A major initiative to help 48 fringe and community theatres in London meet targets, designed to cut carbon emissions by 60% by 2025, is to be launched by conservation body the Theatres Trust, following a funding injection from the European Regional Development Fund.
Small-scale theatres are being invited to take part in the three-year Ecovenue programme, which will allow them to access expert advice on how to become more environmentally friendly.
It follows the launch of the Mayor of London’s Green Theatre - Taking Action on Climate Change plan last year, which aims to achieve a 60% reduction in the carbon footprint of London’s theatres in the next 16 years.
Participating venues will undergo a free theatre-specific environmental audit, which can cost in the region of £2,500 to £7,000, and an assessment for a Display Energy Certificate - which informs the public about the energy consumption of a building - costing up to £1,000.
The trust is to appoint an advisor, who will work with the theatres to create an action plan addressing factors such as energy, waste, water and materials, and will help them to find funding to implement changes. The scheme, which will run until spring 2012, is being subsidised by the trust and a grant of £450,000 from the ERDF.
Theatres Trust director Mhora Samuel told The Stage the scheme aimed to reach venues that have small financial resources but have strong links with the community, in order to make the public aware of environmental issues.
“When the Mayor of London’s green theatre plan was launched last year, commercial and subsidised theatres in London were quick to sign up,” she said. “We recognised that smaller theatres with less resources would find it harder to participate and so made an application for funding to the London Development Agency [which administers the ERDF in the UK] to help address the gap.”
The information from the assessments will be used to form an environmental benchmarking system for theatres. The trust will also be launching a website with advice for venues unable to participate.
Last year, the Mayor of London’s green action plan for theatres revealed that the capital’s theatre industry pumps 50,000 tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere every year - equivalent to the annual energy consumption of 9,000 homes.
London mayor Boris Johnson said: “It’s great news that the Theatres Trust is taking up the gauntlet by helping smaller theatres in the capital to cut their carbon emissions. Not only will it help the environment, it will also help them save money on their energy bills.”
The news was also welcomed by Ben Todd, chief executive of north London fringe venue the Arcola Theatre, which recently unveiled plans to build an environmentally-friendly theatre “eco-campus” in Dalston. He said that small changes, such as installing LED light bulbs or improving heating systems, would help cut energy bills by 10-20%, as well as attracted new audiences.
“Because this scheme is working with 48 venues, it may be that the Theatres Trust can identify existing schemes that support small organisations and there has got to be some joint procurement work we can do,” Todd added.
Finborough Theatre artistic director Neil McPherson said: “It sounds like a great idea and we would certainly be applying for this. We do all we can for the environment and recycle heavily already.
“We would certainly like to find every possible way of reducing our environmental impact, but with no source of funding, advice is possibly not very helpful if we don’t have any funds to implement it.”
His point was echoed by John Plews, artistic director of Upstairs at the Gatehouse in north London. Plews also believes that some venues which are based in buildings owned by pubs might struggle to negotiate making substantial changes.
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