Culture services sustainability routemap

The culture sector is enjoyed by many, providing significant social and economic value. Cultural services broadly include libraries, museums, theatres, galleries, heritage sites and archives. In managing these services, local authorities provide spaces for people to experience cultural and community hubs and access free knowledge and resources, while connecting with many in their community through relevant hubs. 

The facilities managed by local authorities, along with public funding offered to the sector, is a vital part of its success with calculations demonstrating that a further £1.23 of value was supported in the UK economy in addition to every £1 generated by the arts and culture sector. However relevant services were hit hard by the effects of COVID-19, wherein long periods of closure combined with high maintenance costs have significantly affected the viability of some of these facilities. These issues are being further compounded by increasing energy prices and the impacts of the cost-of-living crisis on prospective audiences, customers and participants. 

Challenges relating to high energy consumption, the sustainable construction and maintenance of buildings, and value chain environmental impacts throughout operational activities all need to be considered by those with responsibility for cultural services. The sector also has some potentially unique opportunities to harness the outreach of arts and culture in inspiring action around global crises on climate change, biodiversity loss and social inequality. The financial and climate-related challenges faced has put these services under a spotlight, however there is also growing recognition of the vital contribution these services make to communities and their ability to engage a diverse range of stakeholders into taking action.

There is a significant opportunity for improvement across many sustainability considerations within these services. This routemap has been designed to support local council officers in becoming intelligent commissioners of the Net Zero transition and enable them to provide wider sustainability advice, to effectively target investments and to reduce negative environmental impacts such as carbon emissions and waste.

The culture services routemap suggests interventions that could embed sustainability in council services with a focus on relevant facilities, complementing existing council projects and actions. It enables reflection on your work in this area and how things could be improved.

This is the beginning of an ongoing piece of work for the LGA. These interventions are a first draft and we will be adding and amending them based on initial feedback. We welcome your thoughts on how we can improve and grow what we have started. Please fill in the feedback form (opens in new tab) to let us know your thoughts.

The routemaps provide a menu of interventions council staff can reflect on and consider applying to their role, team or service area. Some may require collaboration and partnership with colleagues, other service areas, businesses or communities. Others may be within the remit of individuals to explore.

The routemaps are not broken down by service area or council type, as the themes are cross-cutting and affect all councils and service areas. Instead, the routemaps present categories and sub-categories of interventions, based on their potential to drive change and achieve the project goal.

Buildings (retrofit, building design, building use)

• Implementing long-term thinking into the design of new facilities to support future retrofitting of energy efficiency measures if not feasible within the current capital expenditure.
• Prioritising retrofitting of existing facilities and infrastructure over construction of new ones, if feasible, to reduce embodied environmental impacts associated with new construction. 
• Analysing where carbon emission hotspots exist within your portfolio of facilities and target improvements where the largest benefits can be feasibly achieved.
• Retrofitting facilities to improve energy efficiency, specific interventions include improving window seals, additional / improved insultation, LED lighting, solar film (windows), improvement to building management systems, example: Reading Town Hall.
• Reviewing collaborative projects which could support multiple parties, for example solar farms or district heat networks such as the one developed in Reading to providing heating to a theatre and new housing development. 
• Utilising external assessments, certification schemes and standards to improve the sustainability of new facilities during construction and operations – e.g. using BREEAM or Passivhaus standards.
• Installing provision for solar powered charging of vehicles, which can also generate a revenue stream.
• Ensuring facilities are provisioned with green travel options beyond EVs and that these are promoted – bike storage should be sheltered from the environment, secure, well-lit and easily accessible; pedestrian routes should be clearly sign posted.
• Considering the findings of the Healthy New Towns programme, focussed on embedding healthy places at the design stage, when developing new facilities.
• Reviewing opportunities for shared building use.
• Ensuring accessibility is a focus throughout design, construction and operation.

Utilities (Energy, water, waste)

• Reviewing options for renewable energy tariffs to supply facilities.
• Appraising options for renewable energy generation including installation of PV Panels and air / water / ground source heat pumps case, example: Swiss Cottage Library.

• Incorporating water recycling or reuse system into facilities, for example the recycling of grey water storage and use (for example in toilet flushing) or simply installing water butts to collect rainwater.

• Installing energy saving measures such as motion sensors for lighting systems, LED lighting, upgraded window glazing and improved insulation.

Green Space

• Utilising owned or managed green space for growing produce for staff or commercial use, e.g. using produce in on site café menu if relevant. 

• Managing owned or managed green space as a community garden, for example at The Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre.

• Managing new or existing green spaces to encourage outdoor activity and for the improvement of mental health and wellbeing, for example the Stevenage Vacant bus station transformation.

• Developing the design and maintenance of managed external space to support local biodiversity and climate change adaptation, this could include the provision of green roofs or walls, window plant boxes, rain gardens, and strategic planting designed to enhance shade and ventilation. This will also support the Biodiversity Net Gain requirements of new facilities.
• Actioning easy to implement initiatives such as ‘no mow’ areas, insect hotels or dead wood areas to support local biodiversity.
• Utilising nature-based solutions such as rain gardens, swales or tree planting to mitigate against surface water flooding, for example in Essex’s Main Rain Happy Scheme.

• Focusing on habitat creation rather than ‘tree planting’ to ensure focus on native, local biodiversity friendly planting.

