Sustainability in organising art education

Bringing topics of intangible cultural heritage into your educational activities directly contributes to cultural sustainability by helping to preserve of our cultural heritage and traditions. At the same time, it is also important to consider environmental, social, and economic sustainability in your activities.

These facets of sustainability are all interconnected, meaning that actions in one area can have positive effects on others. For example, focusing on ecological sustainability can save money, focusing on economy can lead to gaining funding for cultural sustainability, and focusing on social sustainability can increase participation.

Here are some practical tips on how you can increase the sustainability of your activities.

Ecological sustainability

Ecological sustainability means saving natural resources. In course activities, you save natural resources by e.g. sorting waste and reducing paper use. Saving natural resources also saves money.

Do at least the following:

Choose a location for the course that participants can easily reach and, if possible, also by public transport.
If possible, offer locally produced foods.
Find out if you can use existing materials before buying new ones.
Avoid unnecessary waste.
Make sure that participants can easily sort waste themselves.
Print and copy on paper only when there is a justified reason to do so.
Share and store teaching materials in digital format, for example by email.
Avoid unnecessary use of electricity and water.

We also encourage you to prefer vegetarian food if the course is served with food. If you buy new materials and supplies, give preference to products with an eco-label and/or sustainability certificate.

Economic sustainability

Economic sustainability means planning the use of money in advance so that organising a course does not cause too many or unexpected costs for the course organiser, such as an association. A realistic and sensible plan of course income and expenses ensures sustainable course operations. Economic sustainability often also means saving natural resources. Do at least the following:

Sufficient money has been set aside for the implementation of training.
All costs of training have been taken into account.
Prefer moderately priced training facilities that are well suited to the needs of the training.
Find out if you could use recycled materials in your course materials.
Monitor the realization of expenses and react to unexpected additional costs as soon as you become aware of them.

Social sustainability

Social sustainability means that all participants have equal opportunities to participate in and influence activities. Social sustainability also includes accessibility, which in practice means enabling different ways of participating. The well-being of the trainer is also an important part of a well-organized course. Do at least the following:

The training facility is accessible, e.g. by wheelchair.
Accessible toilets are available in connection with or near the training facility.
The training room is safe and has suitable temperature and ventilation.
The atmosphere of the training is safe.
The training methods are such that people can, if they wish, influence the course and content of the training and give feedback.
Take the wishes and needs of the participants into account already when planning the training.
Consider, for example, the language of instruction, the possibility of meals and breaks, and whether the teaching methods are suitable for everyone.
Make sure that the material used in teaching is clear and accessible.
Make sure that the learning environment for online education is accessible and easy to use.
In online training, also make sure that participants can participate in different ways

Cultural sustainability

Cultural sustainability means taking cultural issues into account. These include, for example, language, customs and traditions. During the course, it is important that participants feel that they can represent their own cultural background freely. Do at least the following:

Think about what kind of words and images you use in the communication and marketing of the course, and how you can use word choices and illustrations to express that everyone is welcome.
Please note that participants may understand the images, words, and topics spoken in the course in different ways.
Think about how you could make it easier for different kinds of people to participate in the course.
Think about how the communication and marketing of the course could be targeted at target groups with different cultural backgrounds.

We also encourage you to plan training together with people belonging to cultural minorities. In addition, we encourage course organisers to participate in training that supports their competence in encountering cultural diversity.