P+ERL at International Federation of Theatre Research Conference, 2026 in Melbourne
This July, the Performance + Ecology Research Lab team travelled to Melbourne for the 2026 International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) World Congress. The trip brought together our researchers, PhD candidates, and honours researchers to share work on sustainability, design, ecology, and the future of performance.
For P+ERL, IFTR was a valuable opportunity to put eco-creative research into conversation with theatre-makers, scholars, teachers, and students from around the world.
The International Federation for Theatre Research is a global network for people researching theatre and performance. Its annual World Congress brings together researchers and practitioners to share new ideas, test emerging research, and build connections across countries and disciplines.
The 2026 conference was held in Melbourne from 6–10 July at the University of Melbourne. Its theme, “What Theatre Does,” invited participants to consider how theatre and performance create change: in communities, politics, education, the environment, and everyday life. The program included panels, working groups, student forums, roundtables, and performances, giving people many ways to discuss and develop their work.
For our team, the conference was a chance to share research beyond our immediate networks, hear from others working on similar questions, and learn from different approaches to theatre and sustainability.
P+ERL’s presentations focused on a central question: what can performance do in response to the climate crisis?
Dr Natalie Lazaroo, Associate Professor Tanja Beer, and Dr Grace Nye-Butler presented work connected to the Culture for Climate project. Their research explores how eco-creativity can help Australia’s performing arts sector move towards more environmentally sustainable practice.
Natalie’s presentation, “What Can an Eco-Creative Approach to Sustainability Do?”, considered the value of bringing creativity into sustainability work. Rather than seeing environmental action as a limitation, an eco-creative approach asks how sustainable practice can generate new ideas, relationships, and ways of working.
Tanja presented “What Can Ecoscenography Do? Exploring Eco-Feminist Perspectives of Eco-Creativity and Waste Transformation in Ghana, Australia and Brazil.” Her work examined how ecoscenography can transform the materials, values, and stories that shape performance design. It also brought attention to the social and environmental questions connected to waste.
Grace presented “Environmental Sustainability in the Performing Arts: An Exploratory Review of Organisational Communication and Practice.” Her research looks at how performing arts organisations speak about sustainability and how those public commitments relate to everyday practice.
These presentations showed that climate action in the performing arts is not only about reducing waste or emissions. It is also about culture, leadership, communication, creative practice, and the choices organisations make over time.
Our PhD and honours candidates also shared exciting research at IFTR 2026. Their work demonstrates the wide range of questions that sit within performance, ecology, and sustainable design.
Penny Challen presented “Finding Agency for Ecoscenography within Commercial Theatre Practice in Australia.” Her research explores how ecological design can work within the practical and commercial realities of Australian theatre.
Ashish Kumar Sharma presented “Toward an Ecological Imagination of Light: Experiments in Sustainable Lighting Design for Performance.” His work asks how lighting design can be reconsidered through environmental thinking, experimentation, and sustainable practice.
Imogen Ross presented “Exploring the Eco-Creative Potential of SCOBY in Performance Design.” Her research investigates SCOBY, a living material commonly associated with fermentation, and its potential role in more sustainable approaches to performance design.
These projects are distinct, but they share a commitment to asking practical and imaginative questions. What materials can performance use? How can existing systems change? And how might design support a more sustainable future for the arts?
Conferences can be a useful place to share findings, but they are also spaces for conversation. Researchers receive feedback, discover related projects, and build relationships that can lead to future collaborations.
For P+ERL, attending IFTR was an opportunity to contribute to an international discussion about what theatre does and what it could do next. It was also a reminder that sustainability research is strongest when it brings together different voices, disciplines, places, and forms of knowledge.
As the Culture for Climate project continues, these conversations will help inform our work with artists, organisations, communities, and partners across Australia.
