8th of February 2023 BBC The Social and Creative Carbon Scotland ran a workshop on creating video content about climate change, how to raise awareness, cut through the noise and engage people. 

BBC The Social is a talent development project at BBC Scotland. They work with new content creators from all across Scotland and have helped develop people’s skills to get media industry jobs and also helped them develop content for the BBC Scotland channel, iPlayer and beyond. They work with new creators and publish their content on social and digital channels and people get paid when their content is published. Read more here. 

At this Green Tease event BBC The Social were looking for the next generation of passionate creators who make compelling content about the climate crisis and have real impact. Here’s a collection of their previous content on the environment. First Ryan Pasi, Content Producer, BBC The Social, introduced BBC the Social and the challenge of making engaging content on climate. Some of the biggest challenges he pointed out were that people when confronted with the climate crisis easily can feel disempowered, and overwhelmed and it can feel like something distant. 

Communicating the climate crisis in different ways 

The main speaker of the evening, Christina Sinclair shared her journey from a BBC the Social contributor to an Assistant Producer with the Natural History Unit on Frozen Planet II’s digital campaign. She focused on her own learnings on how to make engaging environmental content. The key message was that today everyone is aware of climate change but the perceptions of it vary: no one piece is going to engage everyone on climate, so the more diverse content the better.  

For Frozen Planet, they have created a range of pieces to reach different audiences. Some of their videos call for a sense of urgency by sharing powerful imagery of climate disasters and emotive stories from people who are impacted. Others invite people to reflect upon our connection to nature by, for example, inviting indigenous people to share their knowledge. Finally, they produce videos that focus on hope and inspiration to tackle climate change, which are just as important as the ones that communicate urgency. Finally, she gave her top tips on communicating the climate crisis.  

Top three tips in communicate the climate crisis 

1. Knowing your audience 

The most important tip is to tailor your content to your audience. People’s perceptions, experiences, feelings and knowledge of climate vary and so should the content. The first step should therefore always be to find information on the audience such as demographic, geographic, lifestyle, and interests. The better you can identify the interest of your audience, the better the content you can create to engage them.  

1. Be creative 

Content on climate does not have to be about science or environmental impacts. We need to have conversations about all aspects of our life. Christina Sinclair’s advice is to be creative and think about any aspect of your life and then connect it to climate change. She also encourages people to be creative about formats. Think of comedy, cooking, dancing or other creative elements to start the conversation.  

1. Focus on what matters to you  

Choose a topic you are passionate about. If it matters to you, it will shine through. So whether it’s food, theatre, sport, oceans, travel… make content on that.  

Pitching ideas 

After Christina Sinclair’s presentation people went into breakout groups to create ideas for a short video on climate. When people came back, they pitched their idea to BBC The Social. One was about finding inspiration in what granny would do because older generations often lived a lot more sustainably and another was about eco-anxiety and creating community. If you are interested in reading more about BBC The Social you can read more here. 

About Green Tease 

The Green Tease events series and network is a project organised by Creative Carbon Scotland, bringing together people from arts and environmental backgrounds to discuss, share expertise, and collaborate. Green Tease forms part of our culture/SHIFT programme. 

Submit an idea to the Green Tease Call for Collaborators 

The Green Tease Call for Collaborators is a funded opportunity for artists, cultural and environmental sustainability organisations to co-organise an event with us and contribute to the development of the Green Tease network. Find out more and submit your ideas for a Green Tease event.

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Creative Carbon Scotland (CCS), the arts and sustainability charity, and Vattenfall, the energy company working toward fossil-free living within one generation, are delighted to announce a deal that sees Vattenfall become a corporate sponsor of SPRINGBOARD, Creative Carbon Scotland’s newest initiative to harness the power of the arts and culture for the transformation to a net-zero, climate-ready Scotland and world. 

SPRINGBOARD: assembly for creative climate action, taking place online 27 February – 2 March, is a key part of the multi-faceted SPRINGBOARD project, and Vattenfall is providing financial support that helps ensure that cultural and climate actors from across Scotland will be able to attend amidst the cost-of-living crisis.

CCS Director Ben Twist said: ‘This partnership between CCS and Vattenfall makes great sense. Vattenfall values the roles of the arts and culture and community engagement in achieving its objectives as a renewable energy leader. CCS, for more than a decade, has been helping the cultural sector become sustainable itself, lend its unique creativity to collaborations on climate change, and use its voice and influence for the transformation to a fairer, greener society.’

