In March 2020 Without Walls organised a training day aimed at festivals and artists who want to incorporate accessible marketing practices and environmental sustainability into their organisations.

Supporting those who create and present work outdoors, the session asked us to consider how we can work together to reduce the carbon impacts of outdoor work and ensure that it is inclusive to all audiences.

You can find out more about the accessible marketing training here.

Environmental Literacy

Chiara Badiali, Knowledge and Sector Intelligence Lead at Julie’s Bicycle, led this session, adapting the Environmental Literacy framework to the specific and practical challenges for the Outdoor Arts sector.  This looked at the implications in the creation and touring of outdoor work, aiming to give an overview of the role of the cultural sector/artists in responding to the climate crisis, develop an understanding of the direct and indirect ways to reduce carbon impact, and how to communicate the need for change.

Attendees then developed practical actions to take forward within their own work, considering the specific production and procurement challenges in the development of outdoor work and its presentation in different festival contexts. This included how to write a green rider, methods for monitoring/measuring carbon impacts, and exploring options for reducing the impacts of freight/travel.

Download the presentations at the bottom of the page for more insight.

We also want to thank our friends at Walk the Plank for hosting us on the day at their wonderful Cobden Works base in Manchester, check out their work here.

“It was great to get an overview and insight plus practical guidance on measures that we can start implementing”

Session attendee

“[It was useful to hear about] accessibility as we can work on this right now. Always good to check out what you think you are doing right and how you can use new ideas to improve.”

Session attendee