Here’s how Warsaw’s community is mobilising for climate action
Project: culture for climate action pressure groups
The Challenge
Addressing the climate crisis is an urgent priority for the City of Warsaw. This commitment is integrated into the city’s key strategic documents, including the Warsaw 2020 Strategy and Cultural Policy.
The Purpose
The city acknowledges that culture provides a space for constructive discussion, critical thinking, and bold, experimental action. Therefore, it can play a crucial role in mobilising action on climate change.
The City of Warsaw’s Culture Department has introduced a requirement that grant applications must demonstrate environmentally sustainable approaches to event production.
The Solution
Culture for Climate is a grassroots eco-feminist collective established in Warsaw in 2021. It comprises employees from various cultural institutions, NGOs, local authorities, and independent artists and curators.
The collective has produced an online guidebook for cultural institutions, funded by the City of Warsaw, with support from the Culture and Environmental Protection departments. The guidebook provides comprehensive information to individuals working within cultural institutions. It is written from the perspective of the institutions themselves and covers areas such as building infrastructure, event production, ICT systems, partnerships and cooperation, programming, and institutional policy.
The guidebook also suggests measures that can be implemented across the city’s cultural landscape, helping policymakers assess where future targeted support would be most beneficial.
The Impact
To inspire systemic change, the collective aims to increase environmental awareness among the directors of cultural institutions. Their work has already had a direct impact, as several institutions now require candidates for the role of director to engage in pro-environmental initiatives.
As a result of the guidebook, the City of Warsaw’s Culture Department has introduced a requirement that grant applications must demonstrate environmentally sustainable approaches to event production. This includes using local resources, limiting energy-intensive promotional activities, and collaborating with ecologically friendly suppliers.
Source: World Cities Culture Report 2022
Images Courtesy @ Getty/Canva, City of Warsaw