Frank Elsworth, Head of Onshore Wind Development UK at Vattenfall, said: ‘Our goal is to make fossil free living possible within a generation. Across our wind farm sites, we have a history of involving our communities through art and culture in our projects – from artist residencies at our wind farms to community art and cultural initiatives. We’re delighted to support people across Scotland to get involved in this exciting event.’

SPRINGBOARD takes the nascent, growing collaboration between people and organisations working on culture and those working on climate change to the next level. It is bringing together cultural, environmental and community organisations and individual practitioners, local authorities, businesses, charities, government and public organisations to collaborate on the transformational change needed to address the climate emergency. 

Learn more and keep up to date on SPRINGBOARD here.

About Creative Carbon Scotland: Creative Carbon Scotland believes in the essential role of the arts, screen, cultural and creative industries in contributing to the transformational change to a more environmentally sustainable Scotland. We work directly with individuals, organisations and strategic bodies engaged across cultural and sustainability sectors to harness the role of culture in achieving this change. Through year-round work and one-off projects, we combine strategic expertise and consultancy; bespoke carbon management training and guidance; and a range of programmes supporting the development of artistic practices in Scotland which address sustainability and climate change. Stay in touch with us via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

About Vattenfall: Vattenfall is one of Europe’s largest producers and retailers of electricity and heat with approximately 20,000 employees. For more than 100 years we have electrified industries, supplied energy to people’s homes and modernised our way of living through innovation and cooperation. We now want to make fossil free living possible within one generation. Visit www.vattenfall.com/uk  [opens in a new tab].

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This year, Creative Carbon Scotland has again supported cultural organisations to measure and manage their environmental impact through our environmental reporting programme.

As part of the journey to net zero by 2045 (at the very latest!), and in collaboration with our arts funding partners, this programme aims to increase environmental stewardship in the sector and drive ambition for transformational change within arts and culture, and beyond.

We received reports this year from 133 organisations across three groups:

1. Edinburgh Festivals, who are members of Environmental Sustainability Working Group (ESWG)
2. Organisations receiving revenue funding from the City of Edinburgh Council – Culture Service
3. Creative Scotland regularly funded organisations (RFOs)

Reporting more data than ever before

Though the sector still has a long way to go before it reaches net zero, this year saw more organisations reporting more data than ever before, laying the groundwork for continuing ambition in emissions reductions in the years to come. Furthermore, we saw organisations taking the lead in the use of influence and storytelling to catalyse change beyond the sector itself. As we head into the fourth year of this most important decade for climate action, we believe that more of this ambition and more of this leadership is required to deliver the transformational change needed.

What do we mean by net zero?

When we refer to ‘net zero’, we follow the lead of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)’s Net-Zero Standard. This focuses on the need to first reduce absolute emissions to limit global temperature increase to 1.5⁰C rather than balance all emissions through offsetting.

It can be a confusing term, but it is the official term used by Scottish government, as well as the IPCC and UNFCCC, which inform and bring together international climate negotiations.

Emissions reporting

To manage their emissions, organisations need to measure and monitor them. That is why we ask all organisations to report on their energy and utilities consumption, waste disposal, and travel emissions.

As we aim for net zero by 2045, we need to see these emissions reducing. The graph shows the total emissions reported by reporting organisations each year since 2019 in tonnes of CO2e. There is a downward trend from over 10,000 tonnes in 2019 to 7819 tonnes this year. Considering that more organisations are now reporting than in 2019 and they are reporting on more emission sources, this is especially impressive. It shows that more RFOs are engaging fully in the process of emissions reporting, building the measurement and reporting of these emissions into their business processes.

Here are some further insights from reported emissions:

• 77% of emissions come from energy and utilities making it by far the largest emissions source for the sector.
• The second largest source of emissions is travel at 13%. Travel emissions have bounced back from last year but are not at pre-pandemic levels. However, many RFOs indicated that they expect to see travel emissions increase as they ‘return to normal’.
• Electricity emissions have reduced by 35% since 2019, but absolute consumption has only decreased by 8%. While actions taken by reporting organisations account for that reduction in consumption, the reduction in emissions is mostly due to the overall lower carbon intensity of electricity since there’s now more renewable energy in the national grid.

Carbon management plans

Once organisations are measuring their emissions, they can then use that data to inform their carbon reduction in the form of a carbon management plan. This year, we asked organisations to provide an action plan for the next three years with associated emissions reductions each year. We hoped this approach would encourage organisations to look forward with their carbon management plans and create bold but achievable targets that could be tracked and measured year-on-year.

