A West Leeds arts and environmental organisation has outlined how it aims to become net zero carbon by 2030 – and invited the community to an event to discuss the way forward.
Open Source Arts, off Kirkstall Road, has published its first Net Zero Carbon report which assesses its carbon footprint, explaining their commitment to reaching Net Zero Carbon by 2030 and inspiring action towards a healthier, safer, climate-resilient Kirkstall Valley.
Over the last few months, bosses at Open Source Arts have been developing a deeper understanding of the organisation’s environmental impact, and this has led to the production of their latest Net Zero Carbon Roadmap Report.
This encouraging report – one of the first to be published by an organisation of its size in Leeds and a rarity among small businesses in the UK – illustrates why Open Source Arts decided to commit to Net Zero, what their carbon footprint is like now, what work they have to do to reach Net Zero and the beginnings of an ambitious yet realistic pathway to reaching their target of Net Zero Carbon by 2030.
Sam Townson, Open Source Arts’ Sustainability and Environment Intern, said: “We’ve been doing a lot of work behind the scenes to develop an understanding of our environmental impact and see where we can reduce our carbon emissions. This exciting report and being able to see our full carbon footprint is a huge step forward in this, and now means we can start to take real and guided action with our community.”
The report found that their current annual carbon footprint stands at just over 18,000 kg CO2e. This is equivalent to driving the average UK car over 82,000 miles – which is as far as driving around the equator just over three times, or the same as taking nearly 12 flights from the UK to Australia.
Open Source Arts wants to utilise their position at the interface between culture, society, arts and environmental engagement to show change towards a low carbon, sustainable, resilient world is necessary and possible.
As part of this, Open Source Arts is inviting everyone to their participatory session on Monday, 19 September in Open Source Arts or online between 3pm and 4.30pm.
The session looksat what Net Zero is, why it is so important and its limits, as well as bringing everyone together to explore the knowledge, understandings and experiences of everyone and co-produce exciting ideas for action in a participatory workshopping session.
Sam said Open Source Arts hopes to inspire and encourage actions that will tackle climate change together and create a Kirkstall Valley and city that we all deserve. He added:
“Here at Open Source Arts we really understand the power of people’s experience and knowledge. We want to make this process as participatory and collaborative as possible and engage our team members, community of artists, freelancers and people who live and work across Leeds.
“We truly believe that for our commitment to be Net Zero Carbon by 2030 to become a reality we need the community behind us. This is why we’re inviting everyone to be part of the design, implementation and review of our Net Zero Carbon Roadmap.”
You can read the Net Zero Carbon Roadmap report on their website.
If you have any ideas regarding their Net Zero Carbon Roadmap contact sam.townson@opensourcearts.co.uk or 0113 246 8975.
