conscious festivals in the South of France) and actively participates in training sessions, meetings, and joint initiatives within the regional network.
Our actions for our environment
Aware of the significant impact of artists traveling on tour, we have defined the following two areas of action:
- Optimiser les tournées régionales des compagnies programmées durant la BIAC, afin de favoriser la mutualisation des déplacements. L’objectif est que chaque spectacle puisse être présenté dans plusieurs lieux partenaires au cours du festival, maximisant ainsi la visibilité des œuvres tout en limitant les trajets.
- Extend the presence of artists at the Tent Village during the BIAC festival so there are fewer companies but more performances per company:
- In 2023: 57 performances of 13 shows.
- In 2025: 42 performances of 6 shows for an equivalent number of spectators.
Other environmental initiatives implemented during our events (BIAC, Entre2 BIAC, etc.):
- Support low-carbon transport alternatives for audiences with the installation of bicycle parking
- Reducing water use with the installation of sub-metering to measure our total water consumption and the introduction of dry toilets.
- Moving closer to eliminating plastic with the use of water fountains for the public and participants at our events. All of them were manufactured in-house from reused construction sinks and fitted with a swan neck spout and connected to the water supply.
- Better waste management during the BIAC festival in particular, with the installation of recycling bins.
- Working to save energy by analyzing our consumption, our facilities, and our behaviors.
- Favoriser une restauration durable en utilisant autant que possible des produits issus de l’agriculture bio et raisonnée et des circuits courts, en limitant le gaspillage alimentaire et de la consommation carnée.
Our inclusive and solidarity-based actions
- Committing to an active approach to gender equality internally and within the artistic teams we welcome.
- Combating sexual and gender-based violence and harassment by structuring a prevention plan, implementing dedicated training for our management/administration team, and raising awareness among staff and technical teams. In 2024, in preparation for BIAC 2025, 25 people within the organization were made aware of this issue.
- Developing arts and cultural education initiatives address for diverse audiences (general public, schools, hospitals, prisons, etc.).