All but one of the organisations were able to provide detail on actions they planned to take. Here is a word cloud to offer an idea of the themes covered in the actions this year:

Additionally, we highlight some of the most interesting and impactful planned actions here:

Aberdeen Performing Arts (APA) – They have appointed a Creative Change Maker for Climate Action, a role focused on working with artists, arts and cultural organisations, local communities, and regional and national partners to support sustainability and build resilience. They will be exploring how APA can use the arts to continue to be a more environmentally conscious organisation.

The Stove Network – Alongside their capital work to develop the capabilities and efficiencies of their venue at 100 High Street, Stovies are developing their community-led programming strand Open Hoose, which encourages project development with a strong focus on environmental and de-carbonising activities. These have so far included Climate Kitchen, a monthly space exploring opportunities for individuals to improve their own carbon footprint, Doughlicious, a community bread making club, and Nith Life, a group seeking to influence sustainable management & flood prevention.

Festivals Edinburgh – After identifying that travel has historically been their greatest source of emissions, the six-strong team who support Edinburgh’s international festivals are setting a three-year carbon budget of 30 tonnes (shared across the three years) for their travel carbon footprint for the period 2022/23 through 2024/25 to allow for different activity patterns each year.

Need to do more

Individually, many organisations are making some great steps towards reducing the impact of their operations, with some like those above even looking to use the power they have as arts organisations to influence the wider ecosystem of business, communities, and policymakers. However, if we look at the sector as a whole, examining all 134 organisations and the pledges they have made, it is clear that we still need to do more:

• 74% of organisations were able to calculate emissions reductions associated with their planned actions.
• Of those that reported reductions, 23% are on target to be net zero by 2045 and 11% are on target to be net zero by 2030.

We need to work together to increase this ambition and drive for transformational change in the sector. Since the reporting period, Creative Carbon Scotland, in collaboration with many organisations across Scotland, have been working to increase this ambition through our SPRINGBOARD local assemblies, and we will be bringing arts and culture organisations together with policy makers, climate specialists and others in our online assembly at the end of February.

We continue to provide support to organisations hoping to reduce their footprint and guidance on collaborative and transformative approaches to reach net zero whether the organisation currently reports its emissions or not. Check out our tools and resources for the more practical help and get in touch with Matthew – matthew.belsey@creativecarbonscotland.com – if you have any questions or ideas you would like to discuss.

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We are seeking an experienced performer and a freelance producer to join our team.

As we begin redeveloping our show Water is Attracted to Water to tour in late 2023/24 we are looking for two lovely collaborators to join us.

Water is Attracted to Water is a theatre show celebrating an imagined Water Day, with a Water Molecule Dance, stories, a science experiment, drawings and music. It is a staging of a 21st century myth for the human relationship with water: playful, funny and geeky but also recognising our sadness as we face ecological and climate crises.

The show is part of a wider interdisciplinary arts project collaborating with scientists working on the climate crisis. In development it has received funding and support from Arts Council England, WATERAGRI H2020 research project, Lund University, University of Salford, New Adelphi Studio and ARC Stockton. We currently have funding in place for a short intensive period of work and are applying for further funding for the final phase. Please check out our website (www.waterisattractedtowater.com) to see our short film, EP and information about our initial work in progress performance.

Performer

If you are a playful performer with experience of movement, improvisation, theatre, based in or near Manchester or Edinburgh maybe we are a good match. We particularly welcome Global Majority performers and seek to reflect a diversity of voices and perspectives on stage.

Full role description here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16WwFzPwnFO-5p-nCpw4yJB5W73Zh8D_85eKs23ZinrU/edit?usp=sharing

Producer

Seeking a freelance producer with excellent time management & communications; strategic thinker; recent Arts Council NLPG experience, able to work remotely. UK based.

Full description here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17QnMn6YC4FMMhFW6EpjKU3wxr7xzqntzqtHwqpSVZw8/edit?usp=sharing

Pay rates: £200/day
CV and expression of interest by 27 Feb via email to Kate Adams on kateroseadams@gmail.com.

We are committed to equal opportunities. If you have any access needs, please get in contact with Kate. We’ll be shortlisting and replying on 1 March and arranging online interviews in early March. Performer auditions in person, in Edinburgh and Manchester in late March or first week of April.

(Top image: by Evgenia Bourzoukou)

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Join Emily Reid and Mona Kastell at this event hosted by Starcatchers.

