Our journey from Environmental Sustainability to Responsibility
Posted by:
Listen to an audio version of this blog read by Andrew
We often talk about an environmental ‘journey’, and I like this as a concept. A journey can start and end in different places, take different routes and you will inevitably meet people along the way who disrupt and embellish your planned paths. Having joined the Arts Council way back in 2009 - 3 years before we made a pioneering and world leading environmental policy with our new partner Julie’s Bicycle - I have experienced the impact, importance and influence of what felt like both a seemingly small but equally momentous intervention between the Arts Council, the cultural sector and Julie’s Bicycle. This policy required all of our funded organisations to report their environmental data and provide an annual environmental action plan and policy. The consequent ripple effect of this programme over the last decade is of international recognition. So, if you have been part of this programme and you don’t already know you have contributed to something so seismic, I am happy to tell you that you have.
Together, we can not only be an exemplar in managing our carbon footprints and environmental impacts, but we can hold space, give agency, educate, and engage
The environmental programme has grown from strength to strength, it continues to embrace change and to reflect evolving sciences and governmental commitments. It has developed to reflect cultural policy and respond to ideas such as climate and social justice and environmental equity.
It’s been a journey, a path shared.
I could easily wax lyrical about what we have collectively achieved in this time, but I prefer to look forward to what’s next, and you can read all about our intertwined success stories in our annual Environmental Reports.
In 2018 I was appointed as the Arts Council’s first permanent member of staff with an environmental remit. To reflect the fore fronting of environmental work in our strategy for 2020-2030, Let’s Create, this role has morphed and grown to reach across all areas of Arts Council’s environmental thinking. Thanks to Let’s Create, Environmental Responsibility is now firmly at the head of the table for the Arts Council alongside our three other Investment Principles - Ambition & Quality, Dynamism and Inclusivity & Relevance. This is great news, and it also gave us pause to review what our environmental programme means, to reflect on what we see happening in the wider sector, to listen and to think about how we position this work going forwards. I don’t need to tell you that we are at THE tipping point of our lifetimes, one that will affect the future of generations to come and that will change our environment forever – so what can the arts and culture sector do?
In my opinion, the answer is… well… a lot. Ok, so as a collective sector our carbon footprint is already notably and relatively ‘tiny’ compared to, for example, fossil fuels and fashion. But, we can still do more to reduce this further, and we will continue to support your growing expertise in this area with the right tools and guidance.
Putting words into action
But what else do we do well as a sector? We create dialogue, open conversations, think creatively and innovatively, we lead policy, influence leadership and inspire. In short, we lead. Arts and culture have always been at the front of contemporary debate and have always been responsible for mobilising and catalysing change - be this social or political. Together, we can not only be an exemplar in managing our carbon footprints and environmental impacts, but we can hold space, give agency, educate, and engage. The power of the cultural sector (of our voices) is unique, we are visible and heard, from hyper local to international platforms, by diverse communities and world leaders. By embodying the change and challenge of sustainable practices across everything we do, we collectively send a strong and unified message.
The cultural sector is diverse and what you do is unique. We want to make a place for that.
But what does this look like to you and me? Firstly, we wanted to move away from the catch-all terminology of ‘Environmental Sustainability’. At the time this was the right language for us to use, but we have embodied so much learning since 2012 and the idea of ‘Sustainability’ started to feel too data and business driven. With that, the term ‘Environmental Responsibility’ was born into the Arts Council’s vocabulary. The apparently small shift in language encapsulates a lot for us as an organisation and for the people and organisations we invest in. Yes, we still want our National Portfolio Organisations to report their environmental data and back this up with an action and policy, and of course we want to see us all reduce our carbon footprints and explore net zero carbon pathways.
But now we are also asking that you take responsibility for our environment across everything you do, and we want to support and celebrate this. We call this ‘beyond carbon’, and it might be in the cultural programmes or creative practice you deliver, conversations with audiences, leadership of peers and stakeholders, or keeping bees on your roof and tending community gardens. The cultural sector is diverse and what you do is unique. We want to make a place for that.
The Environmental Responsibility Investment Principle is therefore about thinking holistically: as an organisation what can you do, where can you make change, who can you tell about it and what do you want to achieve?
We at the Arts Council are going to do the same and tread the path with you. We will provide resources, provocations, thought pieces, tools and guidance to help you on this journey. The best bit is - in one way or another - most of you are already doing this, you have inhabited that space and have told us that you want to open it up and be recognised for the excellent things you do beyond data reporting.
We hope (I hope) this gives you the agency and reassurance that we are listening to you as the creative and innovative leaders you are and that together we can scale new heights in achieving new and ambitious aims.
More about Environmental Responsibility
Find out more about our Environmental Responsibility investment principle:
Taking the Temperature - an environmental and climate policy update from Julie’s Bicycle >
Listen to an audio version of this blog read by Andrew Ellerby >
