Sustaining Great Art
Environmental Report
2012-2015
Results and Highlights

Sustaining Great Art Environmental Report 2012-2015 Results and Highlights

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Content overview
Foreword�������������������������������������������������������������� 3
Executive summary���������������������������������������������� 4
1.	Introduction���������������������������������������������������� 10
2.	A positive response���������������������������������������� 12
3.	From environmental literacy to leadership����� 14
3.1 A shift in engagement

14

3.2 Increasing leadership

16

3.3 Leading by example

17

4.	A shared evidence base��������������������������������� 18
4.1 Data with purpose

18

4.2 Reporting progress

19

4.3 Benchmarking

22

5.	Building resilience������������������������������������������ 23
5.1 Understanding impacts

23

5.2 Increasing efficiency and financial savings

25

5.3 Making the business case28

6.	Key conclusions and recommendations��������� 29
Appendix – Support, events and resources������� 32

Foreword
Darren Henley OBE,
Chief Executive, Arts Council England
The arts can delight, amuse, challenge andshock; they can show us alternative ways ofliving and thinking. And when it comes to theenvironmental agenda, the arts can do all
those together.
The fact is that a growing population brings
growing pressures on vital resources, on
infrastructure and energy, on our housing andon our communities – and that includes artsand cultural organisations.
It is therefore one of the goals of our ten
year strategy that we should support arts
organisations, museums and libraries
to become resilient and environmentally
sustainable.
Three years ago we began a working
relationship with Julie’s Bicycle, the global
environmental charity, and subsequently
became the first arts funding body in the world
to embed environmental sustainability into ourmajor funding agreements.
This move was based on our conviction –shared by arts leaders – that a focus on theenvironment is no longer just ‘nice to have’ but
an issue that is critical to good business.
Between 2012 and 2015, more than 700
regularly funded organisations were required
to have an up-to-date environmental policy
and action plan, and report on their energy
and water usage. This result was the single
biggest environmental dataset for the arts inthe world.

This report explores the findings of thesefirst three years. It contains some compellingdata. Over the course of the programme,
participation among our regularly fundedorganisations rose from 14% to 98%. And overthe last two years there have been carbon
savings of 12,673 tonnes worth £2.29m,
an annual 5% decrease in absolute carbon
dioxide emissions despite an increase incultural activities. This report comes at asignificant time. In early December, the UN
Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21)
takes place in Paris. In the future, the issues ofclimate change will require all of us, including
arts and cultural organisations, to take care in
our use of resources, and to ensure that we do
not pursue short-term gain at the expense of
future generations.
Arts and cultural organisations can lead theway practically, but they can also help us tohave a constructive dialogue about climatechange and its effects on our planet and ourpeople.
Over the last three years our partnershipwith Julie’s Bicycle has produced not only areplicable reporting model but also a uniqueprogramme of environmental events, action
research projects, network development, andsupport for arts and culture globally.
Reflecting on these last three years, we
can see how far we have come. The 98%
engagement statistic is evidence of great
positive commitment. Let’s continue thegreat work, and demonstrate leadership atorganisational and sector levels. In this area,
as in so many others, art and culture canmake a huge difference to all our lives.

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Sustaining Great Art Environmental Report 2012-2015 Results and Highlights

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Executive summary
In 2012 Arts Council England became the first arts funding
body in the world to include environmental reporting in thefunding agreements of its major programmes. The Arts Council
partnered with Julie’s Bicycle, an organisation specialising inenvironmental sustainability within the arts, to deliver this work.
The initiative had two clear aims:
1

2

To track environmental impacts
from energy and water use, as
carbon footprints, for the arts
community over three years;
To inspire organisations to
be more environmentally
sustainable.

Julie’s Bicycle was contracted to provide thetechnical tools and the supporting programme,
and to spur the arts on to become moreenvironmentally sustainable. Over 7001 UK
revenue-funded organisations, including
theatres, galleries, museums, tours, festivals
and concert halls, were required to report onenergy and water using the Creative Industry
Green (IG) carbon calculators. They were also
asked to have an up-to-date environmental
policy and action plan.
Julie’s Bicycle provided the carbon calculatorsand learning materials, and ran two support
strands: the technical training, analysis forthe calculators, and policy and action plandevelopment; and a national programme of
events, networks, research and evaluation,case studies, guides and examples of arts
practice.

1

 etween 2012 and 2015 over 700 revenue-funded organisations, national portfolio organisations (NPOs), major partner museums (MPMs) and bridge organisations,B
were required to report on energy and water and to have an up-to-date environmental policy and action plan. National youth music organisations (NYMOs) joined theprogramme in 2013. 713 organisations in 2015: 683 NPOs, 16 MPMS (89 individual museums), 7 bridge organisations and 7 NYMOs. 704 organisations in 2013: 681
NPOs, 16 MPMs (96 individual museums) and 7 bridge organsations.

The first three years of the partnership are
now complete. Have we achieved our aims?
Emphatically yes, and much more besides. An
overwhelmingly positive response from culturalorganisations all over the country has provided
plenty of evidence of success, both qualitativeand quantitative. This report presents theresults of the partnership, focusing primarilyon the Arts Council’s reporting requirements.
(A summary of the accompanying events andresource programme can be found in the
Appendix.) It headlines the response, data
analysis, added value, and other notablefindings, and concludes with key priorities forthe coming three years.

Pentabus produce original plays examining
the place of the rural world in contemporarysociety. Pentabus achieved its target of
a 10% CO2 emissions reduction in 2015
through a range of measures including
using lower-carbon transport when touring,
reducing business travel through increased
use of Skype, and installing energyefficient office lighting. Their audience
travel survey has helped to promote lowercarbon travel options. The artistic director
has encouraged the team to make use ofexisting stores, to borrow props and to form
partnerships with local organisations suchas the Shropshire Furniture scheme.

We’ve found that embedding sustainability has bred ingenuity during the creative process.
It is more of a challenge to create something within boundaries - something that can amaze
an audience, but also save the environment and save money.
This challenge is the motivation, to walk down that road and be resourceful rather than tocreate something with unlimited materials and money. It pushes you to be better and think
about things with a different logic, one that we are finding to be ultimately more rewarding.
Crayg Ward,
Pentabus Green Champion

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Sustaining Great Art Environmental Report 2012-2015 Results and Highlights

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Headline findings
Response: engagement, guidance

Results: tracking impact and reducing
emissions• From a near standing start, almost all of over • There have been many imaginative and
700 organisations are engaged and taking
solutions-driven responses evidenced in theaction.
case studies, workshops, exchanges, actionresearch and new initiatives.
• 98% of reporting Arts Council fundedorganisations (699) were involved by 2015
• ~2000 participants attended one or morecompared to 14% in 2012.
events and 41 case studies were provided byarts organisations.
• 90% (642) have an environmental policy and
86% an environmental action plan.

Between 2013 and 2015:• Almost all of those who can report are now
reporting.
- 69% (492) reported.
- 23% (164) were unable to report. Thesecomprise organisations who typically
don’t own or rent a building; are unable
to access energy and water invoices; orhave impacts which are too sporadic or
small to measure meaningfully.
- Only 8% didn’t report at all.
• 40% have gone beyond the Arts Council’s
reporting requirements.
• 80%2 now consider themselves engaged
or very engaged with environmental
sustainability.

Liverpool Everyman’s new building, openedin 2014 after a £27 million investment, acts
as a creative hub, enabling the Everyman
to realise its artistic, accessibility andenvironmental vision. The building uses a
range of low-carbon energy sources, andhas energy-efficient heating and coolingsystems, materials and lighting. Most of thematerials used in the building are recycled,
reclaimed or sustainably sourced, and thebuilding also features a number of waterand biodiversity conservation measures.
The building has been acclaimed byaudiences and critics alike, and has won
various awards including the 2014 RIBA
Stirling Prize.

28
 0% of 253 respondents to 2015 evaluation survey i.e. 202 organisations.

- 12,673 tonnes CO2e and £2.29m was
saved with an average 5% decrease inCO2e emissions each year, despite growthof the sector.

There have been clear benefits for theorganisations themselves.

- 99% of CO2e emissions reductions
resulted from energy savings. Water use
remained stable overall.

• 67% reported team morale benefits (rising
to 71% for engaged and very engaged
organisations).

- Two thirds of organisations reduced theirenergy use.

• 43% reported reputational benefits.

