1. A Postcard from “The Dear Green Place”
Harnessing the power of Glasgow’s local arts sector
Jean Cameron, Glasgow Life
Gemma Lawrence, Creative Carbon Scotland
7th June 2013

2. Setting the scene
• Glasgow – “Dear Green Place”
• City of culture
• Green capital of Europe
• Commonwealth legacy

6. • What is it?
• What does it do to achieve this?
• How does it need to change in
order to achieve it?

7. What is it?
– National charity
– Work with over 80 cultural organisations
– Training, Green Arts Portal, special projects
What is its role in achieving the outcome?
– Intimate knowledge of the arts
– Expertise in sustainable practice
– Trusted by both sectors
– Promoting attitudinal and behaviour change
– Research into impact of commissioning public art works
How do we facilitate the change we want?
– Practical support
– Facilitate networks
– Big picture thinking

10. What do GA and CCS want to achieve
together?
• Understanding cultural organisations within
complex networks
• Understanding how art might shift the city
• Applying that understanding:
– Glasgow Arts is a big player with gravity and
momentum – can we harness that?

11. Complexity

12. City of Glasgow
Glasgow Life
Glasgow Arts
Cultural Sector
Glasgow City Council

13. GALA in Glasgow
Two components
• What’s its role?
– Contribute your ideas, apply your knowledge and
experience – 17 heads are better than one
– Spread the word
• What’s the benefit?
– New knowledge for you to apply to your own
context

14. How will we do this?
• Theoretical background from CCS and GA:
• Cultural organisations within complex networks
• Specific knowledge/different backgrounds of
participants
• Development of methodology for working:
• Working title – ‘Green Mondays’
• Potential for series of workshops?
• Sustainability and culture can have wider
influence

15. So what’s the outcome from our
workshop?
• Working together in a way that…
– That not only allows commissions/practice in the
arts to be sustainable…
– But also fosters wider awareness of sustainability
in the city
– Disruption and innovation – not compliance with a
standard

16. Outcome of final meeting?
• Using key knowledge and learning from
meetings, labs and working
• Reflecting upon our ambitions
• Celebration
• …?

17. Questions and volunteers!
http://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/arts/Pages/home.aspx
Jean.cameron@glasgow2014.com
www.creativecarbonscotland.com
gemma@creativecarbonscotland.com
Username: info@creativecarbonscotland.com
Password: CreativeCarbon1

18. Developing a triple bottom line
approach to running an arts festival

19. Background to EAF.S
• Collaboration between cultural and
environmental organisations in Dumfries
and Galloway, Scotland
• Biennial festival that focuses on
contemporary relationships between
culture and land
• “bringing the unique spirit of the South
West to a national and international
audience”
• Year 1: four public art commissions which
showcase 3 national and 1 international
site-specific artworks

20. Where do we fit in?
• Three way collaboration, three way approach:

21. Triple Bottom Line
• An impact assessment of the festival itself -
artists, venues, visitors
• Methodology for measuring social, environmental and
economic impacts of public art commissions
• Methodology for measuring social, environmental and
economic impacts of the festival as a whole
• Seeking engagement with artists, venues and
audiences
• Feedback loop – outcomes of research driving second
iteration of festival

22. Defining Indicators
Social considerations (led by CCC)
Artists, Venues, Visitors, Communities
– Community engagement
– Accessibility of installation
– Visitor engagement
– Level of acceptance by
community

23. Defining Indicators
Economic considerations (led by
EAF.S)
– Reason to visit the region
– Length of stay in the region
– Number of people in group
– Amount spent during stay
– Type of accommodation

24. Defining Indicators
Environmental considerations (led
by CCS)
– Travel and transportation of
artworks
– Materials used
– Waste and recycling
– Energy and water consumed
– Other environmental impacts
– Lifespan of artworks

25. Public Art Commissions
• Chrysalis Arts: Public Artworks Sustainability
Assessment
– www.chrysalisarts.org.uk/
• ixia: Public Art - A Guide to Evaluation
– http://www.publicartonline.org.uk

26. Communicating Results

27. Overcoming potential barriers
• Challenges for artists
Three step process of data gathering:
– User-friendly helicopter survey
– 30 minute phone conversation with
artists before project
– Artists keep weekly diary during
production of artwork
• Outcomes?
– Engagement of artist…and festival

28. Outcomes
• Filling current knowledge gap of environmental impact of public
artworks
• Understanding of social, environmental and economic impacts of
art festival
– Is there a relationship between these impacts?
• Leads to potential for:
– Benchmarking
– Spreading of knowledge and best practice
– Shaping the way future festivals are run - international works?
• Wider research project into environmental impact of
commissioning public art – Glasgow Arts, Edinburgh Art Festival