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#GreenFest: FSPA Shortlist Diary No.2

Creative Carbon Scotland, Fringe

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

It has been another busy week for our reviewing team who have managed to fit in 8 shows from the Fringe Sustainable Practice Award shortlist. From a secret theater location accessed by bike, to a Dutch photography exhibition we have covered it all.

For more information on the 21 shortlisted Fringe shows, click here.

 

cinema in s gFriday 14th 1pm: A Cinema in South Georgia

In the heart of the Fringe with all the shows from the four corners of the world it’s good to see a show that comes out of and has connections with Edinburgh (or rather Leith). The performance brings together first-hand accounts, some hilarious and some regretful, of some of the remaining men who embarked on whale hunting expeditions. These stories are performed in both word and song.

A Cinema in South Georgia is about the – ultimately unsustainable – whaling industry and the human consequences of it, not to mention the effect on the whales!

 

 PhotosynthesisSaturday 15th 10am: Photosynthesis

The artist collective, the ‘Tropists’, captured the natural world (mainly plants) with a variety of photographic techniques, forcing the viewer to reconsider their previous conceptions of what ‘nature’ is.

Using a variety of techniques, from x-ray shots to pinhole techniques, the exhibition is not an obvious case of ‘this is what mankind is doing to nature’ but rather shows the beauty of nature from different angles not usually experienced through the human eye. In addition to the various camera techniques the exhibition uses film to bridge the gap between science and public perceptions of what is a plant.

 

The Wild Man of OrfordSunday 16th 12.45pm: The Wild Man of Orford

The Wild Man of Orford was able to transform a small room into the seaside. This production explores the concept of civilization and how it can feel to be the “other”. The Wild Man of Orford is a charming fairy tale with live music that both children and adults can enjoy.

Their sustainable efforts should be praised for their use of recycled material for their costumes and set pieces as well as environmentally friendly marketing that reduces paper use by promoting their show online with links written on branches, stones, and shells that audience members can keep.

 

Fringe 62pm: Scarfed for Life

A green and blue take on a heightened severity of meaning in this fast-paced and familial drama. Two warring households – both alike in their football passion – provide the environment for a sensitively-executed examination of sectarianism, domestic violence and polite society.

Scarfed for Life is lively and loud, and speckled with Scots and slang. The performance was communicated very well, with humour and sensitivity. The Citizens Theatre bring a snapshot of their Glasgow to the capital with sustainable design elements that enable, rather than detract from, their story.

 

Ventoux 1Monday 17th 1.55pm: Ventoux

Never before have I watched two men hop on and off bikes for an hour in the name of theatre. Ventoux tells the story of two famous cyclists; as these men climb further up the Ventoux you learn more about the history of doping, and the pressure put on cyclists at a time when ‘everyone was doing it’, finally seeing the full consequences of it all as they approached the summit.

The use of props was mesmerizing at points, as the men cycled in tandem, dunked their heads in a cool box of water and ‘shaved’ their legs and heads. Similarly, the Ventoux footage, filmed by the performers themselves, brought the audience right into the action as we were propelled through their lives listening to real-time soundtracks of vital racing events.

 

HandleBards 1Tuesday 18th 5pm: The HandleBards: Secret Shakespeare

The Handlebards return to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with an expanded offering from their 2014 run, and a challenge to engage their audiences in their bike-behaviour. Secret Shakespeare is an unusual approach to an Edinburgh Festival Fringe production that actively promotes and engages with sustainability.

Having travelled around the country by bike, the players paired up with Sustrans and Spokes Edinburgh to take their audience on a 5-mile tour of Edinburgh’s cycle paths, en-route to their secret performance location. A high-energy performance that leaves one asking: “How are they going to manage that?!”.

 

Fringe 8Wednesday 19th 11am: Fraxi Queen of the Forest

This charming piece of children’s theatre brought the threat of chalara, otherwise known as ash dieback disease, to life in a very accessible and moving way. The story follows Fraxi, an ash tree, and Woody, a man who has known and loved Fraxi since childhood. When Fraxi becomes infected with chalara, Woody must decide how best to help her and the rest of the trees in the forest. Incredible costumes, a fun caterpillar sidekick and snippets of information about forest ecosystems and their environmental and social significance make this show a great way of encouraging children to care about nature.

 

Fringe 23.35pm: Lungs

Lungs openly addresses sustainability, looking at it from the perspective of two adults having a “conversation” over whether or not to bring a child into this world. They consider both the carbon impact of a child, comparing the weight in carbon to the weight of the Eiffel Tower, and the question of whether they should want to bring a child into the world when it is such a mess. The story brings you face to face with the reality of many unspoken truths.

The two actors were fully exposed to the audience in the center of the Roundabout theatre, which, for such an intimate and emotionally intense performance, worked perfectly. The story is heartwarming, saddening, funny and very current, and if performed by two very talented actors.

