Sustainable Practice

Apply now for the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe Sustainable Practice Award

EFSPA-Green-Logo Applications are now open for the 2014 Fringe Sustainable Practice Award, celebrating the greenest and most sustainable shows on the Edinburgh Fringe. This project, a partnership between Creative Carbon Scotland and the Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts, with media partner The List, rewards shows which engage their audiences with sustainability, take responsibility for their environmental impacts, and think big about how the arts can help to grow a sustainable world. Applications are open from February 19th to July 18th, with a shortlist announced in The List on July 30th, and the winner announced in a ceremony at Fringe Central on August 22nd.

“We believe artists and cultural organisations are uniquely placed to address the challenges brought on by climate change – through the art they produce, the audiences they speak to and the way in which they operate,” says Ben Twist, Director of Creative Carbon Scotland, “This major award celebrates and publicises their innovative work during the Festival Fringe.”

Shortlisted shows will receive coverage in a special feature in The List on the Fringe Sustainable Practice Award, published on July 30th, and reviews of shortlisted shows will be highlighted in The List’s festival issues and website. The organisers of the Award are seeking to bring new publicity and audiences to productions working hard to do their best work and to do it sustainably. The winner will receive the Award itself along with a special feature and coverage in the Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts’ Quarterly Magazine.

The award for Sustainable Production on the Fringe was first launched in 2010 at the Hollywood Fringe and Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Previous Edinburgh recipients include: The Pantry Shelf (2010), a satirical comedy that takes place in any ordinary pantry shelf, produced by Team M&M at Sweet Grassmarket; Allotment (2011) by Jules Horne and directed by Kate Nelson, produced by Nutshell Productions at the Inverleith Allotments in co-production with Assembly; The Man Who Planted Trees (2012) adapted from Jean Giono’s story by Ailie Cohen, Richard Medrington, Rick Conte and directed by Ailie Cohen, produced by the Edinburgh’s Puppet State Theatre; and How to Occupy an Oil Rig (2013), by Daniel Bye and Company, produced at Northern Stage. Awardees have gone on to future success on the Fringe and presentations around the world including as close as Cardiff for World Stage Design, and as far as New Zealand and all across the US and Canada.

 “We see the arts as the best driver of sustainable societies and it’s not just our opinion: data shows that performance promotes positive environmental, social, and economic impacts. This award is intended to reward those artists and companies which embody all of these positive points in an intentional way. It’s not just about going green,” says Ian Garrett, Director of the CSPA. “The fringe model provides an ideal platform to start working with sustainable ideas through all of the freedoms and restrictions the festival allows!”

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of cultural organisations using the arts to help shape a sustainable Scotland. The Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts is in the Arts is a Think Tank for Sustainability in the Arts and Culture.

Shows can apply now at https://www.sustainablepractice.org/fringe/

For more information, contact:

• Ian Garrett – fringe@sustainablepractice.org – US 818-687-6655 – UK 0759 744 1915

• Ben Twist – ben@creativecarbonscotland.com – UK 0131 529 7909

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Database of Eco Public Art

Curating_Cities

The Curating Cities Database maps the increasingly important and emerging field of eco-sustainable public art. It is developed as a resource for researchers, academics, artists, curators, educators, commissioning agencies and sponsors working in the field as well as those interested in promoting sustainability via public art. In addition to descriptive information, the database evaluates the aims and outcomes of each project as well as the external constraints (and subsequent negotiations) that influence the production of public artworks. eco-publicart.org

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

Jill Bennett, Felicity Fenner, Lindsay Kelly and Veronica Tello. Sustainability Consultant: Jodi Newcombe.

INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE 

T.J Demos (University College London); Ian Garrett (York University/Director, Center for Sustainable Practice); Natalie Jeremijenko (New York University/Director of Environmental Health Clinic); Sacha Kagan (Leuphana University Lüneburg/Founder of Cultura21, Network for Cultures of Sustainability and the International Summer School of Arts and Sciences for Sustainability in Social Transformation); Adrian Parr (University of Cincinnati).

