Arts Council England will include environmental sustainability criteria in its funding in what is believed to be a world-first for an arts funder.
The council’s chief executive Alan Davey is due to make the announcement at a conference in Newcastle. The new approach will require the funder’s national portfolio organisations and major partner museums to, at least, monitor and reduce their consumption of energy and water.
Davey will say that economic as well as environmental concerns have informed the decision. ??’Investing to improve the environmental performance of arts organisations makes hard-headed financial sense,’ he is due to say.
‘In a single year, Theatre Royal Plymouth saved £10,000 just by changing its water management system; the Sage Gateshead has saved 44 per cent on its electricity per concert by changing light bulbs and air conditioning filters; installing new LED lighting has saved Royal & Derngate Theatre 60 per cent on their utility cost.’
The announcement of this new approach comes as the Arts Council also unveils a new partnership with Julie’s Bicycle, an organisation which works to improve environmental sustainability within arts organisations, which will work with the council-funded organisations to improve their environmental record. ??Alison Tickell, chief executive of Julie’s Bicycle, said: ‘Arts Council England has shown visionary thinking, well ahead of all other cultural policies internationally, by making the environment a critical consideration for arts practice and business.’
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