BOV pilot Carbon Literacy Course now available free of charge to non-profit theatres

We take seriously our commitment to reducing Bristol Old Vic's impact on the environment. 

Thanks to a grant from the Wolfson Foundation we installed a solar array on to the roof of the theatre. It went live in October 2023 and it instantly began providing us with electricity. Since then, the panels have generated 3.49MWh of electricity, enough to power around 3000 homes!

We are committed to reducing Bristol Old Vic's impact on the environment, and to share what we're learning with the wider sector. 

In the last 12months we've taken some big steps forward, making significant investment into both reducing our energy supply impact and into training our team.

Training our BOV team to be more environmentally aware was also a key objective of 2023. Our Environmental Consultant, Nico Conde designed a Carbon Literacy Training Course which The Carbon Literacy Project (TCLP) has formally accredited.

More than 100 full-time, part-time and freelance colleagues were invited to attend the course, and over 80% of attendees then went on to gain Carbon Literacy Certification from TCLP. This has a big, positive impact as we continue to find ways of driving down our carbon footprint.

The course has led to team members considering the way we work and our processes in more detail and proposing changes that could reduce our environmental impact further. This vital work contributed to Bristol old Vic's new Environmental Plan that is focussed on delivering against these new actions. More information can be found on our Environmental Plan page.

Because we want to be useful to the whole sector, we're making the Carbon Literacy Course available free of charge to non-profit theatres and cultural organisations.  

Executive Director, Charlotte Geeves said: "Making the course available in this way gives organisations a quick way to develop a deeper understanding of the climate crisis alongside a platform to develop a company-wide action plan that suits their context. It's been so helpful for us to approach it in this way and we  hope it'll be a useful resource for the whole sector." 

To find out more about the free Carbon Literacy Training course and to access the content please visit the Theatre Green Book website or email culture@carbonliteracy.com.