greenloop 23: how visitor attractions are tackling climate action

On 25 and 26 April 2023, blooloop held the third greenloop sustainability in visitor attractions conference. Over the course of two days, attendees gathered online to learn about the latest trends and developments, share best practices and foster meaningful connections. The goal of this yearly event is to inspire us all to take climate action and provide clear takeaways about how to do that.

During a variety of insightful sessions, attendees could hear directly from leading visitor attraction operators. This included Disney, Efteling, the Eden Project, Port Aventura, Meow Wolf, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Museums Galleries Scotland, WAZA and Merlin Entertainments.

We also spoke to leading climate scientist Professor Tim Lenton of Exeter University, who explained why it’s not too late to avoid climate catastrophe, but we need to act quickly to trigger positive tipping points.

Prof Colin Davis, Chair in Cognitive Psychology at the University of Bristol, told us how to communicate to avoid climate apathy and about the science behind radical action.

In addition, we spoke to Eddie Whittingham from the climate activist group Just Stop Oil.

Key messages from greenloop 23

We saw some key messages emerge from greenloop 23:

• Prof Tim Lenton told us why it’s not too late but we must act now and gave visitor attractions two quick wins – rapid adoption of renewable energy and reducing meat in F&B.
• A Different View’s Sustainability Tracker revealed that visitors expect a Net Zero strategy as a given.
• ADV’s tracker also showed that visitors think museums are more sustainable than theme parks. This suggests an opportunity for “greener” theme parks to communicate their values and actions better to guests.
• Prof Colin Davis told us that to overcome climate apathy we should communicate with guests about the climate crisis, AND give them an opportunity to act.
• The big theme park operators are measuring their Scope 3 emissions. This means that their suppliers will need to report their own carbon footprints very soon!

In addition, there were inspirational case studies and some really useful sessions on getting started with sustainability, including demystifying climate jargon with Planet Mark and WAZA’s free carbon guide.

Watch greenloop 23 now

You can catch up with the greenloop sessions for just £24. [Attendees you should have received an email with a code to access the recordings for free. Please email Alice at events@blooloop.com if you haven’t got it.]

Day one at greenloop 2023

The 2023 Sustainability Tracker Report

greenloop 2023 kicked off on Tuesday morning with a session presented by Rosalind Johnson and Geoffrey Dixon of A Different View, a global consultancy supporting the cultural sector and visitor attractions. This saw the reveal of the 2023 Sustainability Tracker Report.

First launched in 2021, this report looks at visitor sentiment towards sustainability, and how this influences purchasing decisions. For this edition, A Different View interviewed 1033 UK attractions visitors in March 2023.

Nearly all respondents are already taking action on sustainability in their everyday lives. This shows that it is a topic that people are engaged with. And, 42% of visitors look to find out how sustainable or environmentally friendly an attraction is before they visit.

However, different attractions have different average sustainability ratings from guests. The perception among visitors is that museums, farm parks and heritage attractions are greener than theme parks and water parks. This is not necessarily the case and so there is an opportunity for thoughtful communication by theme parks who are taking climate action to outperform guest expectations.

The survey found that recycling of waste, food recycling and single-use plastics were the most important visitor considerations.

The majority of respondents also said they would pay more to visit an environmentally friendly attraction.

Culture and climate action

Next, we were joined by Ibrahim Tchan, director and co-founder of Ecomusée Tata Somba and Andrew Anderson, environmental health and safety officer at The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. This session explored how culture, heritage and community can be leveraged for climate action.

The Ecomusée Tata Somba is the first ecological museum in West Africa. In his session, Tchan talked about the Takienta, the unique architecture of the site, and how it can serve as a model of ecological construction.

Takienta is an earth architecture that serves as both a dwelling, a place of worship, and a work of art. It houses both the living and the ancestors. Earth is the main building material. The walls are made of raw earth, manually modelled into balls, and the process also uses both animal and plant waste.

“The set of materials and techniques used make the Takienta an exemplary ecological home,” explained Tchan. Their construction is based on a deep respect for the environment.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust has a defined goal to be carbon net zero by 2030. A National Portfolio Organization for Arts Council England, it uses Julie’s Bicycle’s Creative Green Tools to measure its carbon footprint. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust operates five sites. These are Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, Shakespeare’s New Place, Mary Arden’s Farm and Hall’s Croft.