- Scaling these results up across all culturalbuildings in the UK would see savings of£15m.3• In the first year of reporting (2012), it wasalso possible to track savings of 748 tonnes
CO2e and £176,000 from a sample groupwhich already had data on energy and water
use for 2011.
• The IG Tools have generated a robust
dataset, the single biggest environmental
dataset for the arts globally.

3

Added value: money, morale andreputation• 51% reported financial benefits.

• 70% found their environmental policy usefulwhen applying for funding and 69% whenengaging with stakeholders.
• 9
 2% found having an environmental
action plan helped to manage and reduce
environmental impacts.
• 8
 5% found the plan useful forcommunicating actions.
In 2014, ‘Human Nature’ brought together
artists, horticulturists, architects andchoreographers to create new work
focused on the growing seasons andnature, drawing from the choreographic
roots of Siobhan Davies Dance.

£15 million potential total industry savings has been calculated by applying a 3% reduction on an estimatedannual electricity spend of £86.4m and a 15% reduction on an estimated gas spend of £37m in the2013/14 financial year and a 4% and 9% reduction respectively in the 2014/15 financial year, based on
original research by the Oxford Environmental Change Institute, estimating the energy spend of the 16,000
buildings constituting the cultural sector in the UK.

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Cultural shifts: a global movement with
momentum

Other key findings

Key conclusions and priorities for 2015-18:
creating a stronger cultural sector together• This initiative has reinforced a sustainability
movement in culture with far-reachingpotential.

• 17 organisations produce 50% of thesector’s carbon footprint.

The weight of material gathered over the last
three years proves that the business caseand the creative case for cultural engagementwith sustainability work best when theywork together. The partnership approach,fundamental to the initiative’s success, has
generated confidence and ambition, key
components of leadership. The frameworkfor such leadership will be developed in the
coming months, with specific resources forboards, governing bodies and executives;
an emerging cohort of Arts Council fundedorganisations with sustainability leadershipbuilt into their funding agreements; and aseries of leadership events. Arts Council
England will focus on strategic leadershipinternally and across the portfolio between
2015 and 2018.

• Much of the progress has come from the
middle rather than the top of organisations.
• Despite this, a number of key Arts Council
organisations have positioned sustainability
at the centre of their organisational
leadership.
• The initiative has generated acomprehensive and internationallyreferenced resource library charting thediversity and range of creative responses.
It is widely seen as a model of outstanding
practice. This is important in the context
of international policy and global trends,
particularly in the run up to the critical 2015
climate talks in Paris, COP21.
• The theatre and visual arts communities
are the most proactive in all areas ofenvironmental sustainability but they
consider themselves to be doing the least4
revealing an evolving maturity about thescale and complexity of the issues.
• There are clear priorities for the next three
years of the partnership.

• Organisations unable to report are notuninterested but are hampered by the natureof the Arts Council reporting requirements.
• Average annual savings of about 5% aremainly being achieved through zero- or lowcost measures.
• The internal culture within the Arts Council is
gradually shifting, with greater environmental
and carbon literacy and engagement acrossthe organisation.
• Almost all (96%) of the 33 relationshipmanagers who contributed to the Arts
Council evaluation believe that the
programme has made, or can make, apositive difference to their portfolios, andsome Relationship Managers (RMs) are wellinformed and committed.

Reporting requirements and support are being
better tailored to the diversity of the sector in2015 - 18.
To date, savings have mainly been achieved
through zero- and low-cost measures but asmall number of organisations are alreadyinvesting in lower carbon buildings and we
expect to see the results of these investmentsin the next few years. Investment will beessential to achieve reductions beyond
business-as-usual.

The combined results of the last three years
give us much more than data on carbon.
Fresh perspectives on the arts have prompted
many organisations to commit their time,
investment and creativity into exploring
environmental sustainability. The successof the partnership has important lessons forpolicy: the combination of light-touch funding
requirements; relevant and tested practicalresources; regular events; networks and teamsupport; expertise to hand; and the criticalleadership from the sector have all contributed
to make it work. Building environmental
sustainability into the fabric of the arts not only
delivers on its promise, but adds inherent longterm value to organisations and the sector asa whole.

9Sustaining Great Art Environmental Report 2012-2015 Results and Highlights

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1. Introduction

The most critical climate talks for over two
decades will take place in Paris at the end of
2015. COP21 brings together 196 countries
to negotiate a new legally binding universal
agreement which aims to limit greenhousegas emissions and keep global temperature
below two degrees of warming. These talks,
alongside the UN Sustainable Development
Goals launched in October4, aim to generate
the political and investment framework which,over the next several decades, will be the vitalbuilding blocks for a sustainable world. So thisis an auspicious moment to present the findingsof the first three years of Arts Council England’s
flagship environmental reporting programme.
The Arts Council programme was originallyconceived in the wake of the notoriously
disappointing climate talks, COP15, that took
place in December of 2009. It was designed
to do what the talks had failed to achieve: toactivate and inspire the arts community to makeenvironmental sustainability a major priority.
It set out to be relevant to all aspects of arts
practice, to be both manageable and actionoriented, and to coincide with the Arts Council’s
2012 - 15 funding cycle.
Since then there have been some encouraging
signs of an improving outlook: the findings ofthe latest IPCC Fifth Assessment Report5 arewidely accepted and political rhetoric is morepositive (notably from the USA and China,
who struck a joint deal to curb emissions inlate 2014). Clean technologies and markets
have rapidly expanded and global investment
in clean energy increased by 16%, from 268
billion dollars to 310 billion, between 2013 and2014.6 The UK has steadily reduced its CO2e7

since 1990 and in the second quarter of 2015
renewable energy surpassed coal and supplied
25% of the UK’s electricity.8 But with the recent
dismantling of many of the financial and policy
incentives which have driven these emissions
reductions, the onus falls more onto civic
society to support the ambitions of COP21.
The place that climate change occupies
culturally is also shifting, and the range andscope of voluntary mandates has grown rapidly:
faith, business, energy, investment, divestment
and community movements all over the world
are finding both voice and solutions. The
policies and frameworks decided at COP21
will determine infrastructure and investment
for decades and this will filter down to the arts
world, just as at COP15. Now there are growing
numbers of artists and creative leaders callingfor action on climate change and sustainable
innovation.
And there is creativity: the work of artists such
as Jeremy Deller, Marcus Coates, Alice Sharp,
Rachel Pimm, Alison Turnbull, Adam Chodzko,
Alex Hartley, Andy Goldsworthy, Jonathon
Dove, Steve Waters, Matthew Herbert, Lemn
Sissay, Siobhan Davies, Ackroyd and Harvey,
Sabrina Mahfouz and many more. This
cultural movement is being taken forward bysuch organisations as Free Word, Bow Arts,
Blast Theory, Chrysalis Arts, Glyndebourne,
Ironbridge Gorge Museum, In Between Time
Productions, Cape Farewell, LIFT, the London
Theatre Consortium, Live Art Development
Agency, Manchester Partnership MPM, Sage
Gateshead, Seven Stories, Tipping Point,
Young Vic, Battersea Arts Centre, Pentabus,
Performances Birmingham, Liverpool

Everyman, Royal National Theatre, Tobacco
Factory, the Whitworth Art Gallery, Artsadmin
and Contact Theatre.
As Arts Council England and Julie’s Bicycle
embark on another three-year partnershipthere is no doubt that the cultural movement
will keep on breaking new ground, but
the three simple ideas at the heart of theoriginal programme remain. The first is thatclimate change is as much a cultural as ascientific issue. Human decision-making isoften not rational: it is driven by desires andfears rooted in unconscious values shapedby context and the stories we tell. Without
recognising this, attempts to address climatechange are unlikely to succeed. Second, it isclear that collective environmental knowledge
and action, delivered collaboratively andat scale, will lead to cultural change. We
have plenty of evidence testifying to that in
the pages of this report. Third, the creative
community, the epicentre of culture, has a
special contribution to make to the world:it shapes and builds culture, identity,communities and values.

