Forum set to help culture and business find solutions to sustainability

Culture & Business Scotland Edinburgh event brings the sectors together to ‘cultivate connections

With both climate change and the recent slashing of government funding to the culture sector continuing to make the headlines, Culture & Business Scotland will be hosting a Members’ Forum focussing on how sustainability strategies can be incorporated into culture organisations. 

Taking place on Thursday 26 October at the National Museum of Scotland, the Forum will unite members for a series of presentations, success stories and sustainability strategies, with the aim of fostering collaboration and initiating a dialogue around environmental issues ahead of the launch of COP28 next month.  

The cross-sector event will be attended by representatives from businesses of a range of sizes and geographical backgrounds, facilitating networking opportunities as well as providing a platform for businesses to forge connections with culture sector organisations and secure creative solutions to challenges within their practices.  

The event will also feature speakers from across the industry, who will be sharing insights into how sustainability can be embedded within culture organisations’ practices. 

Dr Ben Twist, Director of Creative Carbon Scotland, will compare the different ways that arts councils are addressing climate change, while Scott Mackay, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Scottish Youth Film Foundation, will showcase COP TV, a project aimed at amplifying the voices of Scotland’s youth in the context of the crucial COP event. 

Meanwhile Hannah Schlesinger, Director of Development & Marketing at Edinburgh Science, will discuss The NetZeroToolkit, a product of the organisation’s Climate Co-Lab initiative, designed to help businesses reduce their carbon emissions. Ruth Gill, Director of Public Programmes at National Museums Scotland, will also introduce the event and give a presentation on how the museum is progressing on its quest for Net Zero. 

David Nelson, Head of Development and Programmes at Culture & Business Scotland, said: “The significance of ‘sustainability’ in the culture sector is huge. Incorporating sustainability strategies within our practices should be at the forefront of all our minds as the climate crisis worsens, and our Members’ Forum is set to create a dialogue around how best to do that.  

“With funding to culture organisations under threat, it’s also crucial that we maximise opportunities to build strong and sustainable relationships between the culture and business sectors.

“Amongst the many benefits of membership to Culture & Business Scotland is the chance to access these networks and build innovative solutions to the challenges we’re currently facing, as an industry and as a society”. 

Individuals interested in attending the Members’ Forum can find out more about Culture & Business Scotland membership here: 

https://www.cultureandbusiness.scot/members/.