 

For details on the Fringe Sustainable Practice Awards Ceremony on 28 August, check out are event page here.

 

If you are interested in sustainability in the Fringe, the Fringe Swap Shop (formerly known as the Reuse & Recycle Days) occurs each year at the end of August and is a great opportunity for companies, individuals, and those that have participated in the Fringe to dispose of any unwanted props, sets and costumes. We’d also like to encourage anyone, fringe participant or not, to come along to pickup and re-use the dropped off materials – it’s a swap shop after all!

 

Image, Brown Linen Lace Coptic Journal, courticy of Samandra Vieira

 

The post #GreenFest: FSPA Shortlist Diary No.2 appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

———-

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

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#GreenFests: Harry Potter and the Greening of the Publishing Industry

Creative Carbon Scotland

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

The Edinburgh International Book Festival launched into action on Saturday with a hugely varied and exciting programme of events, discussing everything from mental health to terrorism, drugs to the BBC. We’ll be covering many of these – especially those that engage with environmental and social sustainability – on our #GreenFests blog (so watch this space), but I thought I’d pre-empt discussions about sustainable literary content by looking behind the scenes and exploring the practical sustainability challenges facing the industry today.

According to the Environmental Trends and Climate Impacts: Findings for the U.S. Book Industry report, a carbon footprint assessment found that the entire book industry, through all steps of production, retail, and publishing activities, emits around 4kg of CO2e per book. That’s 12.3 million tons of CO2e a year in the U.S. book industry alone. Most of this comes from a loss of carbon storage capacity through deforestation (as wood fibre is required to make paper), the energy required in the manufacturing process, and emissions resulting from transportation and book decomposition in landfill.

The book industry is turning over a new leaf however (if you’ll excuse the pun), as actions are taken to reduce these impacts. A significant proportion of companies involved in book publishing and retailing now have comprehensive environmental policies that take sustainability into account every step of the way. One particularly promising trend is the increased uptake of post-consumer recycled fibre (recycled paper) for books. In 2004, only 2.5% of paper used was recycled. This had risen to 13.3% in 2007, with every sign that the trajectory would continue.

Indeed, Edinburgh can take some pride in this as it is due, in part, to the work of Edinburgh-based author J.K. Rowling, creator oUntitledf the Harry Potter series. Rowling helped to ensure that the last book in the series (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) was the most environmentally friendly in publishing history. 16 countries printed the book on eco-friendly paper, up from a single publisher in 2003, saving 197,685 trees and 7.9 million kg of greenhouse gases. This also led to many printers stocking eco-friendly papers for the first time, an initiative that has continued.

The uptake of recycled paper will also have a positive effect on the reduction of other environmental impacts as well. Making paper from recycled materials is generally a cleaner and more efficient process than making paper from virgin fibre, as much of the work of extracting and bleaching the fibres has already been done. This results in less air and water pollution, as well as a reduction in energy usage of 20-30%.

The adoption of environmentally-friendly practices makes economic, as well as environmental, sense. Whilst it is marginally more expensive to print books using non-recycled paper, the savings are minimal – especially when consumer preference is taken into consideration. Research in the Environmental Trends and Climate Impacts report mentioned earlier suggests that 79% of consumers are willing to pay more for books on recycled paper. Couple this with the more secure resource-base that recycled paper provides (several regions where book paper fibre is procured are being considered for protection and so will no longer be available to exploit) and a strong economic argument can be made.

Of course, another way to minimise the environmental impacts of the publishing industry would be to produce fewer books. The rise of e-readers and e-books is here argued by many to be a step in the right direction. However, it has also been argued that they are just as bad, if not worse, for the environment because of the emissions generated in the running of servers and the manufacturing process. The jury is still out as to which is the better approach, though see here to learn more about the discussion and the arguments on both sides.

Then there is always the old-fashioned approach of libraries. Is it really necessary for us all to own our own copies of every book? As we struggle to store our ever-increasing collections, more and more books end up being thrown away creating problems further down the line. This could be solved if only we were willing to borrow rather than buy. Unfortunately, this is getting harder to do as government austerity measures have resulted in over 324 libraries being closed since 2011, with another 500 under threat.

This doesn’t mean that eco-friendly book consumption is impossible if you don’t have access to a library. In recent years, many book swap shop facilities (Read It Swap It for example) have become available that allow you to swap one of your books for someone else’s. This is effectively the same as a library except you are also contributing to the collection and is a great way of discovering books that you might never have otherwise encountered.

If you want to learn more about sustainability and the publishing industry click here.

Also, if you have any thoughts or ideas about sustainability in the book industry or the pros and cons of e-readers and library services we’d love to hear them. Post them on our Facebook page or tweet us @CCScotland using #GreenFests.

