Liverpool hosted 14 UK councils recently for a ground-breaking UN Accelerator City workshop on low carbon live music, film and TV – giving an opportunity to showcase its leading work in the sector as well as learning from others.
The workshop provided a great chance to share pioneering strategies to decarbonise the cultural and creative sectors under the UN’s Entertainment and Culture for Climate Action programme.
Named as the world’s first ever UN Accelerator City last year, Liverpool has spent the last nine months researching, trialling and experimenting how to transition the cultural sector to a net zero future.
Liverpool City Council, in partnership with the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, hosted the online workshop to explore low-carbon solutions for live music, film and television production across UK cities.
Liverpool City Council shared UNAC insights to date, showcasing valuable guidance and support for councils who are also pursuing low-carbon culture initiatives.
In addition, other local authority officers directly involved in designing or supporting transformative cultural events in their own areas shared their learnings and challenges.
Two leading city councils highlighted their pioneering initiatives, with Bristol City Council focusing on sustainable event planning and stakeholder engagement, and Manchester City Council highlighting their feeder pillars scheme, which can provide modular, low-carbon power infrastructure for temporary venues .
The workshop provided crucial opportunity to foster collaboration between cultural-sector stakeholders and climate-policy makers, focussing on the themes of:
• Governance and Resources: navigating land-use agreements and enhancing cross-departmental coordination
• Sustainable Transport: integrating public transport solutions such as gig-ticket schemes
• Low-Carbon Power: deploying feeder pillars to reduce production emissions
• Knowledge and Skills: developing internal training programmes and aligning with National Operational Standards
Attendees included officers from local authorities and cultural development teams across the UK, including; Bristol City Council, Manchester City Council, Leicester Festivals and Events Department, Crawley Borough Council, Haverhill Town Council, Brighton & Hove City Council, Glasgow City Council, London Borough of Waltham Forest Council, Calderdale Heritage Development, Bath & North East Somerset City Council, Cardiff Council, Belfast City Council, Newport City Council, Knowsley Council and Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU). UNAC and participating cities will now work together to transform these insights into actionable frameworks, driving the UK’s cultural sector towards a net zero future.
Cllr Liam Robinson, Leader of Liverpool City Council, said:
“Since being named the world’s first UN Accelerator City, we’ve collaborated across the cultural sector to trial integrated ticketing, updated land-use agreements, and net-zero gigs at M&S Bank Arena.
“Now we’re sharing those insights so other cities can overcome hurdles and scale up low-carbon live music, film and TV production. “Liverpool has always led culturally, and through this programme we’re shaping a net zero future for the creative industries.”