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin…

Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Scene 3

“Our policy is ambitious, we want to be an exemplar in the heritage sector,” said Anderson. “It breaks down into five areas that we commit to, which is deliberately easy so that everybody in the organisation can remember them. The first one is collaborating and communicating, then encouraging biodiversity, becoming sustainable, measuring our impact and finally building resilience.”

“For, being green, there is great hope” @ShakespeareBT #greenloop23 https://t.co/MfGqxBryOp pic.twitter.com/tLbJ82eGJL

— blooloop (@Blooloop) April 25, 2023

greenloop 2023 explores innovation in green energy for operators

The final session on Tuesday morning featured insights from Jaap den Bleker, team lead project support at Efteling and Charles Sainsbury, energy and sustainability manager at the Eden Project. Sainsbury discussed green energy solutions for visitor attractions. Meanwhile, den Bleker talked about sustainable enchantment with green energy at the fairytale-themed park in the Netherlands.

The Efteling Nature Park Foundation, founded in 1952, is the sole owner of Efteling. This unique set-up includes a plan for environmental protection. Only 11% of Efteling’s footprint may be devoted to structures, with the remaining space reserved for water, trees, and bushes. The theme park aims to be carbon-neutral by 2030 and climate positive by 2032.

“Sustainability has been part of our DNA since the foundation of Efteling,” said den Bleker. “Efleting is of and for everyone and our mission is to pass the experience on to the next generation.”

The park has an ambitious roadmap, and its actions include a focus on energy and waste. For instance, some of the attractions, like the Max & Moritz coater, include energy recovery systems. “Our rides are operating 10+ hours a day and so provide a lot of kinetic energy. This energy is recovered and is given back to the power network.”

In addition, Efteling will have a total of 25,000 solar panels by the end of 2023.

The park also uses aquathermia, heating and cooling buildings sustainably using heat and cold from water. The park and resort are home to a lot of natural water. In the summer months, it extracts heat from the surface water with a heat exchanger. This heat is stored in the ground in a heat and cold storage system.

In the colder months, the park pumps up the warm water from the ground. A heat exchanger takes the heat out of the water and releases it to a heat pump. The central heat pump heats the water in the heat network to the desired temperature, heating buildings and providing hot tap water.

Sainsbury then talked about regenerative sustainability at the Eden Project.

“Our mission is about connecting people with nature and with each other,” he said, of the organisation’s mission. “At Eden, we’re a part of nature, not apart from nature.

“We’ve seen this evolution of sustainability. In response to the urgency of the planetary emergency, we’re saying now we need to go beyond just sustaining. Keeping going as we are is not going to cut it. Maintaining the status quo isn’t good enough. For us, it’s not about doing less harm. It’s about actively doing more good. That’s what we mean when we say regenerative sustainability.”

An example is the Eden Project’s geothermal energy plant. This will form an on-site source of renewable energy to supply the biomes and the growing nursery.

How to create a carbon reduction strategy

Following a break for networking and an opportunity for attendees to browse the greenloop 2023 virtual booths, we heard from Helen Lockhart, member of the WAZA Carbon Subcommittee, Judy Mann, chair of the WAZA Conservation and Sustainability Committee and Alex Smith, climate officer at Museums Galleries Scotland. This session gave some useful tips on how organisations can measure their carbon footprint or develop a carbon reduction strategy.

Mann began with an overview of WAZA’s sustainability strategy, talking about how its committees are set up and how the association produces reports on topics such as single-use plastics, sustainable palm oil, and carbon footprints. WAZA (The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums ) is a global alliance of regional associations, national federations and institutions.

“All of these guides rely on one thing, which is changes human behaviour, whether it is your staff behaviour or your visitor behaviour, or even the behaviour of the people that you procure your products from,” said Mann. “Humans are at the core of all of these issues.”

To address this, WAZA, along with the International Zoo Educators Association, has produced a guide called Social Change for Conservation. This looks at how to include a behavioural focus in all communication.

Then Lockhart, who contributed to WAZA’s Guide on Reducing, Measuring and Offsetting Carbon and WAZA’s short guide on How To Reduce Single-Use Plastic At Your Zoo Or Aquarium, spoke about the Carbon Guide in more detail. She showed how any attraction can use it as a basis to measure and reduce their carbon footprint.