Top image courtesy of Paul Mood

 

 

The post #GreenFests: Harry Potter and the Greening of the Publishing Industry appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

———-

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

Powered by WPeMatico

COP21 – The most important meeting this century?

Creative Carbon Scotland

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

Creative Carbon Scotland Director Ben Twist reflects on the background to ArtCOP Scotland

What is COP21?

COP21 is the 21st annual Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (the UNFCCC), a treaty about addressing climate change. Technically it’s the annual meeting of the 196 signatory countries to the UNFCCC to discuss progress towards its aims, but in fact it is also a meeting about progress on related agreements. Most years the COP is attended by civil servants and junior ministers, but in important years like this you can expect major world leaders like Obama, Xi and Putin to attend the ‘high level section’ at the end of the COP. Non-governmental organisations such as charities, pressure groups and business organisations also attend and the big ones (like Copenhagen’s COP15 in 2009) see demonstrations and protests. COP21 in Paris from 30th November to 11th December 2015 will attract up to 40,000 people.

A bit of history

In 1992 the Rio Earth Summit adopted the UNFCCC, setting out a legal framework for stabilising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to avoid “dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.” (Margaret Thatcher strongly supported the Rio Summit and possibly action on climate change.) The UNFCCC was deliberately a ‘broad but shallow’ agreement which almost any country could agree to, as there was nothing in it that required action. It came into force once enough countries had signed it in 1994. A sub-agreement, the Kyoto Protocol, was signed by many countries in 1997, but only after significant weakening concessions had been made did Russia ratify it, enabling it to come into force in 2005. This ‘narrow but deep’ agreement committed industrialised countries and countries ‘in transition to a market economy’ to reduce carbon emissions by an average of 5% by 2012. Damagingly the Kyoto Protocol wasn’t ratified by the US or Australia, two very large carbon emitters. It also didn’t require China, India, Saudi Arabia or other developing countries with increasing carbon emissions to take any action, on the grounds that it was the industrialised countries which had caused the historic carbon emissions.

COP15 in 2009 was meant to decide upon a much wider and stronger agreement to follow on from the Kyoto Protocol, which would commit many more countries (including the US, Australia, China etc) to meaningful cuts in carbon emissions from 2013 onwards. It is widely considered to have failed, possibly because it didn’t connect development from poverty (which the developing countries argued they needed) with the need to address climate change: the poor always suffer more from climate change and don’t have the means to address the problem.

The COPs since 2009 have therefore been working to agree a post-Kyoto structure that will resolve these problems, bringing in more countries and linking development and climate action. Adaptation to the already visible impacts of climate change, which is particularly relevant to the developing countries, and finance to enable poorer countries to develop sustainably, are important parts of the new structure. Significant commitments by China and the US to carbon reductions have helped build confidence that a real and deep agreement might be reached. At the same time the Fifth Assessment Report in 2014 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UNFCCC’s expert panel reporting on the science of climate change, has both strengthened the case for and heightened awareness of the urgency of the problem. COP21 is therefore a BIG COP, and much is hanging on the outcome.

How it works

In between COPs there are regular meetings of the countries’ negotiators in various groups and pathways, working on individual bits of the overall agreement. They work in small groups, trying to refine their bit of the text to a manageable size that the COP can finally debate and get agreement on: the COP consists of 190-odd countries working in different languages, all wanting to have their say, so you don’t want to have too much to argue about. The aim is to arrive at Paris with a text that is mostly agreed, with the minimum amount of [text in square brackets], which are bits of text that have not already been agreed. The text for discussion will include many versions of any disputed text, each in separate [square brackets]. The job of the negotiators and junior ministers at the COP itself is to agree the final version with no [square brackets].

What we should expect

At the COP there will be a main hall where the plenary session takes place and a number of smaller rooms where different groups will debate the different sections. They will hope to get all the work done in the first 10 days or so before the High Level Section when the world leaders will [jet in] [arrive] to [argue about and change] [sign] the final document. [That won’t happen: the juniors won’t be able to agree, the top dogs will fly in and the negotiations will go on long past the deadline until a deal is put together by the key players: the US, China, the EU, Japan [, India, Brazil, Russia.]]

There will be lots of others there: charities, pressure groups, lobbyists etc. At the Copenhagen COP there was effectively a trade show in the large hall before you got to the debating area: hundreds of companies and charities displaying their technologies, making their arguments to the delegates, even in one case demonstrating what looked to me like a perpetual motion machine! There are lots of ‘side events’: debates, talks, discussions, presentations. It is like a medium sized town: there are banks of free computers to use, cafes and restaurants, ATMs and VIP areas. [Probably bedrooms for tired diplomats.]

Is it worth it?

Strangely, I’d say that it is. Although the process burns a massive amount of carbon, seems almost hopeless and very far removed from what individuals and organisations and governments are actually doing, and could be argued to have failed thus far, the COPs do provide a context for individual countries’ efforts, and the efforts of those within them. Multilateral and bilateral agreements can aim towards the overall targets set; the Cancun Agreements from the 2010 COP set for the first time the target of a maximum 2⁰C increase in global temperatures, which is now the basis for lots of countries’ efforts.

