Our third year of sustainability research generated 17,450 responses from 112 cultural organisations, our largest number of participating organisations so far. Thank you to all who took part.
The Act Green 2024 results told us that:
Cultural audiences are among some of the most concerned about the climate crisis
- 86% of cultural audiences are worried about the climate crisis.
- 93% have made changes to their lifestyle
Audiences expect awareness and responsibility from cultural organisations
- 72% think cultural organisations have a responsibility to influence society about the climate emergency
- Only 16% think cultural organisations place great importance on the role they play in the climate emergency
Audiences expect action from cultural organisations
- 89% expect organisations to be reducing and recycling waste.
- 68% expect organisations to provide information to help audiences act more sustainably.
- 64% expect organisations to work with suppliers who share their values on environmental issues.
- 49% expect organisations to be joining together to campaign, lobby and influence.
Getting audiences involved is key in initiatives to tackle the climate crisis
- 74% said a sustainability accreditation would make them view an organisation more positively.
- 62% said availability of public transport is the key consideration when thinking about how to travel to an organisation
- 70% would act more sustainably either to support an organisation or if it was made easy for them.
- 50% would support a fundraising campaign to help an organisation redevelop outside space to promote biodiversity.
Methodology
Cultural organisations in the UK, including theatres, arts centres, festivals, touring companies, museums and galleries, were invited to participate in the Act Green research. The research was open to all cultural organisations in the UK, and it was free for organisations to take part.
Organisations were each provided with a unique link to send out to a recommended sample of around 3,000 - 5,000 of their previous attenders. They were provided with a link to see the results from their own organisation in real time, and the results from all organisations were then aggregated to form the baseline data set.
The survey ran throughout May 2024 and during that month, 17,450 complete responses were gathered through 112 cultural organisations, 26 more organisations than in 2023.
Indigo CEO Katy Raines says:
"This year’s Act Green has given us the opportunity to continue to build on the body of evidence we have gathered over the past two years about audience and visitor attitudes to the climate emergency."
"Audiences want organisations to be proactively demonstrating a commitment to sustainability, communicating more effectively about what they are doing, and informing audiences about how they can help."
"New areas of questioning have revealed the potential impact of accreditation and given us insight into how audiences expect to see information about sustainability referenced on organisation websites."
"We have been able to build up this picture by working with the 112 curious and committed cultural organisations who took part this year, sharing the survey with their audiences and visitors. We are also so grateful for the support of our partners Supercool, who have sponsored Act Green for a second year, enabling us to offer it free to organisations in the UK."