Christopher BarrettMusic industry sustainability group Julie’s Bicycle has won investment from Arts Council England to fund and expand its online environmental reporting tools, designed specifically for the arts and culture sector.
The Creative Green Tools platform is being updated with input from partners including Live Nation’s Green Nation and IMPALA – the European independent music industry association. The funding for the project has come via the National Lottery Project Grants funding programme.
Julie’s Bicycle’s recently rebranded the reporting platform Creative Climate Tools. Formally known as Creative Green Tools, it is a globally recognised set of online environmental reporting tools that are freely available and used internationally by thousands of organisations across 50 countries.
The organisation said the new funding will provide a user-friendly experience, on an open-source and more collaborative platform, and will include carbon budgeting, planning, and integrated access to guides and learning resources.
Julie’s Bicycle director Alison Tickell said, “A decade of data-gathering and collective cultural learning has generated credible and robust evidence, but giving the Creative Climate Tools and online learning significant investment is something we’ve wanted for a long time in order to take them to the next level. The new tools and online learning that this Arts Council England investment triggers will enable us all to move faster together, confident in the knowledge that we are making a difference.”
The organisation said it has expanded its digital team and promoted staff to support the developments. Former sector intelligence lead Chiara Badiali (pictured) has been promoted to a dedicated role as Julie’s Bicycle’s music lead. She will work alongside Richard Phillips who joined Julie’s Bicycle in January 2022 as a climate change and sustainability specialist for Music.
The implementation of the new Creative Green Tools platform and development of Julie’s Bicycle’s digital portfolio will be managed by Paul Griffiths, who has joined the not-for-profit organisation as product lead.
Badiali said, “Our purpose at Julie’s Bicycle has always been to support individuals and businesses to translate energy into action with ambition, ethics, and scientific integrity – this new team is here to meet the urgency of the current moment and put climate at the heart of the music industry.”