My view is that although a binding international treaty is never going to really work, it sets the context for decisions and provides ammunition for political, society and business leaders who want to propose action. I don’t expect the 2015 COP to solve all the problems, but I do think it may help us on our way.

Image: COP15 delegate sleeping. Image courtesy of UN Climate Change and 最後のはオマケの本会議よりも元気がありそうな人達。

 

The post COP21 – The most important meeting this century? appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

———-

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

Powered by WPeMatico

#GreenFests: Tragedy strikes the clowns as wigs no match for wind

Creative Carbon Scotland, Fringe

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is in full swing. The city is alive with the sounds of buskers and acapella groups, the sights of technicolour costumes, bizarre make-up, incredible acrobatics and somehow every building has become a venue (which makes sense since there are over 3000 events to accommodate!). A new venue of note is the Underbelly’s Circus Hub, the first major venue dedicated to circus at the Edinburgh Fringe, and now in pride of place on the Meadows.

The Underbelly Circus Hub comprises  two venues: Lafayette, named after the great magician and illusionist who sadly perished in a fire at an Edinburgh theatre in 1911, and Beauty, named after Lafayette’s beloved dog given to him by Harry Houdini himself. These venues have been specially adapted to allow for an unprecedented level of circus work at the Fringe: work that’s both technically ambitious and spectacular to behold.

Alas, the misfortune of Lafayette seems to have been transferred to the venue that bears his name. Whilst the rest of the Fringe launched into action on Friday 7th August, all shows at Lafayette were postponed until the following Monday as gusting winds prevented the tent from being erected. Fortunately, this has now been remedied and Lafayette is up and running in all its glory.

However, this is not the first time that extreme weather has resulted in the delay, or even cancellation, of an Edinburgh festival. In 2003/2004, the Hogmanay celebrations had to be cancelled at the last minute due to high winds and rain. This happened again for Hogmanay 2006/2007, despite investments in more robust staging, equipment and weatherproof fireworks, when wind speeds reached upwards of 70mph. Furthermore, in 2013 the Edinburgh MELA had to close early, also on account of high winds.

It is not only Edinburgh festivals that are being adversely affected by unusual weather events. The Veld Music Festival – held annually in Toronto, Canada – had to be cancelled this year due to high winds, hail and torrential rain. The Lollapalooza, another North American music festival, also had a premature finish as a quickly moving severe thunderstorm swept through the area. Across the globe, extreme weather is increasingly frustrating and foiling the plans of festivalgoers.

An increased frequency of extreme weather events is one of the predicted effects of climate change. Of course, no single meteorological event can be directly ascribed to climate change. It is irrefutable, however, that the climate is changing:

  • Global temperatures are rising, with all 10 of the warmest years on record occurring in the past 12 years.
  • Between 1961 and 2004, Scotland’s annual precipitation increased by 21%. In northern Scotland, winter precipitation increased by almost 70%
  • Heavy rainfall events have also become more common over the last 45 years
  • Severe windstorms have increased in frequency
  • The number of climate-related disasters has increased from approximately 200 per year in the 1990s to 350 per year in the 2000s.

[Data from: NASA, Visit Scotland, and the Climate Centre]

Overall, the key climate change trends that are predicted for Scotland include hotter, drier summers with more heat waves, extreme temperatures and droughts, and milder, wetter autumns and winters, with more frequent and extreme precipitation events. As we have seen, such extreme weather events have an adverse effect upon our festivals. They can result in lower visitor numbers, disruption of road and rail infrastructure, and disruption of ICT links, not to mention the high costs of damage repair and adaptation work.

It’s not all doom and gloom though. Action is being taken to mitigate climate change and to develop technologies and infrastructure that will help us to adapt. The arts can play a significant role in both of these activities. Through creativity and ingenuity, they can help us envision worlds and ways of being and encourage us to transform ours for the better. Through the visual arts, music, film, literature etc. alternative approaches and ideas can be explored, debated and matured. Indeed, this is already happening and where better to see it than at the world’s biggest art festival – the Fringe here in Edinburgh. You just have to look at the shortlist for the 2015 Fringe Sustainable Practice Award to see many examples of creative engagement with sustainability issues.

While the winds that prevented Lafayette opening on time may or may not be a result of climate change, we know that climate change is causing extreme weather events and that such events do adversely affect festivals. But festivals are a melting pot for artistic ideas; ideas which can change the way that we see and interact with the world; ideas which can encourage us to take mitigative action and aid us in adapting to a changing world. If successful, then the very people that make up the festivals that we love may be the ones who save them in the future.