“Zoos and aquariums are at a pivotal point in our existence,” said Lockhart. “We are custodians of the natural world. And so, right now, we’re faced with a responsibility like never before. We’re also in a perfect position to reach people, educate them about what is happening with regard to biodiversity loss and climate change, and inspire people to make positive changes in their daily lives.

“The credibility of our messages, and even the legitimacy of our existence, is at stake if we do not reduce our own emissions and lead by example.”

Moving on, Smith talked about the role that museums and galleries can play in ensuring a sustainable future for all. The first and most obvious of the steps that museums can take, he says is to reduce their own footprint. “Museums can produce a lot of energy and a lot of waste. In England, museums make up a quarter of the footprint of the entire cultural sector.”

However, their role doesn’t end there. Museums are trusted sources of information. “It’s important that that gets utilised as a platform to talk about climate change,” said Smith. Museums can also be role models: “Seeing action in person can be quite a powerful tool.”

“The community tie too is a very powerful tool for museums. Museums are about their local history and stories and environment. You can find ways to link climate change to this and show how it will, or already is, having an impact on that area.”

greenloop 2023 looks at B Corps

The next session featured Choni Fernandez Veciana, director of sustainability, customer experience and communication of PortAventura and Danika Padilla, vice president for inclusion and impact at Meow Wolf.

PortAventura is a trailblazer when it comes to sustainability in theme parks. The world’s first carbon neutral theme park has just become a certified B Corp. For more than 28 years, PortAventura World has worked hard to fulfil a number of environmental, social and governance commitments that have benefitted all of its stakeholders. B Corp status formalises those high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.

'We want to be a good company for the world, so we are going to keep moving forward,' says @PortAventura_UK at #greenloop23 https://t.co/MfGqxBryOp pic.twitter.com/JaY8fViiDW

— blooloop (@Blooloop) April 25, 2023

Veciana spoke about how reaching this milestone is not an excuse to stop working to be as sustainable as possible. She also talked about the importance of constantly revisiting and updating the resort’s sustainability strategy.

New actions for 2022 to 2025 include supply chain engagement to reduce scope 3 emissions, participation in advocacy initiatives for climate action and awareness, increased expenditure incurred with local suppliers, and provision of ESG (environmental, social and governance) criteria training to supply chain.

One of her messages was that it’s important to act now or be caught out later. If PortAventura had not started using a sustainable water retention system five years ago, its pools would have since been shut down due to the droughts of recent years.

Meow Wolf has been a B Corp for a number of years and is now focusing more closely on its sustainability strategy. Padilla talked about Meow Wolf‘s sustainability strategy and what it means to be a B Corp. As part of the process, companies are assessed on their performance across five different categories. These are governance, workers, community, environment and customers.

Meow Wolf has been certified as a B Corp since 2017. Its initial score in 2017 was 80.2 and in 2022 this rose to 110.3, a 37% increase. “The B Crop process is continual and strategic,” said Padilla. “Meow Wolf cannot invest in every initiative, so we use this assessment to identify top opportunities.”

Being a B Corp is about both “measuring where you are and continual improvement”, Padilla added, explaining how it is a global movement to put people over profits. “Being a responsible business is not about one person or one department. It’s about all of us and the decisions we make every day to make a positive impact.”

Walt Disney Imagineering – Scope 3 and the supply chain

We welcomed back Walt Disney Imagineering’s Emily Dow, design studio executive and Caitlin Krasovic, senior architect, who gave an update on the company’s sustainability initiatives.

At greenloop in 2021, Dow talked about how WDI is embedding sustainability into its processes. In 2022, the pair discussed how Walt Disney Imagineering is putting environmental goals into action in practice. This year, the pair focused on Scope 3 emissions, measurement and targets, as well as updating attendees on recent projects.

The Walt Disney Company has expanded its challenging environmental reporting objectives to cover emissions under Scope 3 – a massive challenge and achievement. In December 2022, the 2030 Environmental Goals White Paper was revised to incorporate data for Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions for 2019. In order to measure and meet Science-Based Targets, the publication highlights the need for supplier participation.