• Developing specific policies on sustainable food and events to support delegates in mitigating the impact of relevant activities.
• Embedding relevant targets and key performance indicators (KPIs) into policy, regulation, strategy and process (e.g. procurement process) to measure sustainability performance. Relevant measures vary widely but could include for example reducing GHG emissions or increasing Social Return on Investment
• Developing relevant services to target community groups who will benefit most rather than concentrating on a universal offer, for example reducing inequalities in experiencing the arts as per Beyond Brontës.
• Including Healthy place shaping principles and/or Health impact assessments into all local plans
• Developing environmental strategy which establishes priorities and actions across all relevant topics.
• Implementing policy to remove harmful materials entirely, for example no single-use plastic.
• Using the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals to frame policy and regulation for example the Isle of Wight Council now use the UN SDGs in decision making having developed a decision wheel for all departments.
• Reviewing opportunities for policy to provide green space in all new developments.

• Review and apply for Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) when applications are live.

• Reviewing opportunities to apply for Museum Estate and Development Fund: Round 4 by Arts Council England for sustainability improvements.

• Reviewing opportunities to apply for Cultural Development Fund: Round Four by Arts Council England for sustainable new creative places.

• Developing a list of potential government funding and grants which can support new projects.

• Working alongside other sector partners, e.g. schools, to establish local requirements and help develop evidence and delivery opportunities to underpin funding requests across government.

• Reviewing investments decisions through value models and calculation to expand thinking beyond simple capital costs into co-benefits. These could include carbon cost, long term climate mitigation, social value or doughnut economics.

• Reviewing Comic Relief Pop Culture for Social Change opportunities.

• Focussing investments on mitigating impact hotspots, for example, the cooling requirements and climate regulation needed to preserve artefacts in archives, museums and galleries.

• Utilising the knowledge and expertise of those working within Culture and Arts to develop truly engaging initiatives focussed on sustainable messaging, for example Street Theatre, Flash Mobs and Immersive experiences. 

• Utilising case studies and awards to identify opportunities and contacts. For example the LGA case study library, the Local Innovation Awards Scheme for Councils and the Local Government Chronical Awards.

• Using available research to inform decisions around sustainability, for example how many times do reusable cups have to be used in replacing single-use cups for an overall reduction in environmental impacts, and can your events achieve that return rate?
• Utilising the platform presented by arts & culture as a vehicle to reach wider audiences and inspire climate action, for example the Reading Climate Festival.
• Signposting free resources developed to support the sector such as Theatre Green Book and Julie’s Bicycle.
• Utilising events specific guidance such as the Purple Guide Chapter on Environmental Sustainability or the Vision 2025 Green Code of Practice.

• Collaborating between local festivals, events and groups may establish collaborative actions to become more sustainable which may have been cost prohibitive as individual groups.

• Developing clear, best practice design guidance focussed on the long-term sustainability of specific culture facilities e.g. theatres, libraries etc.

• Developing community and stakeholder engagement activities to understand what drives decision making around individual sustainable choices and what barriers people face. Use this to inform behavioural change campaigns. 
• Sharing information about funding and grant availability along with successful applications.

• Applying the ‘waste hierarchy’ to prioritise waste reduction in culture facilities.

• Encouraging partnerships across local authorities and partners to develop collaborative strategy and shared outcomes. For example, the About the Green Libraries Partnership or Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places programme.

• Joining or developing purpose driven collaboration or networking groups such as GMAST in Greater Manchester. 

• Working with suppliers to identify sustainable solutions, for example printing and marketing organisations that use vegetable ink to minimise impact or food suppliers that source seasonally, locally and offer plant-based options.

• Identifying opportunities to support regional strategy, for example a range of public services and partners worked together on the Oxfordshire Food Strategy. 

• Reviewing opportunities to host or support local sustainable initiatives, for example the Library of Things in London.

• Reviewing and supporting the environmental and social benefits of innovations in local theatre delivery e.g. live streaming of big events to improve affordability or the use of tech for the delivery of virtual shows and concerts.
• Improving data quality and reliability which can demonstrate sustainability performance, for example Enfield Council’s work with One Planet.

• Measuring and embedding co-benefits into decision-making.

• Measuring and reporting the social value of culture services.
• Reviewing the impact of your value chain rather than simply operations. For example aim to reduce the carbon emissions (scope 3) associated with your supply chain as per Newport City Council.
• Linking culture services into town planning and place making with associated benefits such as increasing footfall in town centres.
• Embedding circular economy principles into productions and events, including the design of sets and stands using upcycled materials, built for re-use or as a minimum, recycling.

• Implementing a volunteering policy which allows staff time to be involved with sustainable projects in the local community.

• Developing engagement initiatives focussed on empowering young people to effect change on the climate and biodiversity crisis. In particular, ensure their voices, ideas and opinions feel heard within community initiatives and highlight the positive steps that are being taken locally, nationally and globally. Examples could include skill-building workshops, citizen science projects or local action projects but with an emphasis on co-creation or youth-led solutions.
• When sourcing food for events, provide menus which are seasonal and make the plant-based option the default which needs to be opted out of, to encourage plant-based as a natural choice. 
• Developing community projects that bring together events and activities for residents with sustainability-focused messaging. For example, the Our Year Wakefield project marks a year of culture by providing opportunities to connect communities through cultural and creative assets and outdoor spaces.
• Developing projects focussed on utilising the arts to improve health and wellbeing, for example CreateSpace.
• Finding ways to make these global challenges simple and relatable, for example The #CarbonBubble campaign.
• Focussing on reducing the inequalities associated with many sustainability issues, for example Birmingham City Council’s work.