We invite submissions from curators, researchers, academics and creative practitioners.

PURPOSE

Our intention is to develop a resource that will be of value to all those interested in public art, including specialists and the broader community. The database entries are concise but designed to go beyond the short profiles readily available on other sites. To that end, we have developed a template and guidelines designed to elicit key information regarding the sustainability (as conceived within the particular project), legacy, engagement and circumstances of an artwork’s production. Recognising that public art is not always well served by bureaucracies, entries may also record useful information on external constraints and how these were negotiated.

SCOPE

We are looking to achieve expansive coverage and are open to suggestions for inclusion (geographic remit is global). Generally, we interpret public art as a creative art form produced for non-gallery contexts (exceptionally, it may include gallery exhibitions with an explicit external engagement focus). We define “eco-sustainability” to signify an evident interest in ecological, sustainable and/or environmental concerns. It is not our intent to ‘police’ the definition of eco-sustainable public art: we are keen to include work that challenges definitions and expectations. As a general indication, we are interested in substantial work that actively engages with its environmental context (rather than in work that merely represents or symbolises an environmental concern).

SUBMISSION and REVIEW PROCESS

Submissions are peer-reviewed. Each submission should focus on a particular public art project, which must be proposed to the Editorial Committee in advance. Contributors are welcome to profile their own work, either by evaluating their own project or by referencing a larger study or thesis written by them on the same subject. We also invite academics that research and teach in this area to encourage student submissions. We are happy for the template to be used for course assessment exercises and can confer with lecturers regarding the process by which a batch of entries from a class can be peer reviewed/considered for inclusion in the database.

For the template and sustainable evaluation framework and to discuss a potential submission please email v.tello@unsw.edu.au

Emergence presents РWorld Caf̩: A sustainable enquiry at WSD2013

Summit ConferenceFri 13 Sept 14.30 – 16.00

Rowe Beddoe

Fern Smith and Rhodri Thomas co-founders of Emergence 
will facilitate a participatory inquiry into the role of the arts and artists as change-makers. World Café is an open and informal technique which uses the collective wisdom of groups to address a number of over-arching questions of relevance to the people present in the room.

The questions will be related to the people and projects we have individually encountered which inspire us to create a more sustainable practice in our life and work. This will be an invaluable opportunity to meet and share with other designers, theatre makers, producing and receiving houses and to follow a line of enquiry in an open, honest and structured manner.

The World Café methodology is a simple, effective, and flexible format for hosting large group dialogue.

The World café will be preceded by an introduction to the work of Emergence, the ideas which have inspired it and it’s impact to date on the arts scene in Wales and beyond.

Open to all.

Price: £6

http://www.wsd2013.com/whats-on/emergence-presents-world-cafe-a-sustainable-enquiry/

Daniel Bye’s How to Occupy an Oil Rig receives 2013 Award for Sustainable Production at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe #edfringe

Daniel Bye receives the 2013 award for Sustainable Production from Creative Carbon Scotland's Ben Twist.

Daniel Bye receives the 2013 award for Sustainable Production from Creative Carbon Scotland’s Ben Twist.

Creative Carbon Scotland and the Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts, in partnership with the List, presented Bye with Award at Fringe Central on August 23rd.

In a ceremony in the concourse at Fringe Central on Friday, August 23rd at 4:00 pm, Ben Twist of Creative Carbon Scotland awarded Daniel Bye the 2013 Award for Sustainable Production at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe after presentation by Ian Garrett of the Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts and Sholeh Johnston of Julie’s Bicycle. This was the fourth year of the award’s presentation. Applicants and fringe participants alike enjoyed complimentary beverages and snacks with support from Vegware, producers of compostable food containers.

The Sustainable Production Award is an annual celebration of performance that’s working for an environmentally sustainable world. Open to all Fringe Festival productions by application, the award assesses all aspects of a production’s sustainability, from design to content. This award ceremony recognizes the best in this year’s sustainable productions, alongside inspiring presentations from Creative Carbon Scotland, the Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts, and Julie’s Bicycle. The Sustainable Production Award is presented this year in partnership with The List, which is reviewing all shortlist shows and promoting the awards events.

