Environmental

As an ecological arts organisation, Art Walk Projects is deeply aware of how our operations may contribute to the ongoing climate emergency. We continue to work with an awareness of our responsibility to the local and global environment and are committed to reducing the environmental impact of our organisation.

Art Walk Projects CIC is a member of the Green Arts Initiative, an accreditation scheme that supports our organisation to become more sustainable and to join a growing network of arts and culture organisations trying to reduce their environmental impact. We continue to meet or exceed all environmental legislation that relates to our organisation through the following methods:

Travel

  • Staff, volunteers and commissioned artists are encouraged to consider travel options which minimise carbon emissions such as walking, public transport, cycling, or car-pooling if the use of a car is inevitable.
  • If possible and appropriate, video conferencing is considered as an alternative to travelling to a meeting.
  • Audiences are encouraged to make sustainable travel choices when visiting our events and exhibitions. This is emphasised by providing clear information about green travel in our printed programme, website and social media (e.g. bus routes and timetables, carpool schemes and cycling routes).

Materials and Waste

  • We carefully consider the materials and methods we use to install works, by sourcing from environmentally responsible and local suppliers as much as possible. When sourcing new materials to be constructed for popup exhibitions we assess their sustainability in advance so that they can be used for future events.
  • Printing is kept to a minimum and correspondence is sent electronically where possible.
  • Where materials cannot be reused, they are recycled.
  • We provide guidelines for participating artists on the festival’s environmental policy, encouraging the use of sustainable materials and practices.
  • We provide local, plant-based catering at our events when refreshments are required.

Programme

  • We will continue to programme events and exhibitions that creatively engage with environmental issues through a range of residencies and artist-led walking activity.
  • We consider both short and long term environmental effects when planning projects, to ensure that they have a lasting positive impact, either through physically installed artwork at a public site, or through the way that audiences continue to engage with a specific project.
  • Some examples of this include:
    • The theme of our SALT festival (2022), which connected Edinburgh’s coastal ecologies with the global climate crisis.
    • Our food residency artist, Mahala Le May (2022-23), whose work around community food has provided new ways of thinking about climate resilience.
    • Our Neighbouring Orchard project (2020-22) which has seen 170 apple trees planted across neighbouring districts (Portobello, Craigmillar, Musselburgh).

Communications

  • We will continue to advocate positive environmental practices and policies across all areas of our work.
  • We promote local green initiatives through our programme, newsletter and social media.
  • We continue to progress opportunities for environmental and climate justice related programming.
  • We will ensure all staff and board members have an understanding of the importance of environmental issues, with preference for having a board member in place who is actively involved in this area.

This policy was updated in November 2022 and will be reviewed annually.