Scope 3 is a huge chunk of the company’s emissions, and also has a lot of unknowns. As a result, the company is developing three-year plans, instead of long-term plans. This builds in space to review progress and refine actions. When it comes to Scope 3, Disney has set ambitious goals. Yet it believes them to be achievable and is fully committed to reaching them.

“Our original environmental goals were really about optimising the way that we design, deliver and conceive of projects,” said Dow. “And when we add scope 3, this really challenges us to revolutionise the design and delivery of our products, of our parks, and of our built environment.”

"We can't manage what we don't measure" #greenloop23 https://t.co/MfGqxBryOp pic.twitter.com/GQf7ziEwRB

— blooloop (@Blooloop) April 25, 2023

Given the company’s prominence in the industry, it is likely that its sustainability strategy will help influence others, both suppliers and other operators.

greenloop 2023 explores climate action in cultural institutions across the US

The last session of day one at greenloop 2023 focused on what is happening in US museums regarding climate change, with insights from Sarah Sutton, CEO of Environment and Culture Partners, a non-profit organisation dedicated to strengthening and broadening the environmental leadership of the cultural sector, and Patrick Hamilton, manager of sustainability initiatives at the Science Museum of Minnesota.

The Science Museum of Minnesota aims to be 100% carbon neutral by 2023.

“We need to innovate and we need to do it now because we have set in motion large-scale planetary changes,” began Hamilton. “I am a big champion of exhibits as a way of captivating and motivating and exciting audiences. But I want to speak to today about a much less used muscle of cultural institutions. And that’s our facilities, our grounds, our staff and our partners beyond the walls of our institution.

“Bringing all those assets together and changing how our institutions do our work can have profound implications and can actually be a really strong learning tool for audiences.”

“Often, the way our institutions work are both environmentally and financially unsustainable,” he added. Back in 2010, the Science Museum of Minnesota conducted a top to bottom energy analysis. This revealed that it was using as much electricity annually as around 300 households. It has since reduced this by 40%, so is on the way to its carbon neutral target.

In 2015, the Science Museum retrofitted building with a heat recovery system and we upgraded our building automation system. Those two improvements together allowed the Science Museum to cut its carbon emissions by 30%. The project has since long paid for itself in energy savings.

“But it wasn’t just a retrofit, it was an opportunity to incorporate educational elements of that project into the Science Museum’s mission,” said Hamilton. It also runs tours of the advanced heat recovery system, both for the public and for architects, engineers, building owners and operators, policymakers and opinion leaders.

Environment and Culture Partners is a US-based national non-profit. Its mission is to strengthen and broaden the cultural sector’s environmental leadership.

Sutton then presented some tools and calculators the Environment and Culture Partners has worked on, which museums can use on their sustainability journeys.

Firstly, STITCH, or Sustainability Tools in Cultural Heritage. This was was founded in the United States to do a lifecycle assessment of the tools and materials that museums use in collections care, whether it’s conservation or storage, or display. It has an online calculator, so that users can calculate the carbon impact of things like a gram of solvent or an ounce of packing foam.

The second project, the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative, is a private foundation created by a visual artist and a partnership with Rocky Mountain Institute and Environment and Culture partners to distribute over three years $10 million worth of energy efficiency in clean energy generation grants to visual arts institutions.

Sutton said: “We hope that it’s an example for other groups, whether it’s in visual arts or cultural heritage or science museums, or the museums sector as a whole. We are partnering to understand energy use and contribute to solving energy consumption in museums.”

She also talked about Caretakers of Wonder, which focuses on children’s museums.

“This does two things. It helps to calculate the carbon impact of those museums from their energy use and to create sustainability action plans for reducing their overall impacts. And it develops an educational framework for having conversations with families with young children about climate change.”

Other projects include Climate Change Resilience Resources for Cultural Heritage and Culture Over Carbon. Sutton also introduced America is All In, the largest coalition in the world of non-federal organisations working to reduce climate change.

Day two at greenloop 2023

The economics of environmental sustainability

Day two of greenloop 2023 kicked off with a session on how making operations more sustainable can also make financial sense. This was led by Dare Ilori, director of sustainability at Merlin Entertainments.

Ilori began by answering the question, “Why is sustainability good for business?”. Firstly, compliance is increasingly important, as new regulations come into place. But embedding sustainability also builds stakeholder trust. Consumers increasingly demand higher standards from the brand and businesses that they interact with. Another huge benefit is cost reduction; sustainable ways of working are often more cost-effective as well. In addition, this work sets a growth and innovation mindset.

