The Public, Social and Cultural Affairs Service is responsible for representing, developing and protecting Cirque's social responsibility program and identity as a corporate citizen. Cirque du Soleil's concern with social responsibility comes through not only in the relationships it maintains with communities while conducting its business operations, but also by its contributions, which go far beyond Cirque's business interests. Cirque du Soleil dedicates 1% of its revenues to social and cultural action programs, the greater part of which is directed toward youth programs. The actions and programs of the Public, Social and Cultural Affairs Service are global, proactive, creative and partnership-based.
Social action
Working with community groups and partners in the international cooperation arena, Cirque du Soleil establishes social action programs around three main axes:
Socially-oriented art
The convergence of the arts and social action has yielded such concrete, stimulating results as the Cirque du Monde and Art du Monde programs, as well as training programs and networks for circus instructors.
Fundraising
To translate its commitment into action, Cirque du Soleil organizes benefit events, gives preview and show tickets and makes donations to organizations that work with marginalized youth, particularly street youth.
Community involvement and support
In places where it has a business presence, Cirque du Soleil gets involved in the community. Within the organization, for instance, a program has been set up to recognize employees' volunteer work in their own communities, and a campaign to raise awareness of the fair trade movement (fair trade coffee in particular) has been developed for them. Externally, with its neighbours, Cirque du Soleil participates in various working committees and takes part in events that are important to neighbourhood residents.
Cultural action
Throughout its history, Cirque du Soleil has taken numerous cultural-action initiatives in parallel with the creation, production and dissemination of its own works and products. Together, these initiatives make up the Cultural Action Policy. Activities under the policy fall into the following three categories:
Integration of the arts into employees' lives
In the workplace, actions are carried out to encourage employees' cultural discovery, practice and participation. Examples include the distribution of tickets for artistic events, exhibits by professional artists, and the display of the organization's contemporary art collection in the workplace.
Integration of the arts into the community
Cirque du Soleil uses architecture as well as public and environmental art as methods of choice to interface with the community and to foster social and cultural development. Some noteworthy actions in this regard include Cirque's participation in Quebec's Journées de la Culture, the creation of a garden of monumental sculptures in the public space surrounding the International Headquarters, and collaborations on a number of projects with TOHU.
Support for the cultural milieu
Cirque du Soleil is an active member of the artistic community. It supports artists and artistic organizations in avant-garde creation projects that favour multidisciplinary artistic works. This support takes several forms, including ticket purchases and financial assistance.