[Top image courtesy of Michael MacLeod via STV Edinburgh]

The post #GreenFests: Tragedy strikes the clowns as wigs no match for wind appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

———-

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

Powered by WPeMatico

#GreenFests: Green denim – would you rent a pair of jeans?

Creative Carbon Scotland

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

Sustainability was a major theme at this year’s Edinburgh International Fashion Festival. Events included a Sustainability Symposium where a panel examined whether a sustainable fashion industry is achievable, a screening of new documentary The True Cost and a talk Future of Fashion – Love, Lease, Lend which involved a presentation by MUD Jeans CEO and founder Bert van Son, in partnership with Zero Waste Scotland.

MUD Jeans is a Dutch denim brand which works completely according to the principles of the circular economy, where waste is seen as a commodity rather than as a regrettable by-product. Instead of buying your jeans in the conventional way, you lease them; the jeans are yours but the denim from which they are made is not. When you no longer want the jeans you return them and MUD will either upcycle them into a unique vintage pair (named after their previous owner in a pleasant personal touch) or they will be completely recycled. The recycled cotton is blended with fresh organic cotton and the resulting thread (30% recycled cotton; 70% organic) used to make more jeans. There is no waste.

Cotton Lease, the name of this novel approach, was inspired by van Son’s experiences as a worker in China’s textile industry. Here he experienced first-hand the negative effects of fast fashion (i.e. the incredibly quick turnover of designs from catwalk to high street) on workers, as well as the massive environmental costs. He endeavoured to try and change this by changing the way that we consume. For example, the environmental damage is greatly reduced by using recycled cotton, as the production of denim from scratch requires a huge amount of water and pesticides.

They’re also working to improve social conditions. MUD Jeans work with the Better Cotton Initiative, which works to reduce the damaging effects of global cotton production on people and the environment, and with the Fair Wear Foundation to ensure decent working conditions. It also avoids the time pressure of fast fashion by developing a collection of varied styles, accommodating fleeting trends as well as classic designs. This means that workers are not required to have dangerous work patterns associated with rapid turnover.

So there are lots of positives to the Cotton Lease model. What about negatives? What if you want to keep the jeans? Does it work out more expensive to rent than to buy? Both of these concerns are easily accommodated. You can buy the jeans in the traditional manner if you so desire, for a price similar to renting for 12 months – though MUD Jeans do ask that you still send them back when you’re done. Alternatively,  you can extend the lease (and still have access to the free repair service). There are options to suit all.

Of course, it’s not all rosy. New cotton must still be produced, and energy and water are expended during the recycling and manufacturing processes. But compared to the rest of the world, MUD jeans are wearing a far greener shade than most.

For more information, check out their website at: http://www.mudjeans.eu/

Jeans cost €7.50/month to lease.

[Image: http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-jeans-circle-image23373639]

The post #GreenFests: Green denim – would you rent a pair of jeans? appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

———-

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

Powered by WPeMatico

More tickets released for ‘Achieving Social Change, Festival by Festival’ with Stella Hall

Creative Carbon Scotland, Fringe

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

Due to popular demand, we have moved our upcoming discussion event ‘Achieving Social Change, Festival by Festival‘ to a larger venue, now taking place on Thursday 20th August at 4pm at Fringe Central 2. This event will be led with a discussion by Stella Hall, founder of Newcastle’s Juice, EAT and Enchanted Parks festivals and current director of Darlington’s award-winning Festival of Thrift. Drawing on her considerable festival involvement, Stella will discuss the potential of festivals to affect social change, including the opportunities and challenges of distributing leadership under a cohesive festival programme.

The discussion event marks the fifth year of event programming by CCS to bring internationally-renowned speakers to Edinburgh during the buzzing August festivals, with the aims of widening conversations of how festivals can affect positive social and environmental change. Last year, in partnership with Festivals Edinburgh, we hosted ‘Can Festivals Change the World?’ with Di Robson. Attended to maximum capacity, this event brought together an international audience of festival organisers, arts administrators and creatives to respond to Di Robson’s provocations, based on her extensive experiences in organising festivals across the world. The wealth of thoughts and ideas shared at this event proved the demand for this discussion, utilising Edinburgh’s August Festivals as a key time and place for this knowledge gathering and exchange.

‘Achieving Social Change, Festival by Festival‘ will gather leaders in the creative sector from the UK and abroad, offering the chance for new international connections and collaborations to be established. While a new venue has been secured to allow for a larger number of attendees, tickets are still required for this event. Secure your space today to take part in this opportunity by registering for tickets through the Fringe Box Office.

More details about ‘Achieving Social Change, Festival by Festival‘ can be found on our event page.