But the value of the arts does not just reston great storytelling. The arts are creating aspace where new ideas can take shape, andbe tested and developed into real solutions:energy providers working with festivals on
new renewable technologies, designers
creating closed-loop production systems
for theatre, circular business modellingfor festival waste and kinetic clothing fordance. In short, it has a vital role in shaping
humanity.
Transformational change is happening at
a cultural level. We all have played somepart in that and want to share our story. We
have proven that the arts sector can evolve
into a strong, sustainable force at the coreof culture. So, whilst politicians, engineers
and scientists lead these discussions, we
also need to prioritise the crucial role of thecreative community in helping us reach a real
and meaningful tipping point in the transition
to a balanced, fair and low-carbon future.

http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/
http://ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/
http://about.bnef.com/presentations/clean-energy-investment-q4-2014-fact-pack/content/uploads/sites/4/2015/01/Q4-investment-fact-pack.pdf
7There are seven main greenhouse gases and different activities, such as energy generation and waste disposal, create different types of greenhouse gases, buteach one has a different global warming potential. For example, methane’s global warming potential is 20 times greater than carbon dioxide (CO2), per unitof gas. To deal with this, scientists use carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) as a common denominator for the main greenhouse gases so they can express theclimate impacts in a single measure.
8
https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/greenhouse-gas-emissions
4
5
6

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Sustaining Great Art Environmental Report 2012-2015 Results and Highlights

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2. A positive response

This report focuses on the results of theArts Council’s reporting requirements.
A summary of the accompanying support,
events and resource programme can befound in the Appendix.

Figure 1. Levels and means of involvementwith programme 2012/13 to 2014/15

Proportion of cohort

100%

The three-year reporting initiative has
been widely adopted, with 98% (699organisations) involved in 2015 compared,
with 14% (99 organisations) at the start.
Developing an environmental policy andaction plan, and measuring energy andwater use are funding requirements.

75%
2012/1350%

2013/142014/15

25%

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Figure 2. Positive difference the requirements have made, or can make, to thesector as a whole – 2015

Figure 3. Difference the requirements
have made, or can make, for organisations– 2015eg

isDuring years two and three, Julie’s Bicycle
increased support to the Arts Council’s
Relationship Managers (RMs)10, particularlyon their efforts to communicate the value ofreporting. Only 33 RMs (19%) contributed
to the 2015 evaluation but the vast majority(96%) of these respondents are ‘excitedby’ and/or ‘an advocate of’ environmental
sustainability, an increase from 85% in
2014, based on responses from 35 RMs(22%). However, this low response rate isitself an indicator of the need for increased
engagement with RMs.

R

Figure 1. shows how organisations haveengaged in the initiative across the period
and Table 1. shows how organisations have
met the reporting requirements.

ol

To
o

ls

0%

When asked to consider whether reporting
requirements make a positive difference,
most respondents said that they do, although
the figures declined slightly between 2013
and 2015. 84% of respondents to the 2015
evaluation survey9 ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly
agreed’ that the reporting requirements makea positive difference to the sector as a whole,compared with 86% in 2013. 75% ‘agreed’or ‘strongly agreed’ that they make a positive
difference to their organisation, comparedwith 79% in 2013. This slight decline canperhaps be explained by a ‘normalisation’of environmental engagement across thereporting group.

Note: the Creative IG Tools are Julie’s Bicycle’s carbon calculators forvenues, outdoor events, indoor events, offices, productions and tours.

Table 1. Meeting reporting requirements 2012/13 to 2014/15

2012/132013/142014/15

Number*%Number%Number%

Provided environmental data

493

70

486

68

491

69

Couldn’t provide meaningful data but gave areason why

141

20

164

23

162

23

Didn’t provide any data or give a reason why

70

10

64

9

60

8

Had an environmental policy

463

66

608

85

642

90

Uploaded policy on the Creative IG Tools

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

357

50

Had an environmental action plan

431

61

570

80

613

86

Uploaded action plan on the Creative IG Tools

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

491

69

<1%

1%

3%

Strongly disagree
15%32%Strongly disagree

Disagree
Neither agree nor
disagree

25%

21%

Agree
52%

Strongly agree*The number of organisations increased from 704 in 2012/13 to 713 in 2014/15,
mainly as national youth music organisations were required to report from year two.

253 respondents to the annual evaluation survey in 2015, a 35% response rate;
323 respondents in 2014, a 45% response rate; and 354 respondents in 2013, a
50% response rate.
10Relationship managers: responsible for managing Arts Council England
relationships with organisations, with a specialism in an art form, based in one of
The Arts Council’s designated regions in England.
9

Disagree
Neither agree nor
disagree
Agree

50%

Strongly agree13Sustaining Great Art Environmental Report 2012-2015 Results and Highlights

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3. From environmental literacy
to leadership
3.1 A shift in engagement

Levels of environmental awareness andcommitment to environmental improvement
have steadily increased over the past three
years.
• Ninety per cent of organisations had anenvironmental policy in 2015 compared with
66% in 2013. Half of these had uploaded
their policies on the online reporting tools.11• 86% of organisations had an environmental
action plan in 2015 compared with 61% in
2013. Over two thirds of these had uploaded
their action plans on the online reporting
tools.

Figure 4. Shift in engagement 2012/13 to 2014/15
Currently, how engaged is your organisation withenvironmental sustainability?

100%
80%

8%

17%

18%

40%

60%

60%

62%

40%
20%
0%

48%
23%

20%

2013/142014/154%

2012/13
Not engaged at all

Starting out

EngagedVery engaged

Seventy-four per cent of theatres responding to
the 2015 evaluation survey consider themselves‘engaged’ or ‘very engaged’, compared with
41% at the beginning of the initiative.
Many organisations have highlighted the valueof sharing experience and good practice at
the regional workshops delivered as part ofthe support programme. There is significant
evidence of this from collaborations such as
the London Theatre Consortium, Newcastle
Gateshead Cultural Venues and Manchester
Arts Sustainability Team, demonstrating how
this type of exchange can accelerate learningand catalyse significant progress.

This shift in environmental awareness isgenerating a range of practical and creative
responses.
Levels of engagement are high. 202
organisations or 80% of respondents to the2015 evaluation survey12 consider themselves‘engaged’ or ‘very engaged’ with environmental
sustainability, compared to 170 organisations
or 48% of survey respondents in 2013.

11
12

In the lead up to the Time to Act climate
march in 2015, the London-based Arcola
Theatre created an engaging infographic
countdown on their website. The
audience uncovered facts about Arcola’s
sustainability journey, from installing solar
panels to fitting LED lights.

 rom 2015 onwards, organisations are asked not only to state if they had an environmental policy and action plan, but also to upload the corresponding documents on
F
the Creative IG Tools.
253 respondents to the annual evaluation survey in 2015, a 35% response rate; 354 respondents in 2013, a 50% response rate.

The London Theatre Consortium’s
Sustainability Group consists of thirteentheatres committed to changing theiroperational culture. The group works todevelop and share practical measures
which reduce energy use and otherenvironmental impacts, with a CO2
emissions reduction target of 60% by 2025.
Several theatres have programmed workaround sustainability and climate change,such as Young Vic’s Classics for a New
Climate, and developed creative audienceawareness campaigns.

Aldeburgh Music reduced its electricity
use by 10% between 2010 and 2014,
mainly as a result of installing voltage
optimisation, an energy saving technology
which brings the voltage supplied into abuilding in line with what is required byequipment, machinery and appliances.
Aldeburgh Music recently invested in 40
solar photovoltaic panels and a biomass
boiler to further reduce CO2 emissions.

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Sustaining Great Art Environmental Report 2012-2015 Results and Highlights

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3.2 Increasing leadership

3.3 Leading by example

Increased environmental understanding andaction by Arts Council England organisations
over this time has corresponded withincreasing levels of ambition, an emergent
vision and desire for greater leadership.

The Arts Council reporting initiative is inspiringothers nationally and internationally. For
instance, Oxford City Council and Creative
Scotland introduced similar requirements
last year. And the Arts Council was a key
contributor to the 2014 work carried out by theInternational Federation of Arts Councils andCultural Agencies (IFACCA)14, in partnershipwith Julie’s Bicycle, to map environmental
engagement and good practice among its
members.

Research carried out in 201413 on thecultural and creative sectors’ environmental
actions and attitudes showed that 63%
of organisations judged to be leaders on
environmental sustainability in the cultural
sector were from the Arts Council reportinggroup.
Despite some examples of outstanding seniorleadership, much leadership mainly comesfrom the middle level of organisations – fromthose tasked with measuring and managing
impacts – rather than from executives.
The relationship between creative content andits organisational context is closely linked, thecontext often framing the content. The recent
proliferation of artistic responses and creative
invention around sustainability is connectedto the flourishing confidence, expertise andliteracy seen across the creative community.
Those who do most to engage with and reduce
their impacts, in particular the visual arts andtheatre, also seem increasingly to reflect thisengagement in their artistic output.

