We’re thrilled to announce the publication of the first of two toolkits created by the Cultural Adaptations project.
Since 2018 we have been exploring the ways in which cultural organisations can adapt to the impacts of climate change – and how they can thrive in a climate-changed world. The result of this action-research project is an in-depth toolkit, specifically tailored to support cultural organisations to plan their adaptation to climate change.
Download the Adapting Our Culture toolkit
Why is it so important to adapt our culture?
Throughout history, societies have adapted to the local conditions of their physical environments, but the pace of climate change will create new challenges and opportunities for cultural organisations. To be socially, environmentally and financially resilient to a warmer, wetter and wilder climate, culture must adapt.
Cultural organisations need to recognise the risk that climate change poses to how we work, where we work, and who we work with. We need to anticipate the effects, prevent damage and take advantage of the opportunities which might arise. We know that the cultural sector is made up of a range of organisations, often producing huge amounts of high quality artistic work with few resources. At first, climate change can feel like just another thing to consider – particularly against the turbulence of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, we believe that adapting to climate change is not only a practical necessity, but also a potential opportunity for cultural organisations to thrive in a changing world.
How will this toolkit help your cultural organisation?
This toolkit contains three main sections, supported by prompting questions and clear follow-on resources:
- Understanding climate impacts in general
- Understanding the implications and opportunities for your specific organisation
- Creating an action plan which supports your adaptation.
The toolkit is part information, part workbook, enabling you to note down reflections and ideas as they arise, and track or share your progress with your colleagues
How can you access the toolkit?
We want to ensure that as many people and organisations as possible could benefit from this toolkit, and succeed in a climate changed world.
The Adapting our Culture toolkit is free to access, licensed as a Creative Commons resource and available for download as an interactive pdf. We know that some people prefer to work on paper, or that some exercises might be best undertaken with your wider team, so we’ve made it suitable for those who might want to print sections (although of course, we encourage you to be mindful of the environment if doing this!)
Throughout this project we have also been curating and creating resources, blogs, links and videos to supplement the toolkit – ensuring that you have easy access to the materials which will help you adaptation action plan succeed. Take a look at our resources area for this additional support.
Download the Adapting Our Culture Toolkit
