Cultural institutions are all about the people who create them, including those responsible for the content of the programme and those who enable its implementation, i.e. technical and administrative staff. Everybody can work for change individually but, in acting together and combining various perspectives, it is also possible to change the institution from the inside in a systemic way. ‘The green team’ is a formula in which employees can exchange observations and knowledge and design a process of institutional change in terms of pro-ecological recommendations and solutions.
STEP 1
Look around – you are bound to find a supporter of the green cause among your colleagues. Set up a green team yourself or share your idea with the management. Together you will motivate yourselves to act.
How to start?
Try to ensure that the green team includes employees fulfilling a variety of roles and/or coming from a variety of departments. The more diverse the team is, the more comprehensive its perspective and reasoning will be. Identify key people without whom pro-environmental change in your organisation would be difficult, and try to involve them in the change process. Make sure that the meetings are held during working hours and establish framework rules for the team’s functioning, such as regularity of meetings (e.g. once a month) or planning the course of the meeting (agenda, chairperson, minute taker). If the group was created as a grassroots initiative, present the initiative to the management to ensure that the team’s activities are supported by the board and to strengthen the effectiveness of your recommendations.
Mapping and scaling
Map out your organisation’s existing pro-environmental initiatives (what they are, which are completed), including small-scale ones, so that you understand where your starting point is. In the first phase of planning changes, focus on what you as a team/organisation can influence. Start by thinking about small steps, consider when you want to achieve your first goals and in what time frame you plan to work on further modifications.
Thematic areas
When planning activities, define the thematic areas of the green team’s work, e.g. everyday practices, buildings, digital ecology, partnerships, programming, etc. We encourage you to use the catalogue of areas described in this guide, but you can also create your own categories – the most important thing is that they meet your needs.
Introducing initial changes
Introducing the first changes to an institution often does not require additional costs and, in some respects, can be done without negotiation with management or other administrative bodies. Such steps include, for example, creating a code of daily practices and introducing rules such as double-sided printing, serving tap water, or eliminating plastic bottles. Although these are minor changes, on an institutional scale they can have a significant impact on building pro-environmental attitudes. (see: EVERYDAY PRACTICES)
Another possible action is to develop pro-environmental regulations in cooperation with those hiring your institution’s space, e.g. the obligation to sort waste during commercial events, limiting plastic and gadgets, serving eco-friendly catering, etc. (see: ECO-ETHICS OF COOPERATION)
This guide includes tips on what first steps can be taken in various areas of the institution’s activities. Their multitude indicates how many aspects we can already influence directly at the first stage of the green team’s work.
Sustainable processes
To ensure that responsibility for implementing changes does not rest with just one person but is shared across the team, it is worth appointing leaders in specific areas. To avoid demotivation resulting from encountering initial difficulties and challenges, the first stage of the green team’s work can be treated as a pilot, i.e. a period of exploring the terrain and testing ideas. It is also worth ensuring that the goals of the green team become part of the professional responsibilities of its members – otherwise, involvement in the greening of the institution may become a ‘passion project’, opening the door to strain on employee well-being.
Formats
Green teams can take on a variety of organisational formats, more or less complex, depending on the capabilities and conditions of individual institutions. In smaller organisations, a function similar to that of a green team may be performed by a single individual (green ambassador, environmental coordinator, green leader, etc.).
STEP 2
At this stage, the green team is able to make more insightful observations and analyses of how the institution works. It introduces further changes and suggests recommendations and solutions which require more time and financial resources to implement.
Recommendations and long-term plans
Having taken the first steps and introduced the initial improvements, you understand your institution better, you know how it works and which processes can be easier and which are more difficult to implement. This is a great basis for considering long-term goals – those you would like to achieve in a year, two years, etc. If you have the opportunity, it is worth conducting an environmental audit of your institution (on a scale that is feasible for you). This will give you a broader picture of your institution’s impact on the environment and provide you with data that can help you prioritise various decisions. (see: AUDIT)
Knowledge and imagination
When looking for solutions, seek advice from experts. This is particularly important in areas requiring specialist knowledge and insight, such as green infrastructure investment, digital carbon footprint, or expertise on the best solutions for the local natural ecosystem. When seeking different perspectives, it is also worth involving creative and artistic people in the process of designing changes, as well as inviting the local community and neighbouring institutions to the discussion in the spirit of shared responsibility for the local ecosystem.
> When preparing to build its green team, the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art invited the artistic community and those involved in natural sciences to collaborate. Read more: Green Team: Pro-environmental workshops and training courses for Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art staff and artists-in-residence.
Communication
Inform people outside the green team about your goals and activities – this will allow other employees to learn about your plans, and perhaps someone will want to join you. Make sure that information about your activities is also communicated externally. It is important that other institutions and organisations, as well as your audience, learn about your initiatives – they will certainly be appreciated! Create a tab on your website describing the green team, publish posts about your activities, and promote the projects you initiate. (see: COMMUNICATION AND PROMOTION)
> In external communication, it is worth summarising the directions of activities, both those already implemented and those planned. See for example: The Green Team at Nowy Teatr.
STEP 3
In the third stage, develop monitoring and evaluation tools which will allow you to better track the effectiveness of the changes you are implementing. Translate your recommendations into an environmental strategy and combine your efforts with green teams in other institutions and organisations.
Monitoring and evaluation
The changes you make, as well as the moments that prove to be particularly challenging, need to be observed to draw conclusions. Check how the improvements you implement affect, for example, energy and water consumption, waste reduction, transport footprint, etc. Making adjustments, changes and improvements based on the circumstances of your institution is part of building a ‘learning institution’ profile. Footprint calculators, which you can use on your own, will be helpful in these analyses, but you can also use many tools available online.
Environmental strategy
Translate the goals you have developed into an environmental strategy for your institution. This will show that caring for the environment is one of your priorities and that this direction supports other pillars of your institution’s policy. (see: INSTITUTIONAL POLICY)
> The National Theatre of Scotland’s green team has developed a comprehensive green action plan that permeates the entire organisation, building a culture of shared responsibility not only among the theatre’s staff, but also among those who work with the institution and its audience. Read more: Green Action Plan at the National Theatre of Scotland.
> The Zagłębie Theatre, one of the leaders in pro-environmental thinking in Poland, subjects its strategy to systematic evaluation and updating – in the spirit of the ‘learning institution’ it considers itself to be. Read the latest version of the theatre’s environmental strategy: On the side of nature. The Zagłębie Theatre’s environmental policy.
> Long-term planning of environmental activities can be part of a broader social responsibility policy of an institution, as exemplified by the National Museum in Krakow. Read more: Museum – people – future. Principles of sustainable development.
Alliances
There is no better way to promote pro-environmental institutions than to share their experiences. In cooperation with facilitators, trainers and educators, you can organise inter-institutional workshops, seminars and other joint initiatives. Building alliances with other organisations and institutions, both locally and globally, is a valuable way to spread your pro-environmental mission, bringing a variety of benefits – from competence building for members to strengthening your areas of influence. (see: PARTNERSHIP AND ECO-COALITIONS)
> An inspiring example of building local alliances is the Green Institutions Network of the Tri-City and Pomerania, which you can read about on the European Solidarity Centre’s green team website. Read more: Green ECS.