The Whitworth Art Gallery has been
actively engaged in environmental
sustainability since 2008, with a teamof environmental champions working
on technical measures and behaviouralchange. Environmental sustainability
was at the heart of its recent £15 million
project to refurbish and extend its historicbuilding. The design focused on the useof the building envelope, natural daylightand natural ventilation systems, and lowcarbon technologies to reduce energy
consumption and CO2e emissions, whilst
a brown roof, landscaping and planting
using native species and wild flowers,
and introducing bee hives contribute tobiodiversity. The gallery advocates theuse of reusable displays and sustainably
sourced materials for exhibitions. Raising
environmental awareness with staff,
visitors and other stakeholders andengaging with them on environmental
behaviour change was, and continues tobe, a key area of focus for the gallery toensure the sustainability of its building inuse. This experience has bridged to the
Whitworth’s audiences and informs wider
thinking, from its schools’ programme towork with artists.

The Arts Council recognises the importanceof demonstrating its own environmental
leadership. It is working closely with staff tointegrate environmental thinking across theboard. And since moving offices in 2014, it has
been developing an environmental policy andreporting for its own estate.
Artsadmin’s biennial 2 Degrees Festival
is a week-long programme of events,
workshops, talks, debates, performances
and installations by international artists
who are making cutting-edge responses
to climate change. The festival aims
to inspire ideas, connect communities
and empower people to find and create
solutions for a sustainable future.

14
13

S
 ustaining Creativity Survey: Actions and attitudes from the creative community: environmental sustainability 2014, Julie’s Bicycle and BOP Consulting

University of Cambridge Museum’s‘Green Museums’ enables audiences to
examine the environment from a cultural
perspective. Highlighting and exploring
the environmental stories of its collections,
it explores themes such as: Adapting toThreat; Straight Science, Green Buildings
and Earth Stories and Imagery.

The arts are a really powerful tool withwhich to bring forward new ideas andinfluence social norms. But as well as
talking about sustainability, promoting andmaking work about it, we need to makesure we are practising what we are (andshould be) preaching.
Claire Woodhill,
Green Champion, Artsadmin

 ’Art Report 34b – The arts and environmental sustainability: an international overview, International Federation of Arts Councils and Cultural Agencies and Julie’sD
Bicycle, November 201417

Sustaining Great Art Environmental Report 2012-2015 Results and Highlights

18

4. A shared evidence base
4.1 Data with purpose

4.2 Reporting progress

Sixty-nine per cent of organisations now use acommon reporting framework, generating thesingle biggest environmental dataset for thearts globally.

We’ve seen a marked shift in reporting with
69% of 700 target organisations submitting
environmental data by 2015. 23% were unable
to provide meaningful data, as they were
either:

The resulting information and metrics areenabling organisations to:
Image courtesy of HandleBards• better understand their environmental
impacts and identify how to reduce them;• monitor environmental performance andtrack the results of their actions;• compare performance against their peers
using energy and water-use benchmarks.
Julie’s Bicycle has also used the insightsfrom evaluation surveys for both reportingorganisations and relationship managers to
improve the support provided and develop
communications around the value and benefitsof environmental engagement.

Heads Together Productions has worked
to ensure that its new building is energyefficient. As well as achieving a ‘B’ rating
for its Energy Performance Certificate(EPC), it has also won the RoyalInstitution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
Award for Best Building for Community
Benefit in Yorkshire based partly on its
environmental actions.

In the summers of 2013 and 2014 theHandleBards cycled 2,000 miles aroundthe UK and Europe. They carried their sets,
props, costumes and camping equipment
to perform Shakespearean plays on fourbikes. The travel generated just one tonneof CO2 emissions, by using the ferry,compared with 52 tonnes CO2 if they had
used cars. The company will be working
with designers and engineers to integrate
the bikes into the show, powering lighting
and mechanical contraptions and also
generating electricity to charge phones andlaptops as they cycle.

• s haring space in a building with larger Arts
Council organisations already providing dataon environmental impacts;• b uilding tenants who couldn’t access specificdata from their landlords, or;• w
 orking remotely from home.
Just 8% did not report at all. The level ofrobust data15 increased from 56% in 2012/13
to 63% in 2014/15.

Figure 5. Reporting levels and data quality –2012/13 to 2014/15

Over the last year, Somerset Film andVideo Ltd. reduced gas use by 17%, mainly
by adjusting time settings. It also reduced
business travel emissions by 16%, mainly
through increased use of car sharing.
Over the coming year they will be installingenergy efficient lighting and updatingproduction kit to further reduce emissions
and costs.

10%

9%

9%

20%

23%

23%

14%

6%

6%

Couldn’t provide data
- reason unknown
Couldn’t provide
data - reason given
Provided data

15

56%

62%

62%

2012/132013/142014/15

Provided robust data

Reporting has generally been easier for
medium to large building-based organisations– often with significant utility costs – whichown, lease or at least have high levels ofcontrol over their buildings and utilities. It wasmore difficult for:• s maller organisations which don’t own orrent a building – often the case for music,
literature and dance organisations – andhave found it difficult to access meaningfulenergy and water data, and;• n
 on-building-based activities, notably
outdoor events, productions and tours,
whose impacts were too sporadic or small tomeasure meaningfully.
Reporting has evolved beyond measuring
energy and water use to cover a broad rangeof impacts from a diverse range of activities,building a better understanding of impacts inrelation to the size, scale and nature of activity
within the reporting group. Many organisations
are now reporting on waste and travel for
example.
By 2015, 39% of all organisations
had exceeded the minimum reporting
requirements, compared with 21% in 2013. In2013 only venues and offices were reporting,but by 2015, touring companies, festivals andoutdoor events and productions were also
reporting.

 ll data submitted is reviewed to determine if it can be included in the carbon footprint analysis. Data typically excluded from the analysis includes data which covers lessAthan a twelve month period, e.g. due to building refurbishments or moves, and data which is significantly different to sector average for buildings or outdoor events of asimilar size.

19

Sustaining Great Art Environmental Report 2012-2015 Results and Highlights

20

Figure 6. Reporting by source of impact – 2012/13 to 2014/15

Figure 8. Levels of robust data by artform – 2012/13 and 2014/15

100%

100%
2012/1380%

2013/142014/1571%
64%

2014/1560%

2012/13
94%

55%

63%

57%

53%

62% 65%

57%

69%
60%

63%
56%

41%

40%

35% 35%20%

0%Energy

Water

Waste

Artform has a significant influence on theextent to which an organisation can provide
meaningful and robust data. Museums,
visual arts and theatre, which comprise ahigh number of medium to large buildingbased organisations, have the highest
levels of robust data – 94%, 69% and 65%
respectively. Literature and music havelower levels of robust data – 35% and 53%
respectively. Music comprises a high numberof smaller organisations such as National
Youth Music Organisations (NYMOs) and a
few larger venues.

BusinesstravelAudience
travelTouring travel andaccomodation

Production
materials

Figure 7. Reporting by type of activity - 2014/15
Outdoor event

5%
Production

5%

Art galleries

8%
Tours

9%
Arts centres

11%

Other

10%

Offices

29%
Theatre/performing
arts buildings

13%
Museum11%

Newcastle Gateshead Cultural Venues (NGCV) have been working with councils, charities
and transport providers to explore ways of promoting walking, cycling and the use of
public transport to their employees and visitors. As well as undertaking staff and audiencesurveys to better understand travel needs and habits, venues have also contributed toseveral behaviour change campaigns, including Car Free Days, National Bike Week andFamily Explorers North East, a project that helps families enjoy a wider range of culturalexperiences using sustainable transport modes.

Combined arts

Dance

Literature

MuseumMusic

Overall, the reporting requirements have
had most value for organisations not alreadyengaged on sustainability and less value
for organisations with well-establishedenvironmental commitment and practices anda small number which interpreted the reporting
requirements solely as a matter of compliance.
mac birmingham invested £7,000 ininstalling efficient LED lighting, working
in partnership with local company
Eco2Energy. It is projected to save around£3,000 a year on its energy bills as aresult. mac birmingham is now looking
into replacing a further 250 lights toincrease financial and energy savings.