Just one example of this cost-effectiveness is in lighting choices. “If you are not using LED lighting and you operate them for an average of 12 hours in a day, you could be spending about 60 to 70% more on your energy costs,” he explained.

Ilori also gave some examples of Merlin’s sustainability commitments in action, such as the Woodland Village at LEGOLAND Windsor, which will be Merlin’s first operationally carbon-neutral accommodation when it opens in 2024, and the company’s partnership with Coca-Cola on reverse vending machines.

However, aside from the financial benefits, one of his main points is that being sustainable is non-negotiable. It gives businesses a license to operate in the world that we live in today. “The economics is the icing on the cake… It’s about being a great business. Environmental sustainability has to be done, because we love the planet.”

Are multimedia shows sustainable?

This was followed by some insights from Emmanuelle Charotte, SVP of business development at ECA2 and Nicolas Chavance, sales director, content & communication coordination, at Groupe F. Together, they discussed the sustainability question when it comes to multimedia shows.

There are a lot of challenges to overcome when it comes to making multimedia shows sustainable. Productions like this rely heavily on fossil fuel technologies and can also produce a lot of toxic waste and pollution. They also call for a lot of movement, both of staff and equipment. However, the ECA2 & Groupe F teams believe that this type of entertainment & culture “remains absolutely vital.”

When it comes to actions, the teams are shifting more to permanent installations, and taking a tailor-made approach with a focus on local assets. It is also helping to raise awareness among its collaborators. In terms of resources, ECA2 and Groupe F are making efforts to reuse and revamp their resources. They are also making adjustments to their supply chains.

One example of how a multimedia show can be more sustainable is ECA2’s work on NYE shows for the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Here they are reusing and refurbishing previous equipment, recruiting locally, and creating permanent infrastructure & rigging. When it came to the fireworks for the show, Groupe F focused on quality over quantity and put the emphasis on storytelling rather than taking a ‘bigger is better’ approach. The show is designed as a whole, with shared effects.

Exploring Escape’s tree first policy at greenloop 2023

Next, we were joined by Sim Choo Kheng, founder and executive chairman of Sim Leisure Group. This session explored low-impact development and sustainability innovation. It included practical examples of how Escape theme parks are built sympathetically with the natural landscape.

Sustainability means co-existence with nature, said Sim Choo Kheng, adding “Sustainability is not a science…it’s not about awards. It’s actually a way of life.”

Sim Leisure’s Escape brand has a Tree First policy. At its new site in Ipoh, it has transplanted and saved over 100 mature trees as well as adding 500 new trees so far. Eventually, it will plant a total of at least 5000 trees for this project alone.

Escape Penang took over a former construction site for a nearby reservoir and turned it into a green playground, with the mission to help people reconnect with nature.

With its Tree First policy and its approach of working with and not against nature, Escape Penang has had a positive impact on the local environment. It has managed to not only co-exist with nature but to enhance it. On this site, the firm has planted 3,900 trees and also hasn’t harmed any existing trees. It has reduced surface runoff water by 80% and has lowered the area temperature by 5 degrees centigrade.

See also: Escape: low-tech, high-fun entertainment in Malaysia & beyond

How solar energy is a natural fit for visitor attractions

Håkon Lund, owner of Lund Gruppen, addressed the topic of solar energy at theme parks during this greenloop 2023 session. He spoke about why solar energy is a natural fit for visitor attractions. Lund Gruppen has not only fitted solar panels but has also worked with local suppliers and provided educational information for guests. It is lobbying the government for grants for the attractions sector.

Rather than just implementing sustainability initiatives behind the scenes, one of the things that Lund Gruppen does at its parks, which includes Kongeparken and Skånes Djurpark, is to talk about what it is doing. “Our guests are very interested in the sustainable approach to our experience, and they want to be a part of that,” says Lund.

On solar power, he adds:

“For us, it was a no-brainer. The more solar power we can put on and activate on our real estate, the better it will be. But we wanted to do it in a different way. And we want to make an impact regionally and nationally.”