The award is determined by the submission of a questionnaire about how the show was produced, and how environmental and sustainable themes were considered along the way. Assessors selected a short list of 23 productions, which appeared in the weekly editions of The List. These 23 shows were reviewed based on their questionnaires and the assessment team voted for the production which most aligned with the priorities of the award. Five finalists–Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer, The Garden, and Garden O’ Delight, How to Occupy An Oil Rig, Sacred Earth–were identified as outstanding entries before the winner was selected last week.

How to Occupy an Oil Rig was selected due to its conscientious production and themes related to sustainability in our present world. In their assessment  the reviewer for the show said,”It tells stories of journeys through environmental activism engagingly, wittily, movingly… It’s all about sustainability, and is making very bold points about the scale of the problem and the necessity of radical solutions.” Also praised by the press, the Financial Times said that How to Occupy an Oil Rig was, “The real thing. Clever, engaging and important.” The Guardian said it is, “Fantastic work. Invigorating and playful. Both beautiful, and wants to change the world.” Accepting the award, Bye said “It’s great for the work to be recognized for its impact outside of the theatre itself, in the wider world.”

“Even more so than we want someone to score perfectly on the questionnaire we use to evaluate shows, we want theater artists to look at the questions and think about how it helps to guide their thinking about sustainability in the their art. There may be questions asked in ways they hadn’t thought, and we hope they ask these questions of their next project and the project after that,” adds CSPA Director Ian Garrett.

The award for Sustainable Production on the Fringe was first launched in 2010 at the Hollywood Fringe and Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Previous recipients include:  The Pantry Shelf (Edinburgh 2010), a satirical comedy that takes place in any ordinary pantry shelf, produced by Team M&M at Sweet Grassmarket; Presque Pret a Porter (Hollywood 2010), produced by Dreams by Machine; and Allotment (Edinburgh 2011) by Jules Horne and directed by Kate Nelson, produced by nutshell productions at the Inverleith Allotments in co-production with Assembly. Last year recipients were D is for Dog by Katie Polebaum and the Rogue Artists ensemble, directed by Sean Calweti (Hollywood 2012) and The Man Who Planted Trees (Edinburgh 2012) adapted from Jean Giono’s story by Ailie Cohen, Richard Medrington, Rick Conte and directed by Ailie Cohen, produced by the Edinburgh’s Puppet State Theatre.

Ian Garrett and Miranda Wright founded the CSPA in early 2008. The organization provides a network of resources to arts organizations, which enables them to be ecologically and economically sustainable while maintaining artistic excellence. Past and Present partnerships have included the University of Oregon, Ashden Directory, Arcola Theatre, Diverseworks Artspace, Indy Convergence, York University, LA Stage Alliance and others.

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. CCS believes cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

More Info

Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts: https://www.sustainablepractice.org  

Creative Carbon Scotland: http://www.creativecarbonscotland.com/

CSPA Fringe Initiatives: https://www.sustainablepractice.org/programs/fringe/

2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe Questionnaire: http://bit.ly/cspafringe13

The List’s Edinburgh Coverage: http://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk

Sustainability at World Stage Design with Ian Garrett

logo-colorSMLWed 11 Sept 16.30 – 18.00

The Willow Theatre

Ian Garrett, Sustainability Programme Coordinator, Assistant Professor of Ecological Design for Performance (York University, Toronto) and Co-Director of the Centre for Sustainable Practice in the Arts and World Stage Design 2013 Programme Assistant Kevin Smith to discuss how sustainability is being addressed at World Stage Design.

Open to all.

Price: £6

BUY TICKETS

Key contributors

Ian Garrett - Co-Director CSPA, Assistant Professor of Ecological Design for Performance, York University.

Links:
https://www.sustainablepractice.org

BAFTA and Julies Bicycle Announce New Partnership

JBsustainingcreativity.102840The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) announced a new sustainability partnership between the BAFTA Albert Consortium, responsible for industry carbon calculator Albert, and Julie’s Bicycle, the sustainability organisation.