Non-artform
specific

TheatreVisual arts

Average

Julie’s Bicycle has responded to the evolution
in and challenges of reporting in a number ofways, notably:• tailoring resources to different activities
and impacts, such as webinars for outdoor
events, productions and tours, and guides
on waste and water management at outdoor
events, sustainable production and touring;• d eveloping the Creative IG Tools, forexample, diversifying the range of impacts
an organisation can account for, allowing
users to compare performance over timeand against sector benchmarks and creatinga policy and action plan upload feature;• increasing support for RelationshipManagers (RMs) in their role working with
reporting organisations, for example throughRM reporting workshops, briefings andCreative IG Tools training;• u sing case studies to communicate thebenefits of environmental reporting andaction as well as examples of good practice.

21

Sustaining Great Art Environmental Report 2012-2015 Results and Highlights

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5. Building resilience

4.3 Benchmarking

5.1 Understanding impacts

Reporting has been a major contributor tocreating a set of energy and water benchmarks.
These provide greater insight into energy andwater use and allow organisations to compare
their environmental performance with the sector
average. The latest benchmarks cover:• museums and galleries – based on datafrom 57 museums, 43 art galleries and 52 art
centres;• performing arts – based on data from 6
concert halls and 105 theatres;• offices tend to have more limited operating
hours and little energy-intensive technology
and equipment;

The total carbon footprint17 of 449
organisations in 2014/15 was 107,784
tonnes of CO2e. Energy use is the biggest
source of emissions, generating 97% of the
footprint. Theatres, art centres, concert halls
and museums together constitute over threequarters of the total reported footprint.

• museums and galleries have longer
operating hours, specialist lighting and strict
environmental conditions for collections
requiring higher levels of energy use;

17 organisations constitute 50% of the total
2014/15 carbon footprint due to the size andscale of their buildings and corresponding
energy demand. A number of these organisations, such as Royal National Theatre andSage Gateshead, are already taking significant
steps to reduce their impacts, for example investing in energy efficient heating and coolingand installing low energy lighting systems.

Table 2. Carbon footprint by activity 2014/15

Table 3. Carbon footprint by source of impact –2014/15

arts buildings are the most energy and water
intensive. This can be explained by the factthat:

• performing arts buildings have the longest
operating hours and have energy-intensive
equipment for productions.

• offices – based on data from 196 offices.
By relating energy and water use to floor area,
the benchmarks make it simpler to compareenergy and water use no matter the size or
scale of an organisation. The Creative IG Tools
now automatically compare an organisation’senergy and water use against the benchmarks.
The benchmarks show that offices are theleast energy and water intensive, followed bymuseums and galleries, and that performing

The benchmarks have been endorsed by
the Chartered Institute of Building Services
Engineers (CIBSE), the body responsible forbenchmarking the built environment acrossEngland. Our research and data show that theequivalent CIBSE benchmarks16 overestimate
gas consumption, especially in the case of
performing arts.

101,03093.7

201 offices

5,778

5.4

58 tours

831

0.8

33 productions

96

0.09

49

0.05

33 outdoor events
Total

107,784

Dance/rehearsal studios
1.5%

600

Offices500

5.4%
Art galleries

400

Other*

300
200

Museums andgalleries CIBSE

OfficesJulie’s Bicycle

Offices
CIBSE

Performing arts
Julie’s Bicycle

Performing arts
CIBSE

Elec. (kWh)

86

70

73

95

101

150

Gas (kWh)

132

200

114

120

139

420

Water (m3)

455

N/A

361

N/A

645

N/A

 IBSE has three sets of equivalent benchmarks: general offices, cultural activity and entertainment halls. Cultural activity covers: art galleries; arts centres; libraries;Cand museums. Entertainment halls cover: auditoria; casinos; cinemas; concert halls; dancing schools; entertainment halls; and theatres. CIBSE TM:46 is their technicalmemorandum on the energy performance of different types of activities and buildings.

%

79,71674

Gas

24,278

23

Waste

2,071

2

Water

806

1

Accommodation(touring)

434

0.4

Travel and freight(touring)

397

0.4

Other (outdoor event
energy use and production materials)

81

0.1

107,784*‘Other’ covers building types andactivities which generated less than 1%of the total carbon footprint.

3.4%
Theatre/performing
arts buildings
23.9%

11.6%

Museums andgalleries Julie’s Bicycle

Tonnes CO2eElectricity

Total

100

16

Source of impact

352 cultural buildings

700

0

%

Figure 10. Carbon footprint by building
type – 2014/15

Figure 9. Julie’s Bicycle sector benchmarks
compared with CIBSE equivalents
kWh/m3 per m2 per year

Tonnes CO2e

Museums

Arts
centres

17.6%

19.1%

 uilding type: clubs (large and small),B
arts studios, libraries, cinemas
workshops warehouses or stores.
 ctivities: tours, productions, outdoor
A
events.

Concert halls/
opera houses
17.8%

17

A carbon footprint is a measure of the climate change impact of a product, country, person, company etc. in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, measured in units ofcarbon dioxide (CO2e). CO2e emissions are calculated by applying a carbon conversion factor to, for example, kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity and gas used, litres ofwater used, tonnes of timber used, tonnes of waste to landfill.

23

Sustaining Great Art Environmental Report 2012-2015 Results and Highlights

24

5.2 Increasing efficiency and financial savings

376
340

(t CO2e energy and water)

306

220
183
136

135

ge
ra

rts

Av
e

la
ua

tre

Vi
s

ea

c
ifi
ec
sp

rm
N

on

ar

C

tfo

Th

ic
us
M

m
eu

tu
ra

us
M

ts
ar

te

d
ne
bi

14

om

Li

an
D

re

41

ce

Average lower carobon footprint per building

Figure 11. Average carbon footprint per building
by artform – 2014/15

Tyne and Wear Museums and Archives
have been working with Demeter to installwater monitoring across the Discovery
Museum to identify leakages and improvewater use management.

FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative
Technology) reduced its gas use by 32%
by adjusting the running times of its boiler
and increasing the frequency of boiler
maintenance intervals from six to threemonths.

Manchester Arts
Sustainability Team(MAST) is a cross-sector
network of cultural andarts organisations working
together to reduce theirenvironmental impacts.
Chaired by Royal Exchange
Theatre, other members
include Contact Theatre,
Manchester Art Gallery,
the Whitworth Art Gallery,
Manchester International
Festival and the Lowry.
MAST is committed toachieving an average
7% reduction in absoluteemissions from energy use(electricity and gas) on anannual basis. Between
2012/13 and 2013/14, 10
of its 13 members reduced
emissions from energy use,with an average savingof 8%. This represents
a collective saving of£218,436 on energy spend
and 770 tonnes of CO2
emissions.

Over two years, reductions across thereporting group saved 12,673 tonnes of CO2eemissions – equivalent to cost savings of£2.29 million.18
Ninety-nine per cent of emissions reductions
were achieved through energy saving
measures. Water use has remained stable
across the reporting group over the three
years, an indication that it has not been apriority in terms of reducing environmental
impacts. Compared with energy use, water
use is not a significant source of CO2eemissions. It does however impact on water
scarcity, quality and availability.

Carbon savings between 2013 and 2014 were
7,063 tonnes CO2e, a 6.2% reduction, and5,610 tonnes CO2e between 2014 and 2015,
a 5% reduction. These reductions have beenachieved despite a 7.8% increase in culturalactivity over the same two years.19
Scaled up across all cultural buildings in
the UK these savings would equal 85,000
tonnes of CO2e, equivalent to £15 million costsavings.20

Figure 12. Annual CO2e savings per region – 2013/14-2014/15
East

East Midlands

London

North East

North WestSouth East

South West

-1%

Yorkshire

Average

-1%

-4%

-4%

-5%

West Midlands

-5%
-6%
-7%
-8%

-9%

 CO2e savings are net savings, i.e. savings made overall after taking both increases and decreases in emissions into account. £2.29m cost savings are calculated byapplying average electricity and gas tariffs of 11p and 3p per kWh respectively to the net savings in electricity and gas use.
National portfolio organisation and major partner museum statistics for 2014/15
20
Applying a 3% reduction on an estimated annual electricity spend of £86.4m and a 15% reduction on an estimated gas spend of £37m in the 2013/14 financial year and a
4% and 9% reduction respectively in the 2014/15 financial year based on original research by the Oxford Environmental Change Institute estimating the energy spend for
16,000 buildings constituting the cultural sector in the UK.
18
19

25

Sustaining Great Art Environmental Report 2012-2015 Results and Highlights

26

ActionSpace is an independent arts
charity based in London which supports
the development of artists with learning
disabilities and creates innovative projects
for people with learning disabilities toengage with the visual arts. As a memberof the Tooting Work and Play Scrapstore
they can source and exchange unusedmaterials with other organisations, accessa wide variety of high quality art materials
that might otherwise be thrown away andalso find an eclectic range of recycledmaterials. This has inspired ActionSpace
artists to create innovative, cutting edge
artwork that has been shown in exhibitions
around the UK.

