Nordic policies
- Nordic Green Roadmap for Cultural Institutions: Nordic Council of Ministers launched a Nordic Green Roadmap for cultural institutions in autumn 2023. It addresses climate change, resource consumption and social inequality, and includes examples of awareness-raising campaigns, educational activities, policy recommendations and collaborative projects that will promote sustainable practices in cultural life in the Nordic region.
Resources and toolkits
- Julie’s Bicycle: For the past 15 years, the UK-based organization has been a world leader in all things related to culture, climate and sustainability. On their website you’ll find more than 250 reports, checklists and guides on everything from climate justice to energy efficiency in cultural buildings and environmental tips for museums, musicians, festivals, dance troupes, theaters and more. Since 2012, Julie’s Bicycle has been responsible for Arts Council England’s comprehensive environmental program.
- Klimatsmart semester is a free digital platform with CO2 calculator tools for different means of transport and accommodation.
- The Green Producers Club is a knowledge hub for producers or purchasers of cultural productions and for suppliers in the culture sector’s value chains. The club facilitates the exchange of experience and know-how between users of the The Green Producers tool.
- Nordic Eco Media Alliance (NEMA) gathers sustainable tools and initiatives for the audiovisual industry such as carbon calculators, certifications, trainings, platforms, guides, and other resources for audiovisual productions.
- Bæredygtigt kulturliv NU: Danish organisation with a clear vision to bridge the gap between climate research, cultural life and the rest of society. The organization has gathered an overview of the many different concrete tools and guides within the following three areas: Learn, Calculate and Do.
- ShiftIT: An initiative to create a marketplace with the goal to ensure longer durability of costumes, set design and equipment in the performance art field.
Inspirational cooperations and initiatives
- Forfatternes klimaaksjon/Norwegian Writers’ Climate Campaign consists of writers, artists, critics, translators and journalists. Their objective is anchored in Article 112 of the Norwegian Constitution: “Everyone has the right to an environment that safeguards their health, and to a natural environment in which productive capacity and diversity are preserved. Nature’s resources shall be utilised on the basis of a long-term and comprehensive approach that safeguards this right also for posterity.”
- NAARCA The Nordic Alliance of Artists’ Residencies on Climate Action (NAARCA) brings together Cove Park (Scotland) and Saari Residence(Finland), Artica Svalbard (Norway), Art Hub Copenhagen (Denmark), Baltic Art Center (Sweden), Narsaq International Research Station (Greenland), and Skaftfell Art Center (Iceland) to collaborate on research, institutional change and public education around climate action.
- Klimakultur: The Klimakultur platform (only in Norwegian) creates meeting places for skill development, experience sharing and reflection on the major issues of our time: the climate, nature and justice crises. Here you can find tips, tools and concrete examples from the broad field of culture to be shared and used as inspiration to drive necessary changes.
- Culture Declares Emergency: An international movement declaring a climate and ecological crisis. Over 600 cultural organisations have signed the petition. Culture Declares Emergency recommends this roadmap with a series of actions from which the cultural field can draw inspiration to act and to find knowledge.
- Music Declares Emergency: The music community’s call to declare a climate emergency. More than 3.000 artists and 1.500 industry organizations have signed on to talk about and focus on the climate crisis, challenge governments, work for a just transition on a systemic level and lower their own climate footprint.
- CultureCOP: An international initiative that uses the power of art, culture, heritage and creative practice to put climate justice at the center of the work of the UN’s annual COP-climate summits.
- Climate Heritage Network: A global network with more than 250 member organizations within arts, culture and heritage. The network aims to support communities in achieving the ambitions of the Paris Agreement by scaling up climate action at local, regional, national and international levels.
- Culture Unstained: A research and campaigning organization aiming to end oil sponsorship of the cultural sector. They urge arts and cultural organizations to cut their ties to the fossil fuel industry and to cut the social legitimacy they gain through such sponsorship.
- Theatre Green Book is a free resource for all theatre-makers, working at all scales. A collaboration between Norwegian Theatres and Orchestra Association to create a Norwegian version of the Theatre Green Book, with several meetings and workshops. This work will continue throughout 2024.
Environmental management systems and certificates
- Miljøfyrtårn: An environmental certification tool (only in Norwegian). Provides companies with simplified greenhouse gas accounting. Has sets of criteria for different industries and of relevance to the cultural sector are Green Events, Green Conferences, Organisations and Performing Arts.
The Finnish EcoCompass environmental management system is based on the international ISO 14001 standard and adapted for small and medium-sized enterprises and organisations.
