Aim: This webinar will take you through the process of creating an environmental policy and action plan in line with the Arts Council’s environmental reporting requirements. The webinar will include: - Introduction to the Arts Council’s environmental reporting and Julie’s Bicycle – what is expected of you. - What is an environmental policy and action plan? - How can they benefit your organisation? - Top tips for creating an environmental policy and action plan. - What help is available? - Trouble shooting Q&A – your chance to ask the experts about any problems you are having with the environmental reporting process.

1. Today’s Topic:
How to Create your Environmental Policy & Action Plan
WEBINAR STARTING AT
10AM

2. Module 2.1
How to Create your
Environmental Policy and Action Plan
Catherine Langabeer Christina Tsiarta – Julie’s Bicycle

3. Housekeeping

4. Webinar Series
• Weekly webinars for Npos, Mpms, Mdp lead partners and
Bridge Organisations
• Now until May 22nd (reporting deadline is May 31st)
– An introduction to environmental reporting
– Basic training
– Specialist advice, dependent on the nature of your
organisation
– Specialist stakeholder webinars
– Troubleshooting

5. Today’s agenda
• Introduction to the Arts Council’s environmental
reporting and Julie’s Bicycle – what is expected?
• What is an environmental policy and action plan?
• How can they benefit your organisation?
• What help is available?
• Top tips for developing your policy and plan
• Trouble shooting QA

6. • Founded by the music industry, now spanning many
creative sectors
• A bridge between sustainability and the creative industries
• Five years old
• Not for profit
• Anchored in research
• Not a bike shop

7. What does that look like?
• Working with over 1,000 organisations of all sizes and
types including Artichoke, Royal Opera House, Manchester
Jewish Museum, Latitude Festival, BALTIC and Live Nation
• Consultancy
• Networks
• Industry Green certification
• Free online resources
• Arts Council partnership

8. Arts Council Requirements
1. Collecting data on emissions from
energy and water use.
– Submit using the IG Tools
2. Developing an environmental policy
and action plan.
– Notify us using the IG Tools

9. Why you ‘should’ care
Why you will care
Why it’s worth it

10. Why you ‘should’ care
• UK Gov: 80% reduction by 2050
on 1990 levels
• Arctic sea ice melting at least
twice as quickly as computer
simulations: an ice-free Arctic (in
the summer) by mid-century?
• Estimated rate of species
extinction is 100-1,000x higher
than historically ‘normal’
• 5/6ºC warming could knock
5-10% off global GDP

11. Why you will care
• It’s a business issue, not
just an ethical one
• It’s not going to go away
• Creating a plan and
tasking someone with
sustainability now will save
you a lot of time and
effort

12. Why it’s worth it
• Art has an impact
far beyond its own
footprint
• Art enables us to
understand
complex issues
• The role of culture
in social change

13. What is an environmental policy?
A broad statement of an organisation’s overall
environmental ambitions, which provides a
framework for its environmental action plan
and good environmental practice on a day-to-
day basis.

14. What is an
environmental action plan?
Your environmental action plan is a more
detailed and specific document, which should
follow on from your environmental policy, and
defines specific targets, actions, responsibilities
and deadlines for achieving environmental
improvement and reducing environmental
impacts.

15. What are the benefits?
• Shared objectives to gain organisation-wide
support
• Clarity of purpose for better project management
• Greater accountability and transparency
• Create baseline of activity against which you can
measure future success

16. What help is available?
• www.juliesbicycle.com
• Key resource: Environmental Policy and Action
Plan Guidelines – includes a resource matrix for
developing your actions
• Example policies and plans from other
organisations
• Email or phone support from Julie’s Bicycle
• Further webinars

17. The Policy: Starting Out
• Understand and prioritise your environmental impacts as
best you can
• Start from what you do
• Consider what control you have over different areas
• You may not have much quantitative data, depending on
your size and activity type

18. Creating the Policy
• Align with your mission statement and business strategy
• Include key information on your organisation
• Describe why you are doing this and level of ambition
• Identify your main environmental impacts:
– Buildings: energy use and carbon emissions
– Production: materials use and waste, transport
– Office activities: printing, IT, supplies and services, waste
– Catering: food, water, energy, waste
– Business and/or audience travel: fuel use and carbon
emissions

19. Creating the Policy - cntd
• Develop your key environmental commitments given the
nature and level of your impacts, e.g.:
– Reducing building energy use and related emissions
– Using low or zero carbon energy sources
– Reducing travel and related emissions
– Greening your productions/exhibitions/events
– Avoiding waste, reducing waste to landfill, increasing
reuse and recycling
– Greening procurement of supplies and services

20. Signed, sealed, delivered
• Include who is responsible for reviewing your
environmental policy and when and how is this done.
• In your policy, refer to your environmental action plan
how it is developed, monitored, reviewed and updated, by
whom and when. The policy should be signed by top
management, and dated.

21. Creating your action plan
• Define your objectives, targets and actions in line with your
policy commitments
• Make them SMART - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant
and Timely
• Decide with colleagues on responsibilities, timescales and
deadlines
• Actions can involve understanding and communication as well
as improvements
• Define how you will track and share progress – create on-going
process of review and improvement.
• Establish a regular (at least annual) management review.

22. Explain what’s left out
• Justify any areas of environmental impact that you are
excluding from your action plan, e.g. areas over which you
do not currently have sufficient understanding or
influence.
• Start by addressing the impacts over which you have most
control and influence, but try also to gradually address
other areas of impacts over which you have less control
but can have some influence, especially those related to
your core business activities.

23. Policy - example
“We are committed to understanding, measuring, improving
and communicating our environmental performance and
engaging management and staff in this process. Our key areas
of focus for reducing our impacts are:
• Working with the management of the Bush Theatre,
where our office is based, to identify and implement
actions to reduce energy and water use, reduce waste and
increase recycling”

24. Action Plan - example
• Objective 1) reduce energy use by 10% in 2013-2014
compared with 2012-2013
• General actions:
– conduct a full review of energy use, Sept-Dec 2012
– set regular internal targets for energy use and
reduction in specific areas, by March 2013
• Responsible: General Manager

25. Action Plan - example

26. Any questions?
• Reporting deadline 31st May 2013
• Environmental Policy and Action
plan, and IG Tools entry
• Allow 4 – 6 weeks for reporting
cycle to take place within
• support@juliesbicycle.com
• www.juliesbicycle.com - Click on
the green box

27. Further support
• www.juliesbicycle.com
• Practical Guides and Fact sheets
• Case studies
• FAQ’s
• User Guides
• Further webinars
• Phone email support

28. THANK YOU