Carbon emissions (t CO2e)

Figure 13. Absolute reduction in CO2e emissions– 2013/14–2014/15
120,000
100,000
80,00060,00040,00020,0002013/142014/15

Office Water

47

48

Office Gas

1,575

1,444

Office Electricity

4,497

4,146

Venue Water

785

775

Venue Gas

25,187

22,833

Venue Electricity
Total

78,22575,459110,315

104,705

Norwich Arts Centre has been installing
water saving taps and water displacement
devices in order to reduce the amount ofwater used on site.

OfficeWater
OfficeGas

Year 3
Year 2

Combined savings:
12,674 tonnes CO2e£2.3 in energy spend

Year 3
Year 2

Venue
Water

OfficeElectricity

Year 3
Year 2

Year 3
Year 2

Venue
Gas

Different levels of CO2e savings have beenrealised in different regions. This is not anindicator of one region performing better thananother, simply an indicator of the number andsize of organisations (and their buildings) in aregion.

Figure 14. Cumulative CO2e and cost savings
from energy use reduction 2012/13-2014/15

Year 3
Year 2

Venue
Electricity

One hundred and ninety-three venues
achieved an average CO2e reduction of 5%
between year two and year three. Performing
slightly better, 103 offices achieved an average
reduction of 8% over the same time period,
possibly due to the fact that, unlike venues,
their energy use is not influenced by changes
in performances and visitors.

Year 3
Year 2-5,000-4,500-4,000-3,500-3,000-2,500-2,000

Average annual savings of 5% aremainly being achieved throughzero- or low-cost measures. Some
organisations are already making
longer-term investments in lower
carbon, more energy efficient buildings
and equipment, many with support fromthe Arts Council’s capital grants funding.
As most of these new or refurbishedbuildings are either not yet, or not long,in operation, it is still too early to know
the extent to which they will meet energy
and carbon performance expectations.
However, we expect to see the results ofthese investments in terms of reduced
emissions over the next few years.

-1,500-1,000-5,00

For Nottingham Playhouse, securing funding
for their £1.9 million redevelopment project
was a challenge. They found a solution withthe city council which allowed them to avoid
borrowing from commercial lenders, with thecouncil providing a £230,000 loan towards
improving energy efficiency and waiving renton the building for 13 years. Increasing energy
efficiency and reducing CO2 impacts werea key element of the redevelopment which
was completed early in 2015. Nottingham
Playhouse, which had a strong understandingof the building’s energy performance before
its redevelopment, expects the investment to
reduce energy use by 30% and save about£55,000-£58,000 annually.

27

Sustaining Great Art Environmental Report 2012-2015 Results and Highlights

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29

6. Key conclusions and recommendations
5.3 Making the business case
Acting on environmental impacts can havea range of tangible benefits beyond CO2
emission reductions. The results of the 2015
annual evaluation survey showed:

These findings resonate with those of the2014 Sustaining Creativity survey21 of publicly
funded and commercial arts organisations in
England, Scotland and Wales, which showedthat of the 337 respondents:• Fifty-one per cent reporting financial benefits; • Fifty-five per cent had seen financial benefits
as a result of action;• 67% reporting benefits to team morale;• 40% had experienced benefits to their profileand reputation.
• 43% reporting reputational benefits.
The more engaged an organisation, thegreater the benefits. Of those organisations
which consider themselves ‘engaged’ or ‘very
engaged’:In the 2015 evaluation survey organisations
were asked what, if any, difference having
an environmental policy and action plan had
made. Among the respondents:• Fifty-seven per cent reported financial
benefits;• Seventy per cent found their environmental
policy useful when applying for funding and
69% when engaging with stakeholders.

• 71% reported benefits to team morale;• 49% reported reputational benefits.

• 92% found having an environmental action
plan helped to manage and reduce impacts
and 85% found it useful for communicating
its actions.

The conditions for future leadership areripe.

We must reflect and respond to diversity.

We now need a framework to cultivate
leadership. This framework
is being developed with:

Reporting requirements and support need tobetter respond to the diversity of the sector
and to organisations’ levels of engagement,
whether beginners or leaders.

• s pecific resources for boards, governing
bodies and executives;• a n emerging cohort of Arts Council fundedorganisations with sustainability leadershipbuilt into their funding agreements;

Figure 15. Benefits of taking environmental action – 2014/15

Profile/reputational benefits

19%

Sustaining Creativity Survey: Actions and attitudes from the creative community: environmental sustainability 2014, Julie’s Bicycle and BOP Consulting

39%

37%

6%

Don’t know
No benedit

Financial benefits

12%

37%

8%

43%

Some benefit
Substantial benefit

10% 23%0%21• D
 ifferent options and approaches toencompass a range of organisations toparticipate.

• a series of leadership events.

Team morale/wellbeing benefits

The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust has
progressed over the last few years from beinga Green Tourism Business Scheme member toachieving a Green Tourism Scheme Gold StarAward in 2014. “… reporting has enabled us tosuccessfully co-ordinate and consolidate ourenvironmental awareness and targets.”• G reater flexibility has already been built into
2015-18 reporting requirements.

20%

58%
40%

60%

9%
80%

100%

Sustaining Great Art Environmental Report 2012-2015 Results and Highlights

30

Investment will be essential to achieve
reductions beyond business as usual.

We need to better understand andcommunicate the value of sustainability to
the arts, and communicate its success.

• Given the uncertainty over future funding
and government support for renewableenergy and energy efficiency, it isimportant, more now than ever, to support
organisations in accessing longer-term
funding opportunities.

• W
 e need to continue to evaluate the casefor sustainability and how this relates tobusiness resilience.

• Julie’s Bicycle has already begun working
with the Arts Council to develop support onits capital grant funding programme. Julie’s
Bicycle is also developing a funding portal
which will identify
sources of support for sustainability
initiatives and investment.

• More research is needed to understand therelationship between environmental literacyand ‘doing’ and how this stimulates culturalshifts.
• More work is needed to track where andhow artistic content is being shaped byenvironmental challenges.
• Leaders and achievements must be
championed widely.
• Challenges and successes, especially casestudies, should be amplified.
• The characteristics of the partnership thathave made it• Successful should be disseminated widely,to support similar• Initiatives, especially in the context ofpolicy development. 

31

Sustaining Great Art Environmental Report 2012-2015 Results and Highlights

32

Appendix – Support, events andresources
From 2012 to 2015, Julie’s Bicycle ran two
programmes with Arts Council funding to
inspire and support environmental change inthe sector:• a support programme to help revenuefunded organisations meet environmental
reporting requirements (a Service Level
Contract), and;• a national programme of events, actionresearch, network development andresources (funded through Grants for theArts).

1. Environmental reporting support
Julie’s Bicycle supported reportingorganisations through a range of events,
online resources and a telephone and email
helpdesk, focused on:• measuring and reporting on environmental
impacts;• establishing environmental policies andaction plans, and;• good environmental practice.
Julie’s Bicycle also produced annual reportson the results of each year of the reporting
initiative.
Sustaining Great Art, Year 1 report
Sustaining Great Art, Year 2 report

Standard modules
Years 1-3
• U nderstanding environmental reporting
requirements• C reating environmental policies andaction plans

Years 2-3
• Environmental reporting case studies• Environmental reporting troubleshooting

Years 2-3
• Going beyond environmental reporting
requirements• Communicating success• Staff engagement• U sing the IG Tools for online reporting
Tailored modules Years 2-3
By size

By activity• E nvironmental reporting, policies and action plans for organisations with 5 employees or less• Environmental reporting, policies and action plans for cultural buildings
and venues• E nvironmental reporting, policies and action plans for organisations with 100 employees or more

• Environmental reporting, policies and action plans for offices• E nvironmental reporting, policies and action plans for MPMs
and large multi-venue organisations• Environmental reporting, policies and action plans for outdoor events• Sustainable touring• Sustainable productions and exhibitions

1.1 Workshops and webinars

1.2 Creative Industry Green Tools

Julie’s Bicycle carried out a total of 19
environmental reporting workshops and 31
webinars:

The Creative Industry Green (IG) Tools area suite of carbon calculators which different
types of creative organisations, from venues
to productions, can use to establish theircarbon footprint, track performance over timeand compare against sector benchmarks.