Kongeparken, Norway’s largest theme park, will source a third of its energy needs from solar power by the end of this year and will set up an information centre exploring the industry’s transition towards eco-friendly practices. An advocate for green energy in the attractions industry, Lund wants to showcase this transition towards a more eco-friendly approach.

“We have an obligation to educate people…we believe that guests can learn something that they can bring back home.”

Digital carbon with blooloop – emails

The morning of greenloop 2023 day two wrapped up with a special session from the team at blooloop. In a short presentation with a potentially big impact, we shared our work on digital carbon footprints, presented some top tips and also unveiled our campaign to remove images from email footers.

Many people don’t realise that what is in their inboxes has an impact, but computers and data centres use a lot of energy sending, filtering and reading messages. A standard email has a carbon footprint of 4gm of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent). Add an attachment of 1MB and this boosts the footprint of an email by 15gm CO2e. This is almost a 5x increase.

At blooloop, we have stopped adding images to our signatures and instead included a statement about why we’re doing this. If you’d like to join us in this small action then please email Ruth. We’ll send some information about how to calculate the overall impact for your organisation and an example of an email footer text.

Over the next year, we will add up all the commitments to see how much of a difference we can make together and report back at greenloop 2024.

The latest on Net Zero – policy & top tips on decarbonisation

On the afternoon of day two at greenloop 2023, Andrew Griffiths of Planet Mark, a sustainability certification for every type of organisation, presented the latest thinking on Net Zero policy and regulation. This session included practical tips on how to measure and decarbonise, and how to engage with the supply chain.

Griffiths begins by talking about why Net Zero is significant. He explained the regulatory waterfall and the knock-on effect of new international regulations. He also spoke about the importance of measuring and reducing scope 3 emissions on the road to Net Zero:

“It’s everything that’s upstream of you, and downstream of you. For most businesses, particularly large ones, anywhere between 70 and 99% of your carbon footprint probably sits in scope three.”

It’s not always a simple journey. There will be some low-hanging fruit and some things will take a longer time to plan and implement, said Griffiths. In addition, he set out the three decarbonisation pillars – 1. use less energy. 2. re-design for zero carbon and 3. decarbonise your energy supply – and explained the UN-backed Race to Zero.

Griffiths finishes by saying how to get started. Set out your approach to Net Zero now: establish a baseline, set targets, develop a plan and take action. And join the Race to Zero to pledge your #NetZero target today! #greenloop2023 pic.twitter.com/ZCaF6rNpbv

— blooloop (@Blooloop) April 26, 2023

Just Stop Oil at greenloop 2023 – why do climate activists take radical action and how does it work?

Next, we were joined by Edred Whittingham of Just Stop Oil. He explained the activist group’s goals and the reasoning behind recent actions in museums and art galleries. In addition, Professor Colin Davis, chair in Cognitive Psychology, gave some insights into the psychology of climate change and direct action.

Whittingham began by outlining Just Stop Oil’s demands. Just Stop Oil is a non-violent civil disobedience group, calling on the UK Government to stop licensing all new oil, gas and coal projects. He explained that, unlike much of the media coverage suggests, JSO is not asking the public to stop all fossil fuel use overnight. The group is only asking the Government to stop any new projects in line with the International Energy Agency’s advice.

The group have made headlines for stunts such as glueing themselves to the frames of works of art or throwing soup at a Van Gogh masterpiece (which was behind a protective screen at the time). He stressed that JSO does extensive research before its actions to ensure that none of the art is damaged, apart from some small frame damage. (He also points out that the suffragettes actually slashed a painting in the National Gallery.)

On the motivation for these actions, he said:

“It’s only when you cause disruption in a way that’s quite noticeable and impossible to ignore that it creates publicity. Publicity creates political pressure and political pressure creates the opening for radical change to happen.

“You don’t have to like us, you don’t have to like what we’re doing”, he said. But he added that museums and galleries could “acknowledge that the situation that we’re in is absolutely desperate, and call on the government to end all new fossil fuel licences.”

“There is a time when you have to go against the grain as an institution and say the uncomfortable thing that needs to be said. I would call on all art galleries everywhere to be in resistance.”

Building on this, Professor Davis talked about the psychology behind radical protest. On how to communicate to avoid climate apathy, he said:

“It’s about communicating both the urgency of the situation, but also some kind of agency, some efficacy. It is a problem that can be tackled, there are solutions.”