How can artists create more sustainable and environmentally friendly theatre? Join artists Emily Reid and Mona Kastell for an Introduction to Ecoscenography – the integration of ecological thinking into all stages of scenographic production and aesthetics – and explore how to put Ecoscenography into practice in your own work.

This workshop will take place online on 8 March, 10.30am-12.30pm.

Emily Reid
Emily is a theatre-maker and director, committed to devising quality theatre and creative learning projects which nurture a sense of curiosity, wonder and care for our natural world. She is particularly interested in the potential of theatre to motivate social and environmental change, the place of the arts and creativity within the school curriculum, and sustainable theatre making. Emily is the artistic director for Eco Drama, and also regularly works with other organisations presenting on Eco Drama’s work and delivering training.

Mona Kastell
Mona is an international award-winning designer, community engagement practitioner and leader in the emerging paradigm of ecoscenography. She combines permaculture and ecological design thinking within her creative practice embedded in expanded scenography with emphasis on nature, wellbeing, interconnectivity and authentic community engagement to engage and empower whole people to contribute to a healthy society and planet. Mona is one of Ecostage’s co-directors, a grassroots initiative and website that provides a holistic framework, tools and resources for embedding practice-based ecological thinking at all stages of our creative processes and scales of production.

This is a Starcatchers Playspace event. Starcatchers supports artists across all artforms at different stages of their careers – from those interested in learning more about working with this age group to those who are experienced and want to develop their practice. The programme includes training, mentorship, artist laboratories led by sector pioneers, playday workshops, networking opportunities and bursaries to attend children’s theatre festivals.

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Join the Connecting Threads team on the River Tweed.

The Southern Uplands Partnership is looking for an experienced and enthusiastic individual with a background in visual communication to join the Connecting Threads team. This role will contribute to the delivery of an ambitious four-year programme of cultural activity based around the River Tweed in the south of Scotland.

Connecting Threads is the cultural strand of Destination Tweed, a landscape-scale project that aims to conserve and celebrate the River Tweed from source to sea. Weaving cultural activity through the Destination Tweed project, Connecting Threads is supporting engagement with and awareness of our environment and heritage through access to the arts. Focusing on the Tweed as a cultural landscape, Connecting Threads’ programme of activities is shaped by the river habitat itself. Working in partnership with local communities and cultural, educational and environmental organisations, Connecting Threads will bring different knowledges and creative practices together in experiential ways to support a culture of stewardship and collaboration.

The River Messenger will be part of a small creative team working, alongside and in collaboration with the River Culture Curator and three River Culture Animateurs to share, communicate, promote and record the Connecting Threads project and its activities.

This position is offered on a part-time basis, 3 days/week on a 4-year contract (subject to funding). Flexible and hybrid working are supported for this role.

£22,000 pa fte (£13,200 pro rata pa)

A full job description and application form can be download from the open-access Google Drive.

Download the Connecting Threads Handbook, which gives more information about the project, its aims and approach.

Informal enquiries about the post can be made to Rachel Hunter, River Culture Curator, at: rachel@sup.org.uk.  We are able to accept applications in alternative formats. If you have any form of access needs please do not hesitate to contact Rachel to discuss your requirements.

Deadline for applications: Monday 6 March, 9am.

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Join the Connecting Threads team on the River Tweed.

The Southern Uplands Partnership is looking for two experienced and enthusiastic individuals with a background in cultural placemaking and / or participatory arts to join the Connecting Threads team. These roles will contribute to the delivery of an ambitious four-year programme of cultural activity based around the River Tweed in the south of Scotland.

Connecting Threads is the cultural strand of Destination Tweed, a landscape-scale project that aims to conserve and celebrate the River Tweed from source to sea. Weaving cultural activity through the Destination Tweed project, Connecting Threads is supporting engagement with and awareness of our environment and heritage through access to the arts. Focusing on the Tweed as a cultural landscape, Connecting Threads’ programme of activities is shaped by the river habitat itself. Working in partnership with local communities and cultural, educational and environmental organisations, Connecting Threads will bring different knowledges and creative practices together in experiential ways to support a culture of stewardship and collaboration.

The two new River Culture Animateurs will be part of a small creative team, working alongside the River Culture Curator, one existing River Culture Animateur and a River Messenger. Through independent and collaborative working, each Animateur will develop and deliver an evolving programme of cultural activity along one stretch of the River Tweed.

This position is offered on a part-time basis, 3 days/week on a 4-year contract (subject to funding).
Flexible and hybrid working are supported for this role.