• 1
 4 regional environmental reporting
workshops for revenue fundedorganisations, with 355 organisations
attending;• 5 regional environmental reporting
workshops for Arts Council RelationshipManagers, with approximately 30
participants, and;• 3
 1 environmental reporting webinars, with252 organisations attending.
Content was adapted over time to address
emerging needs and themes and webinar
recordings are available through the Julie’s
Bicycle Vimeo channel and website.

The tools have been adapted to Arts Council
reporting requirements and developed overthree years on the basis of feedback from
reporting organisations using the tools. Key
developments include:• d iversifying the range of impacts anorganisation can account for;• a
 llowing users to compare performanceover time and against sector benchmarks;• c reating an environmental policy and action
plan upload feature.

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Sustaining Great Art Environmental Report 2012-2015 Results and Highlights

34

1.3 Energy and water benchmarks

1.4 E
 nvironmental reporting helpdesk andwebsiteJulie’s Bicycle has established a set ofbenchmarks, which allow organisations tocompare their energy and water use with thesector average, whatever the size or scaleof an organisation. Arts Council reporting
data has been a major contributor to thebenchmarks. The latest benchmarks cover:Julie’s Bicycle has a dedicated team to provide
telephone and email support to Arts Council
England reporting organisations. Telephone
support is available 9.30 - 5.30pm, five days aweek.

Julie’s Bicycle has also created a specificArts Council England environmental reporting• museums and galleries – based on data
section on its website which provides
from 57 museums, 43 art galleries and 52 art information on the reporting requirements,
centres;
related resources such as the environmental
policy and action plan guidelines, andinformation on using the Creative IG Tools.
• performing arts – based on data from 6
concert halls and 105 theatres;

1.5 Evaluation surveys• offices – based on data from 196 offices.
The benchmarks have been endorsed by
the Chartered Institute of Building Services
Engineers (CIBSE), the body responsible forbenchmarking the built environment acrossEngland.

Julie’s Bicycle conducted three annual
evaluation surveys of reporting organisations
and is using the insights gained to improve thesupport provided and develop communications
around the value and benefits of environmental
engagement. Two annual evaluation surveys
of Arts Council Relationship Managers also
provided valuable feedback for developing andimproving support and communications.

Reportingorganisations
evaluation
surveyRelationshipManagers
evaluation
survey2012/132013/142014/15354 respondents

323 respondents

253 respondents

50% response rate 45% response rate 35% response rateNA

35 respondents

33 respondents

21% response rate 19% response rate

Creative IG Tools activities and impacts

User categories
Offices

VenuesFestivals andoutdoor events

Indoor events

Tours

Energy

X

X

X

X

X

Water

X

X

X

X

Waste

X

X

X

X

Business travel

X

X

Sources of impact

Audience travel

X

Production

X
X

X

Freight

X

Artist and crew travel

X

Accommodation

X

Set design and management

X

Lighting sound andeffects

X

Example of Creative IG Tools functionality

35Sustaining Great Art Environmental Report 2012-2015 Results and Highlights

36

2. G
 rants for the Arts sustainability
programme

2.1 Sustaining Creativity

2.2 Events

Between 2012 and 2015, Julie’s Bicycledelivered a national programme of events,
action-research, network development andresources to inspire and support Arts Council
funded organisations across England and thebroader sector, funded through Grants for theArts.

Sustaining Creativity was a series of
conversations, events and publications
exploring environmental challenges, driversof change, and the opportunities thattransformative solutions offer to the creative
community, aiming to:Julie’s Bicycle held 16 events across England,
events curated by the arts and focusing on
inspiring practical and creative responses. In
total 1,520 free tickets were booked for these
events. All event information is available on
the Julie’s Bicycle website.

• inspire cultural leadership on sustainability;

Value and Cultural Spaceswww.juliesbicycle.com/latest/events/245sustaining-creativity-value-and-cultural-spaces

Green Arts: Sustainable Responses from the
Literature Sector
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/events/1032sustainable-responses-from-the-literaturesector

Praxis: Culture and Sustainability
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/events/4208culture-and-sustainability

Sustaining Creativity Lab
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/events/1054sustaining-creativity-lab

Making Creative Places Sustainable
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/events/5159making-creative-places-sustainable

Sustainable Design and Production,
Manchester
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/events/1104sustainable-design-and-production

Key themes were:• sustainable production and design;• green dance;• green literature;• energy efficiency, innovation and renewableenergy take-up for festivals and outdoor arts;• value and environmental sustainability;• extend ambition about what is possible using
real examples;• highlight some key shifts needed to develop
a sustainable creative infrastructure;• foster confident decision-making that looks
beyond political and funding cycles;• produce a series of events and publications.

The Sustaining Creativity Survey, carried out
by Julie’s Bicycle, in partnership with BOP• the circular economy.
Consulting, was the most comprehensive
survey to date with leaders of creative and
The programme was developed to provide
cultural organisations on environmental
both guidance on operational and practicalsustainability. We surveyed cultural institutions
environmental responses and inspiration on
from music, theatre, visual arts, museums,
emerging sustainability themes of relevanceto the arts. It is worth noting that the resources literature and combined arts, representing
a total audience of 70 million and combined
and case studies developed as part of thisturnover of £1 billion. The results, based
programme encompassed a much wider
on responses from 377 organisations, arespectrum of topics and themes.
published on the Julie’s Bicycle website.

Sustaining Creativity: Circularity Showcase
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/events/380circularity-showcase
Sustaining Creativity: E-Waste Tear-down
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/events/471-ewaste-workshop
Sustaining Creativity: Plastics Tear-down
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/events/545closed-loop-tour-and-workshop
Sustaining Creativity: Scenery Tear-down
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/events/561scenery-salvage-tour-and-workshop
Sustaining Creativity: Data Lab Showcase
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/events/586sustaining-creativity-data-lab-showcase

Sustaining Creativity: Value and CulturalSpaces
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/events/245sustaining-creativity-value-and-cultural-spaces

Sustainable Design and Production, Newcastle
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/events/1112sustainable-design-and-production
Sustainable Design for the Arts
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/events/1152sustainable-design-for-the-arts
Green My Productionwww.juliesbicycle.com/latest/events/1180green-my-production
The Power Behind Festivals Symposium
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/events/1296-thepower-behind-festivals-symposium

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38

2.3 Practical guides

Julie’s Bicycle published 12 practical guides
on a range of environmental topics and for
different types of cultural activities, all of which
can be downloaded from the Julie’s Bicycle
website.
Productions and Exhibitions Guide
www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/productionsand-exhibitions
Touring Guide
www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/touring-guide
Water Management at Outdoor Events Guide
www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/watermanagement-at-outdoor-events
Waste Management at Outdoor Events Guide
www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/wastemanagement-at-outdoor-events-guide

2.4 Factsheets

Sustainable Production Guide
www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/sustainableproduction-guide
The Power Behind Festivals Guide
www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/the-powerbehind-festivals-guide
Outdoor Events Guide
www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/outdoorevents
Energising Culture Guide
www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/energisingculture
Working from Home Guide
www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/workingfrom-home-guideJulie’s Bicycle published 9 new factsheets on
a range of environmental topics, all of which
can be downloaded from the Julie’s Bicycle
website.
Green Dance Factsheet
www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/greendance-factsheet
Energy Procurement Factsheet
www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/energyprocurement-factsheet
Key Climate Facts Factsheet
www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/key-climatefacts
Biofuels Factsheet
www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/biofuelsfactsheet

Procurement Guide
www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/procurementguide

Food Factsheet
www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/foodfactsheet

Greening the Office Guide
www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/greeningthe-office-guidePrint and the Environmentwww.juliesbicycle.com/resources/print-andthe-environment-factsheet

Sustainable Merchandise Guide
www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/sustainablemerchandise-guide

Paper and the Environmentwww.juliesbicycle.com/resources/paper-andthe-environment-factsheet

Forestry Stewardship Council and the Arts
www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/fsc-and-thearts
Green Riders for Touringwww.juliesbicycle.com/resources/green-rider

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40

2.5 Case studies

Julie’s Bicycle compiled 41 case studies, allof which are available on the Julie’s Bicycle
website.