The new partnership between the BAFTA Albert Consortium and Julie’s Bicycle aims to encourage and assist good practice in sustainability across the creative sector, and underscores the importance of a collaborative approach in accelerating the creative industries’ transition to a sustainable and responsible, resilient business community. Both organisations have pledged to pool resources to support the development of the skills, knowledge and practical tools needed to facilitate sustainable practice across music, arts, culture, media, broadcasting and film.

Kevin Price, Chief Operating Officer at BAFTA, said: “Individually, the creative industries have done much to promote and embed sustainable practices. Nevertheless, by sharing opportunities, challenges and aspirations across the sector we stand to achieve much more. BAFTA is incredibly proud to have assembled the leading think tank on the sustainability of the TV industry – exploring the substantial need for immediate practical action. Our challenges and solutions are by no means unique and I firmly believe a collaborate approach to be a catalyst for greater progress.”

Alison Tickell, Founding Director of Julie’s Bicycle, said: “This collaboration is really good news for sustainability. Our industries consistently punch above their weight with great creative ideas, entrepreneurial drive, 100% commitment and extraordinary global reach – in fact, exactly the qualities that the sustainability movement needs right now; together we are a formidable force for positive change.”

A Greener Fringe for Edinburgh: The CSPA and Creative Carbon Scotland team up with the List on Major Award

logo-colorSML LIST logo Guides - UK2012version Untitled

Applications are now opened for consideration for the 2013 Fringe Sustainable Production Award, designed to reward sustainable practice in the production of an Edinburgh Festival Fringe show. Productions are invited to engage their audiences with sustainability, take responsibility for their environmental impacts, and think big about how the arts can help to grow a sustainable world. Entries are invited from companies until 18 August, with shortlists announced on 5, 12 & 19 August and the final award being made on Friday 23 August in a ceremony at Fringe Central.

“We believe artists and cultural organisations are uniquely placed to address the challenges brought on by climate change through the art they produce,” says Gemma Lawrence from Creative Carbon Scotland,”The audiences they speak to and the way in which they operate. This major award celebrates action being taken by artists and companies to use the form, content and framing of their work to engage with climate change during the Festival Fringe.”

This year, for the first time, a review of every shortlisted production will be published in The List and The List will also cover the shortlisting events. The winner will receive a special feature and coverage in the Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts’ Quarterly Magazine.

The Fringe Sustainable Production Award celebrates the best in environmentalism on the Edinburgh Fringe, and highlights the different exciting approaches Fringe productions are taking to sustainability. We’re inviting all Fringe productions – whether they’ve just started thinking about recycling or whether they’ve been bike-powering venues for years – to apply for this high profile award, and to tell us the new ideas and new ways they have for engaging with sustainability

The award for Sustainable Production on the Fringe was first launched in 2010 at the Hollywood Fringe and Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Previous recipients include:  The Pantry Shelf (Edinburgh 2010), a satirical comedy that takes place in any ordinary pantry shelf, produced by Team M&M at Sweet Grassmarket; Presque Pret a Porter (Hollywood 2010), produced by Dreams by Machine; and Allotment (Edinburgh 2011) by Jules Horne and directed by Kate Nelson, produced by nutshell productions at the Inverleith Allotments in co-production with Assembly. Last year recipients were D is for Dog by Katie Polebaum and the Rogue Artists ensemble, directed by Sean Calweti (Hollywood 2012) and The Man Who Planted Trees (Edinburgh 2012) adapted from Jean Giono’s story by Ailie Cohen, Richard Medrington, Rick Conte and directed by Ailie Cohen, produced by the Edinburgh’s Puppet State Theatre.

Ian Garrett and Miranda Wright founded the CSPA in early 2008 after individually working on each of the programs that now make up the multi-faceted approach to sustainability separately. The organization provides a network of resources to arts organizations, which enables them to be ecologically and economically sustainable while maintaining artistic excellence. Past and Present partnerships have included the University of Oregon, Ashden Directory, Arcola Theater, Diverseworks Artspace, Indy Convergence, York University, LA Stage Alliance and others.