£27,000 – £30,000 pa fte (£16,200 – £18,000 pro rata pa)

A full job description and application form can be download from the open-access Google Drive.

Download the Connecting Threads Handbook, which gives more information about the project, its aims and approach.

Informal enquiries about the post can be made to Rachel Hunter, River Culture Curator, at: rachel@sup.org.uk. We are able to accept applications in alternative formats. If you have any form of access needs please do not hesitate to contact Rachel to discuss your requirements.

Deadline for applications: Monday 6 March, 9am.

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A new podcast series from the Nordic Alliance of Artists’ Residencies on Climate Action.

As the climate crisis accelerates, how can artists’ residencies be testing grounds for new – and better – ways of living and working? Testing Grounds is a new, eight-part podcast series bringing together artists, researchers and activists from across the Nordic region and Scotland to explore this question.

Presented by the Nordic Alliance of Artists’ Residencies on Climate Action (NAARCA), each episode in the series looks at the crisis through the lens of one artists’ residency. In the first episode, we travel deep into the Arctic Circle, to Longyearbyen – home of Artica Svalbard – to hear a conversation between an architect and an anthropologist about how climate change is affecting people’s relationship with their built environment.

The introductory episode of Testing Grounds is available starting Friday 27 January 2023, with new episodes released on the last Friday of each month. To subscribe and listen, visit naarca.art/testing-grounds-podcast or search for “Testing Grounds” in your favourite podcast app.

Testing Grounds is produced and edited by Katie Revell and includes original music by Loris S. Sarid and artwork by Jagoda Sadowska.

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On Monday 30 January, Creative Carbon Scotland and the Netherlands’ Green leisure Group, together with 16 international cultural networks, launched the SHIFT eco-certification pilot phase.

The aim of this process is to co-develop a bespoke eco-certification for cultural networks, taking into account their specific needs and working methods. Such a certification, established in partnership with us and Green Leisure Group, environmental sustainability specialists from Scotland and the Netherlands, will provide a  scheme to improve, measure, monitor and evaluate efforts towards sustainability. This pilot project will also encourage active climate action among the wider cultural sector and create a new alliance of like-minded networks and associations. Participating networks aim to get eco-certified by the end of 2023.

‘The SHIFT eco-certification pilot phase is an opportunity to rethink our practices as international cultural networks and change our mindsets and behaviours. SHIFT guidelines give a perfect framework and support for this transformation. We hope the process will act as an inspiration for our members and wider (cultural) communities to act for the environment.’

Lars Ebert, Secretary General of Culture Action Europe

The SHIFT pilot phase targets the development of a tailor-made scheme, leading to a first audit and green certification for the participating cultural networks. The guidelines for the certificate have been developed in the course of an Erasmus+ co-funded cooperation project. Expert organisations and  participating networks of the pilot are already identified.

Participating networks have chosen a collaborative approach to implement this process. Facilitated by Creative Carbon Scotland and Green Leisure Group, this will be brought to life through regular workshops for all participants to review and reflect on progress while continually developing the guidelines underpinning certification.

‘We’re thrilled to be working on the SHIFT eco-certification pilot with this prestigious group of international networks and our colleagues from Green Leisure Group. We contributed to the development of the SHIFT guidelines and we think the eco-label will provide a strong framework for the users to apply the guidelines and ensure their practices and activities are as green as possible.’ 

Ben Twist, Director, Creative Carbon Scotland

During the first year of implementation of mandatory measures embedded in the SHIFT eco-guidelines, the work will not only be done with the core group of participating organisations but also discussed and shared with the 16 network members. This multiplying effect of the eco-certificate will be seen over the longer term through inspiring other networks (at international and national levels) or membership-based associations to green their practices while using the SHIFT eco-guidelines. Participating cultural networks believe that eventually, upon completion of the pilot phase, the eco-certificate will have the potential to become financially self-sustainable while bringing more networks into the certification process and a collective ‘eco-system’ of change.

The 16 participating organisations are:

• Aerowaves
• Assitej International
• Circostrada (European network for contemporary circus and outdoor arts)
• Culture Action Europe
• ECHO (European Concert Hall Organisation)
• EDN (European Dancehouse Network)
• ELIA (European League of Institutes of the Arts)
• EMC (European Music Council)
• ENCATC (European network on cultural management and policy)
• Europe Jazz Network
• IETM (International network for contemporary performing arts)
• International Music Council
• On The Move
• Opera Europa
• REMA (European Network for Early Music)
• Res Artis (Worldwide Network of Arts Residencies)

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