Salvaging Sustainability

ACE Sustainability Conference 2026

Fabulous to start the month with the Association of Cultural Enterprise Sustainability Conference 2026 - a focus on climate action within the cultural heritage sector, community engagement, and collaborative approaches in sustainable tourism and beyond. Fi Anderson from theAssociation for Cultural Enterprises talked passionately about the Circular Economy, turning sustainability into action with the Association's new Retail Sustainability Framework, a practical toolkit to help attendees embed sustainable practice across their retail operations.

Cannon Alison Evans, COO for Winchester Cathedral delighted us all with her presentation on outcomes and learnings from the multisensory, sustainability focussed exhibition Whales, winner of the 2026 Cultural Enterprises Best Event Award. Three colossal sperm whales made from recycled paper darted into the heavens amid seriously good lighting and coloured sheets. Her ghost netting boards, sea shanties and even a silent disco worked to celebrate the highly sustainable project. Whilst the show heralded a 50% rise in visitor numbers, it brought in people that would otherwise not have attended the cathedral, thereby championing the church's mission. In truth, many organisations desire a popular exhibition, but Whales supported the objects of the charity as well as utilising recycled materials.

If that was not enough, Gareth Dinnage, of Seacourt Ltd inspired all with how their company facilitated sustainable printing and leadership. This is important for anyone preparing impact statements in the environmental sector, from the highest rated B Corp in printing worldwide, that not only can business be a force for good (their sustainable printing model) but it can be governed in a way that impacts the wider business community through prioritising partner businesses that share their sustainable business model and offering, quite literally, to recycle any work (from print to XL signage) that they do not use - in Gareth's words "this way it is not sat in landfill creating methane."

Nevertheless, it was Rachael O'Sullivan, Environmental Manager, Royal Ballet & Opera who provided some fascinating insights into the charity's desire to reach ambitious sustainability targets, with three buildings, two stages and over one million visitors annually, a 2035 Net Zero target for scope 1 and 2. She stressed the need for Board level champions of each organisation's Public Environmental Policy. She is right, prioritising sustainability stems from the top. The Royal Ballet, The Royal Opera and the Orchestra of the Royal Ballet and Opera (RBO) bring together the world's most extraordinary ballet and opera artists. Whilst theatres are in Covent Garden, their work is experienced across the UK and globally through touring, cinema broadcasts, radio and TV and streaming online.

Their Learning and Participation programme presents affordable performances for families, schools and the community, meeting the Trustees' charitable accountability demands. Yet their sustainability aligning really is commendable. After all, their activities do have an impact on the environment. They plan to reduce these as far as possible by aiming for advanced certification of the Theatre Green Book by 2035/36 season. The Theatre Green Book aims to make theatres more sustainable by bringing a common standard for practitioners. It has four levels of achievement; preliminary, basic, intermediate and advanced and includes guidance for productions, front and back of-house operations and managing buildings. It was clear that RBO is proud to have achieved preliminary and basic certification already.

It was refreshing to hear Rachael say that not every organisation can afford to send significant staff members on an 8-hour carbon literacy training course. Instead, she orchestrated training that was 2-hours long and team-specific, constantly drumming home the message that sustainability is everyone's responsibility even suggesting to RBO management that a train to Paris, as opposed to flying, has a significantly lower carbon footprint!

In the 'break-out' room, Olly Taylor, Head of Public Programming and Experience at SS Great Britain, battled my question on whether scuppering a ship or having one in a museum had a lower carbon footprint. The overriding consensus was it was small steps, not large ones, that propel an organisation forward. Visweshwar Kinjarapu, Sustainability Lead from the Titanic Belfast, added that they will be looking at Scope 3 emissions in the long term. This is correct. Scope 3 emission targets are not mandatory for all those attending, so why not take the journey together with every member of the organisation being your Sustainability Team. Gosh, deep oxygen-filled breath, we covered so much ground and SORP impact assessments were not even mentioned, well, only briefly, by me!

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