Artichoke Lumierewww.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/4215-artichoke-lumiere

Contact Theatre
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/2603-contact-theatre

Manchester Art Gallerywww.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/3746-manchester-art-gallery

Arcsystem Dimmable LED Lightingwww.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/3459-arcsystem-dimmable-led-lighting

Better Batteries
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/3481-better-batteriesCurvewww.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/4733-curve

Manchester Literature Festival
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/4842-manchester-literature-festival

Arcola Theatre
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/2475-arcola-theatre

The Bridgewater Hall
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/2518-the-bridgewater-hall

Car Sharing Schemeswww.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/4223-car-sharing-schemes

Manchester International Festival
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/4332-manchester-internationalfestival-mif

The Final Countdown: Arcola Theatre
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/5390-the-final-countdown-arcolatheatre-and-timetoact-climate-march-2015

Central School of Speech and Drama
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/3368-a-green-cabaret-at-centralschool-of-speech-and-drama

Festival Bus
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/4229-festivalbus

Arvon
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/4834-arvon

Cornerhousewww.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/2616-cornerhouse

Attitude is Everythingwww.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/5581-attitude-is-everything

Free Word
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/3758-free-word

Ambassador Theatre Group Earth Hour
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/5094-atg-earth-hour

Greater Manchester County Record Officewww.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/2683-greater-manchester-countyrecord-office

After Miss Julie (Young Vic)
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/3410-after-miss-julie-at-the-young-vic

Circus Space Staff Energy AwarenessCampaign
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/5368-circus-space-staff-energyawareness-campaign

German Light Products GmbH (GLP)
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/4041-german-light-products-gmbh-glp
Glyndebourne
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/2672-glyndebourne
Knowle West Media Centre
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/4555-knowle-west-media-centre
Hay Festival
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/4817-hay-festival
London Theatre Consortium SustainabilityGroupwww.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/6069-cultural-networks-london-theatreconsortium

Metal, Southend-on-Sea
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/5060-metal-southend-on-sea
Midas Productions UK Ltd.	
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/4059-midas-productions-uk-ltd
National Theatre Wales
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/3676-national-theatre-wales
Norwich Theatre Royalwww.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/5039-norwich-theatre-royalPeter and the Starcatcher
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/3583-sustainable-design-peter-andthe-starcatcher
Random House
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/3742-random-house41

Sustaining Great Art Environmental Report 2012-2015 Results and Highlights

42

2.6 Videos, podcasts and blogs

Royal Court Theatre
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/2733-theatre-local-royal-court-theatre

32 videos and recordings of Julie’s Bicycle
events, webinars and case studies areavailable on the Julie’s Bicycle Vimeo channel.

Event Recording: Sustaining Creativity Lab –Nat Hunter
https://vimeo.com/113403510

Royal Exchange Theatre
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/2743-royal-exchange-theatre

Event Recording: Value and Cultural Spaces
at the Whitworth Art Gallery
https://vimeo.com/124305803

Sustaining Creativity: An Introduction
https://vimeo.com/86977253

Royal Northern College of Music
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/2753-royal-northern-college-of-music

Event Recording: Praxis – Culture andSustainability
https://vimeo.com/123844941

Sarah Bedell, Aspirational Arts Partnershipswww.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/5068-aspirational-arts-partnerships

Event Recording: Sustaining Creativity –E-Waste Workshop and Circularity Showcase
https://vimeo.com/119333576

Town Hall Birmingham
www.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/2774-town-hall-birmingham

Event Recording: Sustaining Creativity –Closed Loop Tour and Workshop
https://vimeo.com/119333034

U-N-F-O-L-D Exhibitionwww.juliesbicycle.com/latest/casestudies/3716-u-n-f-o-l-dEvent Recording: Sustaining Creativity –Scenery Salvage Tour and Workshop
https://vimeo.com/119332665
Event Recording: Sustaining Creativity –Environmental Data Lab
https://vimeo.com/114764952
Event Recording: Sustaining Creativity Lab –Tom Campbell
https://vimeo.com/113403652
Event Recording: Sustaining Creativity Lab –John Holden
https://vimeo.com/113403649
Event Recording: Sustaining Creativity Lab –Beatrice Rodgers
https://vimeo.com/113403513

Sustaining Creativity: Digital
https://vimeo.com/86991543
Sustaining Creativity: Value
https://vimeo.com/87004125
Sustaining Creativity: Nature
https://vimeo.com/87176840
Sustainable Production
https://vimeo.com/87185355
Green My Production
https://vimeo.com/87186614
Case Study – Norwich Theatre Royalhttps://vimeo.com/117910579
Case Study – Sarah Bedell, Aspirational Arts
Partnershiphttps://vimeo.com/117908464
Case Study – Metal Southend
https://vimeo.com/117907947

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Sustaining Great Art Environmental Report 2012-2015 Results and Highlights

44

Acknowledgements

About Julie’s Bicycle

Julie’s Bicycle is a leading global charity
bridging the gap between environmental
sustainability and the creative industries. Our
aim is a creative community with sustainability
at its heart and our goal is to provide theinspiration, expertise and resources to makethat happen.

Webinar series ‘collections’:

Blogs

Lead authors: Claire Buckley and Alison
Tickell, Julie’s Bicycle• IG Tools ‘How To’ 2013, (3 videos):
https://vimeo.com/groups/igtools

Regular blogs are posted on the Julie’s Bicycle
website, both by the Julie’s Bicycle team andcontributors from the arts and creative industries.

Research: Luke Ramsay and Lucy Latham,
Julie’s Bicycle• Arts Council England Webinars 2014,(10 videos): https://vimeo.com/groups/
acewebinars2014

Podcasts
Valuing What You Do
www.mixcloud.com/JuliesBicycle/
valuingwhatyoudo
Financing Change
www.mixcloud.com/JuliesBicycle/
financingchange
Culture Change Conference – Alison Tickell
Opening Speechwww.mixcloud.com/JuliesBicycle/alison-tickellopening-speechIt’s a Material World
https://www.mixcloud.com/JuliesBicycle/its-amaterial-world
Making Creative Spaces Sustainable
https://www.mixcloud.com/JuliesBicycle/
making-creative-spaces-sustainable

Special thanks also to Ian Rimington,
Julie Leather, Lucy Williams, Julie Harrod
and Charlotte Webster for their thoughtful
contributions.
Thanks also to the following organisations forsharing their good practice:
ActionSpace, Aldeburgh Music, Arcola,
Artsadmin, Liverpool Everyman, Foundation
for Art and Creative Technology, HandleBards,
Heads Together Productions, Ironbridge
Gorge Museum Trust, London Theatre
Consortium, mac birmingham, Manchester Arts
Sustainability Team, Newcastle Gateshead
Cultural Venues, Norwich Arts Centre,
Pentabus, Siobhan Davies Dance, Somerset
Film and Video Ltd., Tyne and Wear Archives
and Museums, the Whitworth Art Gallery,
University of Cambridge Museums.

Photographs
Image courtesy Julie’s Bicycle
Photograph: Nicky Teegan
Quilt Performing Arts: Colour Me, 2014
Image courtesy Contact Manchester
Photograph: Joel Chester Fildes
Michael Pinsky, Plunge, 2012
Produced by Artsadmin and LIFT
Photograph: Kristian Buus

Julie’s Bicycle has an unmatched track recordof research specific to arts and cultural activity,
which underpins everything we do. Our teambrings together environmental expertise,and experience of the arts and cultural
sectors and our website constitutes the mostcomprehensive resource library developed
specifically for the arts and culture anywhere in
the world.
We work with over 1,000 cultural organisations
across the UK and internationally to help
them measure, manage and reduce theirenvironmental impacts. Over 2,000 companies
large and small use the Creative IG Tools, oursuite of carbon calculators, and our certification
scheme is the recognised benchmark forsustainability achievement within the creative
industries.
We believe the creative community is uniquelyplaced to lead and transform conversation
around environmental sustainability andtranslate it into action.

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Arts Council England
The Hive
49 Lever Street
Manchester M1 1FN
Email: enquiries@artscouncil.org.uk
Phone: 0845 300 6200
Textphone: 020 7973 6564
artscouncil.org.uk@ace_national
Facebook.com/artscouncilofengland
Charity registration no 1036733

You can get this publication in Braille, in large print, on
audio CD and in electronic formats. Please contact us if
you need any of these formats.
To download this publication, or for the full list of Arts
Council England publications, see artscouncil.org.uk© Arts Council England, November 2015
Written, edited and produced by Julie’s Bicycle on behalfof Arts Council England
We are committed to being open and accessible. We
welcome all comments on our work. Please send these to:
National Director, Advocacy and Communications, at Arts
Council England, address above.

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