“The purpose of this award is not just to recognize the greenest production. Our objective in offering this award is to ask questions of ourselves, as theater artists, about the greater impact of our work on the world around us. The fringe model provides an ideal platform to introduce these ideas,” says Wright, “The CSPA is not just another ‘go green’ organization. We hope to gather and distribute information that aids in the sustainability of the earth, the sustainability of our communities, and the sustainability of our art.”

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre andScottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

  • Changing their own behaviour;
  • Communicating with their audiences;
  • Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.
  • Engage arts organisations and stakeholders in promoting environmental sustainability;
  • Provide support for arts organisations to be at the forefront of shaping an environmentally sustainable Scotland;
  • Support arts organisations, artists and audiences to be as environmentally sustainably as possible.

Why sustainable practice in the cultural sector?

Like all sectors, the cultural sector faces risks from climate change and the legal, social and economic changes it will bring. Much more than many other sectors, arts and cultural organisations have huge potential to provoke crucial public behaviour change. We believe cultural organisations are uniquely placed to address the challenges brought on by climate change through the art they produce, the audiences they speak to and the way in which they operate themselves.

CONTACT: Ian Garrett – fringe@sustainablepractice.org – US 818-687-6655 – UK 0759 744 1915

MORE INFO:
CSPA Fringe Initiatives: https://www.sustainablepractice.org/programs/fringe/
2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe Questionnaire: http://bit.ly/cspafringe13
Creative Carbon Scotland: http://www.creativecarbonscotland.com/

THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES Announced as Recipient of the 2012 Award for Sustainable Production at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

The Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts (CSPA) has awarded the third CSPA Fringe Award for Sustainable Production at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to The Man Who Planted Trees adapted from Jean Giono’s story by Ailie Cohen, Richard Medrington, Rick Conte and directed by Ailie Cohen. It is produced by the Edinburgh’s Puppet State Theater, and is currently on tour in North America.

Giono, who passed in 1970, has said about The Man Who Planted Trees in 1957: “I wrote this story to make people love trees, or more precisely to make people love planting trees. Of all my stories it is one of the ones of which I am most proud. It has never earned me a penny and for that reason it has accomplished the very purpose for which it was written.”

“The Man Who Planted Trees was chosen because of the synchronicity of the themes and the physical production of the show.” comments Ian Garrett, co-founder and Director of the CSPA. “ The award is intended to reward both smartly addressing issues of sustainability and production practices. Further, we recognize that in the Fringe environment, the physically production is often partially determined by the resources and time made available by the venues. What made The Man Who Planted Trees stand out is that it was able to successfully combine these factors into one of the most consistently lauded productions of the festival.”

The award is determined by the submission of a questionnaire about how the show was produced and audience response. The Man Who Planted Trees’ production team was able to provide comprehensive technical information for the production, which showed a commitment to design and resource efficiency. This considered approach also factored into their communications and marketing. All of these factors were further supported by the themes of the play.

The CSPA Directors, Ian Garrett and Miranda Wright adjudicated the award, along with select CSPA affiliates and friends. This year marked the beginning of a closer relation with Festival Edinburgh, which supports all of the festivals throughout August and the rest of the year. For the original Edinburgh Fringe application, Mhora Samuel and Tim Atkinson from The Theatres Trust’s European Regional Development Fund-backed Ecovenue project helped the CSPA adapt the criteria for a UK audience, providing guidance on UK equivalents to US name brands, as well as providing insight on measuring conventions and policy.

“The CSPA is not just another ‘go green’ organization,” says Wright.  “We hope to gather and distribute information that aids in the sustainability of the earth, the sustainability of our communities, and the sustainability of our art.  And so, the purpose of this award is not to recognize the greenest production.  Our objective in offering this award is to ask questions of ourselves, as theater artists, about the greater impact of our work on the world around us. The fringe model provides an ideal platform to introduce these ideas and the award due to the expectations and scale of the shows.”

