For immediate release:
IRELAND’S LEADING DRIVER FOR SUSTAINABILITY IN THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES CALLS FOR URGENT SUPPORT FOR THE SECTOR IN BUDGET 2022
Government support is urgently needed to deliver on commitments made under this year’s Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Amendment Act.
That’s according to Ireland’s leading sustainable productions consultancy, Native Events.
Native Events Director Megan Best said: “The legislation has committed the Government to delivering a just transition of Ireland’s economy to a climate resilient model.”
“We are calling on the Government to allocate €5 million over a three year period to implement a key recommendation of the Arts and Culture Recovery Task Force Report – A Life Worth Living. This will enable the sector to address and respond to the environmental challenges we must tackle.”
Native Events has outlined four key initiatives which need to be carried out to achieve Ireland’s climate goals for the arts and culture sector.
Initiative 1:
- Establishment of a Creative Green Certification resource and website
- Consultation process with the relevant stakeholders
- Sector specific guidelines will be created for:
- Theatres, Cinemas, Museums, & Art s Centres
- Festivals & Outdoor Events
- Indoor Venues & Events
- Stadiums & Arenas
- Film & TV Production
- Introduction of online tools and resources, ie. the Creative Green (CG) Tools
Initiative 2:
- Series of workshops, training events and online webinars for organisations focussed on guidelines, requirements, myth busting, increasing confidence, supports available, inspiration.
- Introduction of Creative Green Certification that can be applied across the sectors.
Initiative 3:
- Environmental Programme for funders to incentivise organisations and achieve all-island visibility and results.
- Reporting process to include environmental impact data, policies and action plans enabling organisations to sustain their Creative Green Certification.
- Setting up of an independent unit/body to ensure long term Sustainability/Green monitoring, evaluation, development and policy delivery across the arts / events sector
Initiative 4:
- Introduction of mandatory reporting process across the sectors.
- Programme to be expanded to create an overarching long-term regenerative strategy and vision for the sector.
- The long-term objective is for the arts and events sector to drive public awareness and for Ireland to be a world leader in the area of sustainability and greening the arts.
Megan Best said: “We believe these initiatives are essential to deliver the commitments of the government and we hope the Department of Tourism, Culture and the Arts, and the Department of Climate Action and Communications will work together and respond positively to our funding request to support the arts and cultural sector.”
Native Events has recently established Julie’s Bicycle EU in partnership with Creative Climate Charity Julie’s Bicycle UK with the aim of facilitating a wide-scale, impactful programme of training, monitoring, reporting and environmental impact mitigation in the arts, culture and events sector in Ireland.
Next month Julie’s Bicycle EU will launch their Creative Green Tools for Ireland’s cultural sector. This innovative carbon calculator software tool will facilitate climate action in the industry through robust respoting, creating a sector-wide baselines and benchmark for environmental impacts mitigation.
Notes for Editor:
Native Events was established in 2017 as a response to the lack of sustainable equipment and infrastructure in Ireland’ s event s sector – an industry worth €3.5 billion to Ireland’ s economy and employing 35,000 skilled workers . Clients include St Patrick’s Festival – Ireland’s flagship event that attracts over 105,000 visitors annually; and various Art s Council programmes in Climate Literacy .
Julie’s Bicycle UK is a pioneering not-for-profit mobilising the arts and culture to take action on the climate and ecological crisis . Founded by the music industry in 2007 and now working across the arts and culture, Julie’s Bicycle has partnered with over 2000 organisations in the UK and internationally. Combining cultural and environmental expertise, Julie’s Bicycle focuses on high-impact programmes and policy change to meet the climate crisis head-on. Julie’s Bicycle has had considerable success in the UK over the past 13 years. In 2019, they worked with 636 Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisations, facilitating reporting on environmental impacts across 517 venues, 378 offices, 138 events , 233 tours and 59 productions .
For further information please contact:
E: admin@nativeevents.ie
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