The post More tickets released for ‘Achieving Social Change, Festival by Festival’ with Stella Hall appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

———-

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

Powered by WPeMatico

#GreenFests: Swap Shop allows shows to be sustainable beyond the Fringe

Creative Carbon Scotland, Fringe

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

The Fringe Swap Shop (formerly known as the Reuse & Recycle Days) is an established sustainability initiative run by The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, with support from Creative Carbon Scotland and Festivals Edinburgh. It occurs each year at the end of August and is a great opportunity for companies, individuals, and those that have participated in the Fringe to dispose of any unwanted props, sets and costumes in an easy, inexpensive and sustainable manner, whilst also sourcing new materials for future productions.

The sheer variety of materials available for collection mirrors the range and diversity of the Fringe itself. The Swap Shop quickly becomes filled with all manner of weird and wonderful objects, from a classroom whiteboard to motorcycle helmets, a comedy (or tragedy – who are we to limit your imagination?) door-on-wheels to a claw-footed bath tub and two three-seater sofas. There are also plenty of raw materials deposited, waiting to be re-purposed into whatever you desire. Wood, paper, plastic, and metal were all dropped off in force last year, as can be seen in our time lapse video of the event.

Whilst only Fringe participants are allowed to donate items, everyone and anyone is allowed to come and collect items of interest and use. The props and costumes are perfect for companies planning on putting on future productions, while the raw materials can be of great use to artists and craftspeople.

It is always interesting to hear what happens to the objects and materials after they’ve been picked up. For example, a jewellery designer based in Edinburgh took advantage of the 2014 event to collect several materials that she would have otherwise been unable to source within her budget. Packaging pellets, which cannot be recycled and would have had to be sent to landfill, were one of the key items the designer was keen to take back to her studio, where a community of ceramicists are constantly looking for ways to protect their products in transit. She also took home some select pieces of wood – a material that was donated in unprecedented amounts last year. She got back in touch with Creative Carbon Scotland to explain the outcomes of her visit:

Desk“I’m a self-employed jewellery graduate who is really struggling to afford the realities of setting up my own studio. The recycling day was a lifesaver as I managed to build my very own jewellery bench. With these costing upwards of £100 I couldn’t have afforded one but with the help of the Reuse and Recycle Days (and my dad’s building expertise) I now have a beautiful recycled bench all of my own and can begin working again. I also managed to get a few side tables that will be perfect for my studio and really help to make it feel more professional and organised.”

A theatre maker from Aberfeldy, Perthshire, was also enthused by materials he collected during the day. He told Creative Carbon Scotland of his plans to build a new theatre on the site of an old one that had been destroyed, using entirely reused and recycled materials. Items donated donating during the 2014 event included tens of small stools, all of which were taken back to Aberfeldy to be used for seating in this project.

Whilst we encourage people to take as much as they give (if not more!), any materials that are not picked up and re-homed are recycled by ScotWaste. This ensures that as little as possible is sent to landfill. We also donate any good quality pieces, especially furniture, to local charity shops making the Swap Shop good both for the environment and the community as a whole.

Although in previous years, the event has accepted paper for recycling, this year’s Swap Shop will focus on reusable goods. Keep an eye on this CCS blog for further updates in this area. 

This year, the Swap Shop will take place from Sunday 30th August to Tuesday 1st September 2015 from 11am to 6pm. For further details, click here.

Have you participated in the Swap Shop in the past? If so, we’d love to hear what you did with the materials that you collected. Please send your stories to kitty.dutton@creativecarbonscotland.com.

The post #GreenFests: Swap Shop allows shows to be sustainable beyond the Fringe appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

———-

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

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Opportunity: Open Call for Re:See It 3

Creative Carbon Scotland

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

Artists and creative practitioners are invited to submit proposals for artworks and workshops for this year’s Re:See It Exhibition, hosted by Edinburgh Palette and Gayfield Creative Spaces. 

As part of ArtCOP Scotland, this year’s submissions are open to the Edinburgh Green Tease network as well as Edinburgh Palette studio holders!

Exhibition brief: 

Artists and creative practitioners in Edinburgh are invited to submit high quality artwork proposals for our 3rd Re:See it exhibition. This exhibition focuses on environmental sustainability and climate change and your positive personal roles and responses towards it. This 3rd Re:See It extends its reach and calls on the communities engaged with Creative Carbon Scotland Edinburgh and the Green Tease Network in addition to tenants of St Margaret’s House.

Workshop proposals brief: 

Alongside the exhibition, artists/creative practitioners/makers/thinkers in Edinburgh are invited to submit proposals for creative and thought provoking workshops, events and talks to take place during Re:See it exhibition at St Margaret’s House or during the subsequent ArtCOP Hub events at Gayfield Creative Spaces.

What is Re:See it about?

Re:see the connection and meaning– how do you connect with what is happening to our planet with relation to climate change and the need for environmental sustainability? How can we go beyond despair and find more hopeful and positive possibilities through your creative expression? How can you help others connect? Consider the meaning of your work, how might its meaning affect other people’s awareness?

