On 6 August the National Library of Wales launched Culture and Climate Cymru a brand new website and networking platform to help Wales’s culture and heritage sector respond to the climate crisis.
This new resource, developed as part of the National Library of Wales’s Climate Action Programme, in partnership with Welsh Government, was unveiled in a network event hosted on the Welsh Government stand on the Eisteddfod maes. The event featured a performance by singer-songwriters Eve Goodman and SERA (Sarah Zyborska), followed by a conversation chaired by Owen Griffiths, artist and Collaboration Lead, LocalMotion, Carmarthen, with Gwyn Jones, Director of Oriel Plas Glyn-y-Weddw, Eve Goodman and SERA on themes of climate, nature, justice, language and place.
Eve Goodman and SERA performing at the Culture and Climate Cymru Eisteddfod event.
Culture and Climate Cymru aims to support individuals and organisations across the sector to collaborate on tackling the climate and nature emergencies and provides access to training information and resources, events, case studies, and an online forum space to share ideas and collaborate.
Developed in response to the recommendation of the Welsh Government’s research report into the Welsh culture sector and the climate and nature emergencies, it supports delivery of Ambition 16 of the Welsh Government’s Priorities for Culture.
Rhodri Llwyd Morgan, Chief Executive of the National Library of Wales said:
“The National Library of Wales has an important role to play in helping people to access accurate information that they can trust about climate change.
There is also so much information, history and intangible heritage that can help us tackle the climate and nature crises in our collections. Taking climate action therefore aligns with our core mission to protect, expand and develop the collections, and enable people to enjoy and appreciate the content.”
Judith Musker Turner, Climate Action Programme Lead said:
“Culture and Climate Cymru will make it easier for people working in the culture and heritage sectors to take collective action to protect Wales’s culture and heritage from climate change and will raise the profile of all the outstanding work that is already being done. The culture sector has a unique power to inspire change and to bring people together, and it is important that this is more widely recognised.”
As a leading organisation in environmental sustainability, with financial support from Welsh Government, the National Library of Wales is working towards becoming carbon neutral by 2028 with the aim of completely eliminating gas use and reducing carbon emissions.
The Library has recently transformed its historic estate through an ambitious retrofit programme that significantly reduces its carbon footprint while securing a more sustainable future. Measures included the installation of innovative technologies such as air and ground heat pumps, 1,622 solar panels, and the implementation of an intelligent building management system to improve energy efficiency.
As well as establishing the Culture and Climate Cymru network, the Climate Action Programme is supporting:
- a pilot project to help 3 cultural organisations based in historic buildings to develop decarbonisation plans
- a training programme to support the cultural workforce to develop the skills they need to take climate action
- opportunities for people working in culture and heritage in Wales to share learning and best practice on climate with colleagues from across the UK.