Firstly radical organisations present what is known as a “radical flank” that makes less radical organisations seem more mainstream. So after a JSO protest, you might see membership of Greenpeace or Extinction Rebellion increase.

Secondly, radical action gets people talking. Davis uses the example of Insulate Britain, a group whose action blocked several roads over a period of months in the UK, calling on the government to make a commitment to insulate Britain’s homes by 2030. As a result, search terms for ‘insulation’ increased as more people were paying attention to the issue. Following on from that insulation policies are now being taken up by political parties in the UK.

Prof Davis explained the activist’s dilemma:

“You can do things that won’t be disapproved of but will be ignored or you can do these other things that won’t get ignored. Just Stop Oil is willing to have people think them immoral because it will get people talking.”

After this greenloop 2023 session, we surveyed the audience. Of those that completed the survey:

• 100% agreed with Just Stop Oil’s demands
• 75% agreed with Just Stop Oil’s methods of protest, 25% were unsure and no one disagreed.

Watch the full session below:

Why people are THE success factor for your sustainability initiative

Following this, a panel including Andreas Andersen, CEO of Liseberg, Eric O’Rourke, senior director of theme parks at Forrec, Satu Orismaa, director of operations and sustainability at Linnanmäki Amusement Park and Una de Boer, CMO of WhiteWater, looked at how changing the culture within organisations and taking a people-first approach can make a difference.

Starting out on a corporate sustainability journey can be daunting. The panel drew on their own experience to provide practical advice on the first steps. The discussion covered how sustainability is an organisational culture issue and the challenge of securing relevant competencies

The speakers also talked about what they would have done differently implementing sustainability knowing what they do now, and how their sustainability journey has changed their long-term strategies

The panellists all agreed that it is vital to build a sustainability culture within organisations. As O’Rourke said:

“Sustainability is not something you can come in and add on later, like a layer of icing on a cake.”

A message of hope and what two actions should we take

We concluded greenloop 2023 on a positive note in a session with leading climate scientist Professor Tim Lenton, a founder of the Global Systems Institute and chair in Climate Change and Earth System Science at the University of Exeter.

Prof Lenton co-authored the ‘Planetary Boundaries’ framework. He is renowned for his work identifying climate tipping points, which won the Times Higher Education Award for Research Project of the Year 2008. He is a member of the Earth Commission, an ISI Highly Cited Researcher, and in the top 100 of the Reuters ‘Hot List’ of the world’s top climate scientists. Prof Lenton is also a Turing Fellow, a Fellow of the Linnean Society, Geological Society and the Society of Biology.

Prof Lenton began by explaining the concept of tipping points. Several different environmental factors can lead to a snowball effect when it comes to climate change. These have been thought of previously in terms of negative effects accelerating climate catastrophe. But it could be possible to have positive tipping points towards rapid decarbonisation.

“We need to get out of a business-as-usual state of an economy powered by fossil fuels and into this other decarbonized state. It’s going to be all about triggering positive change that can lower the hilltop and tip the system,” he said.

“There are positive tipping points. They’ve already started to happen at a national scale and they could be our saviour. Only when we get that kind of self-propelling, amplifying change can we hope to speed up action on climate change to the necessary level.”

Examples include the growing adoption of electric vehicles. As more people start to drive electric cars, the technology becomes cheaper, word-of-mouth spreads, and there is positive reinforcement that speeds up future adoption. This has already happened in Norway. Or, picture the lone figure of Greta Thunberg on her climate strike, and how this turned into a huge global movement that got millions of people talking about climate change.

In terms of actions that visitor attractions can take, Prof Lenton recommends switching to renewables and reducing meat on menus.

We conducted a survey after this greenloop 2023 session. 87.5% of attendees who responded agreed with the statement “I feel more hopeful about our ability to combat climate change after watching this session”.

Watch the full session here:

Thanks to our greenloop 2023 sponsors

A huge thank you to our sponsors for 2023 who help to make greenloop possible:

What about the carbon footprint of greenloop 2023?

We’re calculating the carbon footprint of our events with our friends at Circular Unity. We have purchased Gold Standard-certified climate projects to offset the carbon emissions of greenloop 2023. In addition, we have donated 20% of our ticketing income to Solar Aid.