Re:see your impact and role– How do your materials and processes impact the planet? Consider the processes and materials that you use in your work. for example you may want to reuse or repurpose, or research environmentally responsible materials and ways of making. Consider your role and the contribution that you can make in creating a more sustainable future. You may wish to consider topic areas covered in the current UN sustainable development goals. For more detail on SDGs https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/focussdgs.html

This exhibition and events will be promoted in the lead up to ArtCOP Scotland programme, running alongside COP21 climate talks Paris, December 2015. Works may also be considered and selected, with artist consent, for additional exhibition as part of the ArtCOP Scotland Hub at Gayfield Creative Spaces during the COP21 Talks in December (to be confirmed).

Deadline:

Artwork and Workshop Proposal submission deadline is 5pm Friday 21st August. Successful proposal notification Friday 4th September.

Apply:

Click here to download the Re:See It Artworks Proposal Form

Click here to download the Re:See It Workshops Proposal Form

Email completed proposal document and images to greenteam@edinburghpalette.co.uk

Exhibition dates

St Margaret’s House, 151 London Road, Gallery 2 & 3

Saturday 24th October – Monday 16th November 2015

Opening night Friday 23rd  6:30pm-10pm

Gayfield Creative Spaces, 11 Gayfield Square

Saturday 5th – Sunday 13th December 2015

Opening night Friday 4th December 6:30pm-10pm

Click here for more information on ArtCOP Scotland.

Image credit (from left to right): Will Mcevoy, Eleanor Symms, Sheila Masson

 

The post Opportunity: Open Call for Re:See It 3 appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

———-

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

Powered by WPeMatico

#GreenFests: FSPA Shortlist Diary No.1

Creative Carbon Scotland

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

At the end of July we announced the 2015 Fringe Sustainable Practice Award shortlist. Two weeks on from this and Edinburgh has been transformed: the Fringe has hit! Consequently, we have finally begun the reviewing process of our 21 shortlisted shows. Over the next three weeks we will update you on the shows we have seen, how they exist in real time and in what ways they are addressing sustainability.

For more information on the 21 shortlisted Fringe shows, click here.

This week our reviewers, from the Centre for Sustainable Practice in the Arts and Creative Carbon Scotland, have been kept on their toes, managing to fit in 7 shows in just 6 days! Here is our shortlist diary so far:

 

We May Have to ChooseSaturday 8th  3pm:  We May Have To Choose

“Farting breaks the ice. Ice caps are good places for Japanese Butoh dancing. Dancing fills your body with happy chemicals. Chemicals are destroying the oceans. Antarctica is not a good place to visit. The polar bears are angry with you.”

We May Have to Choose tackles the thoughts in our heads, the things we hear on the news, the actions we see on the street: in gentle confrontation. Emma Hall manages to capture the audience’s attention with the familiar and unfamiliar, forcing us to examine the interconnectedness of opinions and actions, and the societal pressures that influence our daily choices. The phrase ‘In my opinion…’ now seems of utmost importance to state.

 

Bayou BluesSunday 9th  3.45pm:  Bayou Blues

Bayou Blues addresses the social domain of sustainability; dealing with issues of colour and race, presented as the experiences of a young girl growing up in the bayou of New Orleans.

Writer and performer, Shaine Lynn, leads a captivating strong performance. The audience is drawn into each moment of joy and struggle the young girl faces, as the show progresses through scenes of her life. Lynn masters all forms of performance, including a series of monologues, song, poetry, and dance. The multi-media production includes a series of short animations, all beautifully in sync with the themes of the performance.

 

GardenMonday 10th  3.30pm:  Garden

“I stick my tongue out a tiny bit. Just a tiny bit. To see what the soil, the ground, the earth tastes like…”

Garden looks at both the loneliness of many current modern day lifestyles, and the inherent desire of humans to reconnect with nature. The performance follows an isolated lonely woman from London, working as the photocopier and printer girl in a dead end office job. Lucy Grace leads the audience down the ever-unhinging tale of this city dweller’s journey into the natural world.

For a one-woman show the stage was a marvellous small space that grew with the content of the performance: banners, pot plants, glitter and ivy all inhabited the space by the end of the hour.

 

FrankensteinTuesday 11th  6.45pm:  Frankenstein

This new adaptation of Frankenstein highlights the prescience of Shelley’s classic novel; asking us to examine the monsters we create, and the ones that live within us. The production evokes the audience to probe questions, such as; how can we carry out personal responsibility, what is the new path that will guide us, and, what are the present agreements we have made that threaten our species?

Frankenstein took a sustainable approach to the design of their show. They used recycled berry netting for their set and have been recycling and re-using their costumes for the past 30 years. The company’s goal is to keep introducing sustainable aspects of theatre into their show to promote the importance of sustainability through art.

