This Earth Day, we are taking the opportunity to explore why it is important for cultural organisations to take a role in tackling the climate and ecological emergency.
But first, what is Earth Day?
“Every year on April 22, Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. Today, Earth Day is widely recognized as the largest secular observance in the world, marked by more than a billion people every year as a day of action to change human behavior and create global, national and local policy changes.”
Culture plays an important role in all of our lives, whether we’re talking about the things we interact with on a daily basis, or if we’re looking at the larger scale policy decisions that are made, it all happens in the context of a world shaped by the culture we live in. As a cultural organisation, we have the opportunity and the responsibility to do our part in tackling the climate and ecological emergency and to be a part of the narrative for the future.
Across the heritage sector, sustainability is growing as a topic and we are continually examining the ways in which we can make the most positive impact, what that looks like and how we can learn from each other.
As a trust, we are working with partners to ensure that we are in a position to do what’s best - for our visitors, collections, communities, colleagues and the planet. We have been working with one of the industry leading consultants to ensure that we are in a position to make the right choices, in the right way and we have a series of exciting announcements coming up!
As part of that, HCT is delighted to say that we are working with the Carbon Literacy Project to offer Carbon Literacy training to our staff across our venues and workstreams. We recognise that this hugely impactful training developed by Manchester Museum, Museum Development North West and the Carbon Literacy Project is a greatly positive way for us to foster change and empower everyone at HCT with the knowledge to make a difference.
For more information on what we are doing for sustainability and the ethos guiding it, please have a look at our environmental policy.
