New environmental mentoring scheme for NPOs

A new training and mentoring programme will help National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs) build resilience to climate change-related challenges as part of Arts Council England’s (ACE) Environmental Programme.

Details of the updated programme were shared by ACE’s environmental partner Julie’s Bicycle last week. The two organisations’ partnership, which launched in 2012, works to embed environmental reporting and planning into funding agreements, while accelerating the sector’s response to climate change.

The mentoring scheme is one of several new channels that will focus on decarbonisation, resilience, justice and governance, all sharing the overarching aim of ensuring the arts and cultural sector can meet challenges presented by the climate crisis.

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Details on Julie’s Bicycle’s website state the new training and mentoring programme, known as Leading Resilience, will be divided into two programme strands – ‘organisation’ and ‘place’.

In the first year of the scheme, the organisation strand will see two cohorts of senior NPO leaders gain skills and knowledge to adapt and respond to climate change within their organisations’ strategy and operations.

The place strand, scheduled for subsequent years, will identify three place-based partnerships that will offer practical support to adapt to climate-related changes, by working in collaboration with local networks to find creative and practical solutions.

Applications to the mentoring programme will open in autumn.

Details of ACE’s updated environmental programme follows the start of the new national portfolio round and a report published last October, co-produced by Julie’s Bicycle, which found the creative industries are ‘well-placed’ to lead the UK’s efforts towards net zero.

Like other industries, the arts and culture sector have been given the target of halving emissions by 2030, to help limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.

Environmental Responsibility is also one of the key pillars of ACE’s 10-year investment strategy Let’s Create, with ACE and Julie’s Bicycle estimating hundreds of arts organisations have reduced their environmental impact since the start of their partnership.

Development opportunities

Julie’s Bicycle Chief Executive Alison Tickell says the updated environmental programme “has a transformational agenda to accelerate and scale creative climate action”.

“As the climate and nature crisis deepens, the cultural community is needed more than ever to focus our creativity on this moment and to help find the solutions that are urgently needed,” she added.

Other strands of the Environmental Programme 2023-2026 include Board Environmental Champions, which will provide training and resources to board members of arts and culture organisations.

This work will equip participating board members with skills and confidence to embed environmental responsibility within their organisations at governance level, with applications to a pilot expected to open in the summer.

Elsewhere, Transforming Energy will provide guidance to building-based organisations to help make carbon reductions, while Creative Climate Leadership Lab will look to develop a “new diverse generation of environmental leaders” through training and peer networking.

In this programme, participants will be asked to bring their diverse backgrounds, perspectives, experiences, ideas and solutions to address the climate crisis and champion climate justice, with a pilot scheduled for autumn.

Delivery beyond NPOs

Julie’s Bicycle says the updated environmental programme will extend beyond the portfolio, offering the wider cultural community free access to training and resources.

Online guidance says that while reporting environmental data is the “essential foundation” for understanding and reducing an organisation’s carbon footprint, “there is much more the cultural community can do to take meaningful action”.

Freely available resources include Julie’s Bicycle’s carbon calculator, available through its Creative Climate Tools, which has been given an updated look. All arts organisations also have access to a free resource library featuring videos, guides, peer-sharings, reports, case studies and tips on Julie’s Bicycle’s website.

ACE Chief Executive Darren Henley commented: “The programmes and resources that this ambitious partnership with Julie’s Bicycle provides will enable cultural organisations and practitioners to address their environmental impact more effectively, and help us move towards a more resilient and sustainable future for the cultural sector.”