Our Commitment to Environmental Sustainability
ArtCan, a UK-based not-for-profit art organisation, is committed to reducing its environmental impact in all its operations. We recognize the importance of sustainability practices and policies and aim to increase awareness among our artist members and partner organisations. Our goal is to build a community that is keen on environmental concerns and to continue to improve our impact on the environment as we grow.
Our Green Mission
At ArtCan, we aim to be an environmentally responsible art organization by contributing to sustainable development. Our commitment to reducing our environmental impact is an integral part of our mission. We believe that it is our responsibility to reduce our carbon footprint, minimize waste and promote sustainability in all our activities.
Our Approach to Sustainability
ArtCan’s approach to sustainability is based on the principles of the circular economy. We aim to eliminate waste and promote a circular system where resources are used efficiently and effectively. Our sustainability practices are guided by the following principles:
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
At ArtCan, we strive to reduce our consumption of resources and minimise waste by reusing and recycling materials wherever possible. We encourage our members and partner organizations to adopt similar practices.
Green Activities and Resources
We are committed to providing our members with green activities and resources to promote sustainability. We organise workshops, talks, and events that focus on sustainable art practices and environmental awareness. Our members have access to a range of sustainable art materials, and we encourage them to use these materials in their work.
Our Green Team
Our Green Team is composed of artists members with the administrative support of the Operations Manager and the Director.
Catherine Fenton, Hannah Pratt, Lawrence Matthias, Cat Coulter, Elly Platt, Rita Carta Manias, Kate Enters
What we have done
As a responsible organisation, we are always looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint and minimise our impact on the environment.
In 2021, we made the decision to join the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) membership to show our commitment to sustainability and reducing our impact on the environment. Since then, we have become more aware of our effect on the environment with our activities and have tried to maintain the impact of our CO2 emissions to a minimum.
July 2025 ArtCan took part in Pembrokeshire’s first Creative Climate Festival, held at a local country park. The venue, Scolton Manor, is a large centrally placed location with 60 acres of woodland and meadow and permaculture based walled garden and a beekeeping centre.
The festival brought together like minded people and organisations committed to action, finding ways to limit the worst effects of climate change.
The arts was at its centre, with music and visual art given prominence in its programme. Pembrokeshire Friends of the Earth, Newport’s community market were some of the organisations that shared the space with art and photography in the Green Barn.
ArtCan’s contribution was in the form of a video show with a selection of films made by its members. The films were shown on a powerful projector at one end of the hall behind a long screen. We are currently planning for the Creative Climate Festival 2026, to be held at the same venue, and possibly one other as well in the town of Haverfordwest. It was an extraordinarily inclusive few days, attracting interest from families and visitors to the park as well as many who had come specifically for the event. The present political climate seems to be deliberately toning down the urgency of climate change, with politicians ready to fall into line with the worst kind of climate change denialism. If it takes small grassroots events like the CCF to maintain a local profile for this issue, we want to make sure that we contribute as effectively as possible. A really big thank you to all the wonderful Artcan artists who shared their vision with us in July just passed, and we at the Green Team look forward hugely to developing further this contribution for the years to come! See links to the video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk6JTnMWJkc
Commitment going forward
At Artcan, we believe in promoting sustainable art practices in a holistic and inclusive manner. As we continue to grow both domestically and internationally, we remain committed to reducing our impact on the environment and promoting sustainability in the art world.
Developing our Website
To further our commitment, we have moved our Green Team sustainability page from content for paid members only to the information being available to the general public. We will be sharing all information and resources collected from our “Growing Under One Sky” exhibition, our GCC membership and activities for engaging and promoting sustainable practices and reduction of CO2 emissions.
Monitoring our CO2 Emissions
We also regularly monitor and measure our CO2 emissions, collecting data on our activities and using the CO2 calculator to report on our emissions. This helps us identify areas where we can improve and reduce our impact on the environment.
Reinforcing our Commitment
By applying for GCC Active membership, we are reinforcing our commitment to sustainability and continuing to be part of the conversation around sustainability in the art world.
Communication and Collaboration
We believe in communicating our environmental commitment with our partner organisations, artists, and visitors to our events, encouraging them to support us in reducing our impact. We aim to reuse, recycle, or repurpose more of our event and exhibition materials and promote cycling, walking, and public transport as the best sustainable ways to travel to our events.
We also aim to share sustainable initiatives within our networks of partner organisations, promoting collaboration and collective action towards a more sustainable future.
.
GCC Statement
We are pleased to announce ArtCan has successfully qualified as a 2025
Active Member with @galleryclimatecoalition! To achieve Active status we had to
demonstrate that our organisation had implemented environmental sustainability best
practice in line with GCC guidance.
Active Membership is not a certification of sustainability nor a claim that we are doing things
perfectly or have all the answers – none of us are at this point. We’re all doing our best to
assess, report and reduce our impact, setting targets in line with science, taking any actions
we can and working out other solutions as we go.
We encourage all of our peers and colleagues to visit the @galleryclimatecoalition page or
website to learn more about the initiative and how to get involved!
#GCCActiveMember #TogetherForOurPlanet #ClimateAction #ClimateEmergency #GCC
#GalleryClimateCoalition
ArtCan has been a member of Gallery Climate Coalition since 2021, and an ‘Active Member’ since 2022.
Links
ArtCan environmental statement 2024- pdf
ArtCan environmental statement 2023- pdf
Research topics for the Breathing Out exhibition:
https://www.hannahprattartist.com/breathing-out-artcan
Link to YouTube channel for Breathing Out artists’ talks:
https://www.youtube.com/@artcanorg/videos
Links from Gallery Climate Coalition Guidelines:
Shipping: https://galleryclimatecoalition.org/shipping/
Packaging: https://galleryclimatecoalition.org/packaging/
Travel: https://galleryclimatecoalition.org/travel/
Activities:
#SAVE THE DATE:
ARTCAN AND INTERNATIONAL MOTHER EARTH DAY –
22 APRIL 2024
Social Media Support with Art @artcanorg #UNIED2024
https://www.un.org/en/observances/earth-day
#ARTCAN AND THE OCEAN – UN WORLD OCEAN DAY –
7 JUNE 2024 – AWAKEN NEW DEPTHS Social Media Support with Art @artcanorg @unworldoceansday #UNWOD2024
https://unworldoceansday.org/un-world-oceans-day-2024/
#ARTCAN AND STOP FOOD LOSS AND WASTE –
29 SEPTEMBER 2024
Social Media Support with Art @artcanorg #IDAFLW
https://www.stopfoodlosswaste.org/theme
#ArtCan visit to Lamas Ecovillage –
Summer 2024- date tbc
https://lammas.org.uk/en/welcome-to-lammas/https://lammas.org.uk/en/welcome-to-lammas/
Info to follow
For Green activities and contributions please email the Green Team at rita@artcan.org.uk