 

To SpaceWednesday 12th  5pm:  To Space

An engaging and intelligent performer opens up the world of the scientist and would-be astronaut. Niamh Shaw conveys the excitement of an 8 year-old, watching Star Wars for the first time, and takes the audience on an expedition through the astronaut potential of a girl who dreams of going to space.

Sitting in the Dissection Room of Summerhall, as Shaw’s aspirations and achievements are exposed and documented, ‘To Space’ makes us all question our position when it comes to an environment where the primary attraction is the extreme unknown.

For NASA’s interactive evidence of global climate change, click here.

 

Sing For Your Life8.40pm:  Sing For Your Life

Celebrated taxidermy artist Charlie Tuesday Gates scraped animals from the road, bought deceased dogs on Gumtree and revived the family pet to create this cabaret from the Underworld.

Sing for Your Life was one of the most disgusting and yet highly entertaining shows at the Fringe. The singing and dancing taxidermied puppets, handled superbly by a young cast, used the spotlight to highlight issues such as animal testing, overbreeding, mass-production, unnecessary culling and the problems of invasive species. Despite the seriousness of these issues, they were dealt with in an enjoyable and comical fashion, whilst still proving extremely thought provoking.

 

NdebeleFuneralThursday 13th  1pm:  Ndebele Funeral

Ndebele Funeral looks at contemporary South Africa through the meeting of three characters in Soweto shantytown. The production examines the characters’ aspirations and losses, as they quarrel with the notions of fate and choice.

The impacts of decades of social change and the AIDS epidemic are exposed within a one-room set constructed of scavenged corrugated metal, cardboard and wood: the politics of which are further demonstrated through the clipboard-documentation and the multiple interpretations of the term ‘affirmative action’.
Careful storytelling is blended with call-and-response song, powerful choreographed movement and quick dialogue to transport the viewer to the Southern Hemisphere, and a social environment of danger, fear and violence. In these moments the emotionally intense performance became irresistibly alive and dynamic.

Our next Fringe Sustainable Practice Award shortlist diary will be out next Thursday, the 20th August. Be sure to have a read, as our reviewers will have 8 new shows to report back on!

For details on the Fringe Sustainable Practice Award Ceremony on 28th August at 4pm, check out our event page here.

If you are interested in sustainability in the Fringe, the Fringe Swap Shop (formerly known as the Reuse & Recycle Days) occurs each year at the end of August and is a great opportunity for companies, individuals, and those that have participated in the Fringe to dispose of any unwanted props, sets and costumes. We’d also like to encourage anyone, fringe participant or not, to come along to pickup and re-use the dropped off materials – it’s a swap shop after all!

Image, Brown Linen Lace Coptic Journal, courticy of Samandra Vieira

The post #GreenFests: FSPA Shortlist Diary No.1 appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

———-

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

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#GreenFests: Tips & Tricks for Sustainable Festivals

Creative Carbon Scotland, Fringe

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

1. Use your own water bottle and encourage staff and audiences to do the same. Make sure that everyone knows where they can fill them up too.

2. Find out the location of the nearest recycling facilities and actively advocate their usage. Landfill should be a last resort!

3. Opt for sustainable forms of transport – especially cycling and walking. Websites like www.walkit.com and www.edinburgh.cyclestreets.net can be used to find new routes and avoid the manic festival traffic

4. Always use recycled and/or recyclable paper. The price difference is often negligible while the environmental benefits are huge. See here to learn more about your paper options.

5. Use the Fringe Swap Shop. At the end of the festivals, don’t throw everything away! Bring along any good quality props, costumes, and set materials that you no longer want to the Fringe Swap Shop, running 11am-6pm from Sunday 30th August through to Tuesday 1st Here they can be collected and reused by other productions and members of the local community. You might even find something you like for yourselves! Contact participants@edfringe.com for full details.

6. Join the Green Arts Initiative. Members of the GAI commit to helping to grow a sustainable arts sector for Scotland by reducing their environmental impact and sharing their green ambitions with audiences and artists. This is supported by Creative Carbon Scotland and Festivals Edinburgh, and you will join a community of practice of same-minded and mutually supporting organisations.

7. Follow our blog and twitter campaign #GreenFests where we will be posting case-studies of best practice and reviewing and promoting festival shows, especially those involved with the Fringe Sustainable Practice Award.

8. Check out the Fringe Sustainable Practice Guide for further ideas (click here for the guide)

We’d love to know how you get on or if you have any other ideas on how to be green at this summer’s festivals. Let us know via Twitter @CCScotland, our Facebook page or – if social media’s not your thing – email us at info@creativecarbonscotland.com. We will be posting on festival sustainability throughout the summer under #GreenFests so get in touch!

[Image: ‘Dancers on the Royal Mile’ courtesy of Edinburgh Festival City]

The post #GreenFests: Tips & Tricks for Sustainable Festivals appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

———-

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

Powered by WPeMatico