“Even more so than we want someone to score perfectly on the questionnaire we use to evaluate shows, we want theater artists to look at the questions and think about how it helps to guide their thinking about sustainability in the their art. There may be questions asked in ways they hadn’t thought, and we hope they ask these questions of their next project and the project after that,” adds Garrett.

Ian Garrett and Miranda Wright founded the CSPA in early 2008 after individually working on each of the programs that now make up the multi-faceted approach to sustainability separately. The organization provides a network of resources to arts organizations, which enables them to be ecologically and economically sustainable while maintaining artistic excellence. Past and Present partnerships have included the University of Oregon, Ashden Directory, Arcola Theater, Diverseworks Artspace, Indy Convergence, York University, LA Stage Alliance and others.

Internationalism and the Environment Panel Saturday 18 Aug,11:30am at Edinburgh Festival Fringe Central #edfringe

Saturday 18th August: 11.30 – 1.00

In a world increasingly aware of the importance of sustainability, how can the arts best continue to be international? Do new technologies offer exciting ways of making the arts even more international? How can we both tour our work and be green? A panel discussion with David Grieg, internationally-performed playwright, Kate Ward, General Manager of the London International Festival of Theatre, and Ian Garrett, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Practice in the Arts.

 

ABOUT THE PANELISTS

David Greig

(From Wikipedia) is a Scottish playwright and theatre director. Greig was born in Edinburgh in 1969 and was brought up in Nigeria. He studied drama at Bristol University. He has been commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company amongst others.

His first play was produced in Glasgow in 1992. His plays have been produced around the world. In 1990 he co-founded Suspect Culture Theatre Company with Graham Eatough and Nick Powell in Glasgow. His plays include Europe (1995), The Architect (1996, filmed in 2006 (see The Architect (film)), The Cosmonaut’s Last Message To The Woman He Once Loved In The Former Soviet Union (1999), and San Diego (2003).

Recent plays include Damascus (2007), The American Pilot (2005), Pyrenees (2005), San Diego (2003), Outlying Islands (2002), and Yellow Moon: The Ballad of Leila and Lee (2006). He has provided English-language versions of foreign plays, including Camus’s Caligula (2003), and Strindberg’s The Creditors (2008). His version of Euripides’s The Bacchae which opened the Edinburgh International   2007 starred Alan Cumming as the Greek god Dionysus with ten gospel singers as the Bacchae. The production subsequently transferred to the Lyric Hammersmith in September of that year. In 2010 his Dunsinane was premiered at the Hampstead Theatre by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Kate Ward

Kate Ward joined the LIFT team in November 2009 as General Manager. She has worked in arts administration across a variety of organisations; music agency, Musician’s Incorporated; Pop Up Theatre; design and animation studio, Neutral; and Red Shift, and developed a love for international work whilst working as personal assistant to Graham Sheffield at the Barbican.

Ian Garrett

Ian Garrett is a producer, designer and administrator, dedicated to innovative arts infrastructure. He is co-founder and a director of the Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts (CSPA), a leader in the conversation on sustainability development and the arts and Assistant Professor of Ecological Design for Performance at York University in Toronto. He is the producer for CalArts Festival Theater, having produced and designed over 20 shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe since 2008.

UPCOMING EVENTS

What’s the Big Idea? – an Open Forum

Wednesday 22nd August: 16.00 – 17.30

A chance for you to air your views on how the arts can engage with environmental issues. How can we make the arts greener? What role do the arts have to play in changing people’s behaviour? What radical ideas do you have for the arts? How can we make next year’s Fringe the greenest Fringe? With provocations from Erica Whyman, Artistic Director of Northern Stage, and Anthony Alderson, Director of the Pleasance Theatre Trust.

Reuse and Recycle Days

Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th August: 11.00 – 16.00

Unused flyers, unwanted props, usable furniture, gorgeous costumes, venue and set construction materials – we want them all! Every Fringe tonnes of waste go to the bin when it could be recycled or reused elsewhere. A combination recycling depot and free rummage sale: bring what you have, take what you want. Contact Harry.Giles@festivalsedinburgh.com for the full details of what we can accept and how; we will be able to take most materials, but not aerosols, paint, lino, or vinyl.

The Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts and Festivals Edinburgh team up for a Greener Fringe.

The Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts (CSPA) is current taking applications for the 2012 Fringe Festival Award for Sustainable Production at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, designed to reward sustainable practice in the production of a fringe show. This, the third, year, the award and programming is being coordinated with Festivals Edinburgh and Creative Carbon Scotland, who have joined forces to create the Edinburgh Festivals Green Venue Guide and will be bringing festival participants a series of high profile events at Fringe Central.

The Award for Sustainable Production looks at public communication and education, resource use and transportation in support of presenting a fringe show. The award has been developed to integrate the ground breaking work of Julie’s Bicycle’s IG Tools and San Diego’s Mo’olelo Performing Arts Company, who has created a comprehensive Green Theater Choices Toolkit. To be considered for the award, a production fills out an online questionnaire with questions that range from an inventory of materials used, to what public transportation lines run close to venues, to how themes about sustainability may be revealed in their shows.

This Monday, the 6th of August, join us for  How to Be a Greener Fringe Show, at 14:00 at Fringe Central (venue #2). It is a practical workshop, getting into the nitty gritty of greener shows including everything from touring to publicity, set design to audience engagement. In addition, Ian Garrett from the CSPA will be on hand after the presentation to answer questions about the award for sustainable production and its application process.

Internationalism and the Environment, at Fringe Central, Saturday 18th August at 11:30, will be a panel discussion with David Grieg, internationally performed playwright, Kate Ward, General Manager of the London International Festival of Theatre, and Ian Garrett, Director of the Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts.

Join us for What’s the Big Idea? at Fringe Central on Wednesday 22nd August at 16:00. This session will be an open forum for a chance for you to air your views on how the arts can engage with environmental issue and how can we make next year’s Fringe the greenest Fringe. This event will include provocations from Erica Whyman, Artistic Director of Northern Stage, and Anthony Alderson, Director of the Pleasance Theatre Trust.

To help get the greening of the Fringe going, there will also be two Reuse and Recycle Days on Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th August from 11:00 – 16:00 where you can bring Unused flyers, unwanted props, usable furniture, gorgeous costumes, venue and set construction materials for  A combination recycling depot and free rummage sale at Fringe Center.

IMPORTANT DATES: 

Monday 6th August (14:00)

  • How to Be a Greener Fringe Show - a practical workshop, getting into the nitty gritty of greener shows including everything from touring to publicity, set design to audience engagement.

Saturday 18th August (11:30)

  • Internationalism and the Environment – a panel discussion with David Grieg, internationally-performed playwright, Kate Ward, General Manager of the London International Festival of Theatre, and Ian Garrett, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Practice in the Arts.

Wednesday 22nd August (16:00) 

Monday 27th August (11:00 – 16:00) & Tuesday 28th August (11:00 – 16:00)

  • Reuse and Recycle Days - where you can bring Unused flyers, unwanted props, usable furniture, gorgeous costumes, venue and set construction materials for  A combination recycling depot and free rummage sale.

All events are free and unticketed.

Events are at Fringe Central, Appleton Tower, Crichton Street, Edinburgh EH8 9LE

MORE INFO:

CSPA Fringe Initiatives: https://www.sustainablepractice.org/programs/fringe/

2012 Edinburgh Festival Fringe Questionnaire: https://docs.google.com/a/sustainablepractice.org/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFdDS2Z6NXBlQVVDdEROQ0NyMnNMb0E6MQ#gid=0

Edinburgh Festivals Green Venues Guide:  http://www.efgreen.co.uk/

Creative Carbon Scotland: http://www.creativecarbonscotland.com/

For more information on these events, or to find out how to take part in the Edinburgh Festivals’ environmental projects, contact the Environment Officer, Harry Giles at Festivals Edinburgh.