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Scottish International Storytelling Festival – Commitment to Carbon Reduction

The Scottish International Storytelling Festival (SISF) supports the collective Edinburgh Festivals Carbon Reduction Route Map and commits to work towards the silver route for emissions reductions. Within the silver route, we will focus on the following areas up to 2025:

  1. Digital Programming: utilise livestreaming, online programming (paper free) and online participation to reduce waste and carbon emission
  2. Accommodation & Transport: audiences and artists incentivised to choose lower-carbon options
  3. Building: pursue investment opportunities for Scottish Storytelling Centre venue to replace/improve services infrastructure, including lighting, heating and ventilation

 

  1. Digital Programming and Ticketing

Although we had started to integrate event livestreaming prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the global crisis pushed us to expand on our digital programme and to change the way our ticketing and programming enables online users and festival visitors to engage with our festival.

In 2020 we switched all ticketing to paperless online tickets and we decided to stop printing our annual festival brochure, in place for a digital Issuu version and PDF, accessible online.

Going forward we will continue to build on steaming events digitally, as an integrated part of our festival offering, which simultaneously continues to open SISF up to international audiences and is enabling international artist participation, without the environmental impact of travel. Furthermore, we will maintain a paperless digital version of our festival programme, to reduce waste.

Our events series The Global Lab, which has become a core part of our festival, addresses the environmental challenges in the world and in relation to storytelling. This series will continue to address and monitor environmental impacts, in line with the Earth Charter.

  1. Accommodation & Transport

We will in every feasible circumstance use and encourage the use of public transport, and the use of sustainably operated accommodation providers. In addition, we shall use fewer travel miles by  engaging artists for longer periods with efficient multi-purpose programme schedules.

  1. Building

We work closely with our main venue, the Scottish Storytelling Centre to support and encourage more environmentally sustainable investment. The SSC have committed to using renewable energy whenever possible and are currently working toward having the building rewired for energy efficient lighting. The Scottish Storytelling Centre have also committed to making increased environmental sustainability a priority for any planned refurbishments and building improvements.

Targets: By 2022 we aim to remain paperless for our programme and as our ticketing once our venue is open and fully operating.

From 2022 We will continue to programme The Global Lab series to honour the Earth Charter aims and principles

By 2023 we will expand our livestreaming offer so reducing travel and carbon emission.

By 2023, we will expand artist engagements to reduce international travel

The Scottish International Storytelling Festival works closely with the Scottish Storytelling Centre as its main venue, and by 2025 they plan to have upgraded lighting, heating and ventilations systems to provide sustainable venue infrastructure.