The Prime Minister and Sir David Attenborough sitting in front a picture of the globe, answering questions from pupils from Barnes Primary School and John Betts Primary School

The Prime Minister and Sir David Attenborough with pupils from Barnes Primary School and John Betts Primary School

Photo: © Science Museum Group

Articles

Sustainable development: are you doing your bit?

Light on resources and heavy on challenges – even before Covid-19 – the cultural sector can nonetheless take small, regular actions to support a green and inclusive recovery from the pandemic. Simon Thompson proposes a way forward.

Simon Thompson
6 min read

In 2015, the 193 United Nations member states adopted Agenda 2030 a shared vision for taking action over 15 years towards a sustainable global future.

At the heart of Agenda 2030 are the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a holistic set of distinct and interdependent targets for sustaining human life on earth in a way that will safeguard the existence of future generations. Significant progress on the SDGs must be driven by innovative policy design at national and international levels. But aside from the responsibility of governments to push transformation, civil society, private sector and public sector organisations will have a definitive effect in reaching the sustainable world envisioned.

Feel empowered

So what is the responsibility of the culture sector in delivering the SDGs, and how can cultural organisations – already light on resources and heavy on challenges even before the Covid-19 pandemic – make their own contributions? Governments signed up to these goals in 2015 and it falls now to the culture sector to use its unique capacity for advocacy and influence to keep them firmly on the agenda as we work towards an inclusive and green recovery from coronavirus.

The UK Year of Climate Action, marking the lead-up to the postponed COP26 in November 2021 in Glasgow, is the perfect time to celebrate the incremental progress made to date, and to forge ahead with committed and ambitious action. And any organisation should feel empowered to take action. As activist Greta Thunberg told the UN Climate Change Conference (COP24) in 2018: “No one is too small to make a difference.”

Familiarise yourself

One of the most important steps is for cultural leaders to get familiar with the 17 Goals. Organisations will be tempted to throw their weight behind only those goals which best match their existing focus and which don’t disrupt ‘business-as-usual’. This is certainly an understandable approach, however the reality is that urgent, committed and genuinely comprehensive action is needed across all areas if we are to overcome the barriers that block the path to global sustainability.

In the private sector, Certified B Corps are driving a movement towards global sustainability by committing to balance profit with purpose and accelerate a global shift towards a more inclusive, sustainable economy. The B Lab SDG Action Manager guides businesses through steps they can take to make a meaningful contribution. You can read about one company’s journey to becoming a Certified B Corp in this Food Navigator interview with Pip & Nut founder Pippa Murray.

Pivotal role

In the culture sector, where resources are limited now more than ever, effecting significant change can seem like a daunting prospect. Cultural organisations have shown themselves time and again, however, to be some of the most innovative and impactful in society. The sector’s contribution in terms of social and economic outputs, considering its comparatively low resource base, regularly demonstrates impressive return on investment for the UK.If we consider culture to be a society’s capacity to tell stories which enable empathy and examine how we understand our place within the world, then the sector holds a truly pivotal role in the quest for real sustainability. For without a shared understanding of what a sustainable future looks like that businesses, governments and civil society can galvanise around, it will be impossible to achieve. It is this interdependent relationship between all parts of society that makes culture’s role so essential: a point beautifully articulated by Lucy Latham of Julie’s Bicycle in her speech at the 2017 COLLABORATE! Forum on International Working. In this context, I encourage every cultural leader and organisation to take small, regular actions, alongside their peers, in support of the SDGs.

Action framework

A framework for engagement and action should include the following principles:

  • Educate people at all levels of your organisation to promote informed discussion and action. Learn about the UN’s SDGs. They have been agreed by the world’s governments and provide an overview, for all sectors of society, of the challenges we face and the targets that we are working towards. Take an interest in, and learn from, peers’ efforts in working towards sustainability, as well as opportunities to collaborate and innovate. The Accelerator Programme led by Arts Council England and Julie’s Bicycle aim to inspire innovative operations and creative work, and the Royal Court’s announcement on achieving net zero through 2020 provides a fantastic model for other arts organisations considering their carbon footprint.
  • Programme public work that directly addresses sustainability challenges and solutions. Good examples range from the Young Vic’s 2012 initiative Classics for a New Climate and Watershed’s Pervasive Media Studio residencies https://www.watershed.co.uk/studio/projects/building-martian-house exploring the climate emergency, to the Science Museum’s forthcoming Carbon Capture exhibition.
  • Communicate with audiences, stakeholders and peers about your efforts. This Julie’s Bicycle guide to communicating sustainability activities is a useful introduction to communicating about sustainability and how your organisation is embracing it. Consider your influence with different groups. Encourage your board to regularly discuss sustainability together and with their networks; engage with your local authority and MP on the work you are doing; join Culture Declares. The more visibility your actions have, the more normal sustainability becomes for those who you influence.
  • Build equity into your sustainability strategy. Greater transparency and accountability can be achieved by giving employees a stake in workshopping how your organisation achieves its sustainability goals. One great example is the Lyric Hammersmith‘s Green Team, comprising staff members from across the organisation, which is empowered to lead on delivery of the theatre’s Green Action Plan.

By addressing the full context of sustainability, working collaboratively and taking small, regular and committed actions, organisations within the culture sector will make a decisive contribution to achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals. As Royal Court Theatre Executive Director Lucy Davies said: “Culture has a critical role in supporting the goals and it felt important to align our practice within that existing framework. Meaningful systemic change will happen if we share the same global frameworks, language and ambitions.”

Simon Thompson is an independent communications consultant and Board Member of MAYK
Simonthompsoncommunications.co.uk / mayk.org.uk