Counting Consciousness Booklet March 2015

C O U N T I N G CONSCIOUSNESS A JOURNEY THROUGH 15 MONTHS WORK EXPLORING THE EDGE BETWEEN

CREATIVITY & SUSTAINABILITY

Introduction

2

reSOURCE

20

RE-USE

38

IDENTITY

4

Project timeline

24

Exhibition Images

42

ENGAGEMENT

8

S A V E ENERGY

26

Summaries

44

FACILITATION

12

S A V E FOOD

30

Thanks + Credits

48

CREATE + SUSTAIN

16

EXTERNAL ARTS

34

1

Artists Using Resources in the Community (ARC) is a Climate Challenge Fund project based within the Glasgow School of Art. Initiated by the Sustainability in Action Group (SIAG), ARC began in January 2014 with the aim of reducing carbon emissions by 100 tonnes and normalising the sustainability conversation, within the GSA. Through campaigns, projects, events and a resource re-use system the team have worked to inspire a culture of sustainable living and making within the school and Glasgow’s creative community, while raising an awareness of climate change as a result of human activity.

Breakdown of e emissions diverted from the atmosphere by the ARC project.

Energy 4.6t

Food 5.6t

Waste 15.5t

This manifesto helped define the team’s priorities from the outset: To assist carbon reduction via energy and resource efficiency.

To motivate the re-use of waste in creative and innovative ways.

To empower individuals to use and develop their environmental consciousness.

To practice ecological thinking and design within our own workflow.

This has been the backbone of our work flow and the quanititve results of this can be seen in the chart opposite.

2

Total = 25.7t

e

This booklet illustrates the range of journeys that the ARC team have been on in order to; acheive these results and also, to carry out the objectives originally set within SiAG’s bid to the CCF. While during the project activity sometimes seemed disconnected, in retrospect we have designed a system for which to understand the work carried out.

We have now identified nine intertwined streams which all of the activity falls in to.

These streams are underpinned by a set of seven values which have emerged to us and flow through the physical embodiment of the work. They also represent the personal exploration that each team member has been on during the projects time.

The ARC team are Eilidh Sinclair, Jenny Fraser and Kathy Beckett. With many thanks to John Thorne and the Sustainability in Action Group (SiAG) for their contributions to our work.

3

4

IDENTITY PROJECT OBJECTIVES:

The Sustainability in Action group (SiAG) is a formally recognised working group at the Glasgow School of Art whose aims are to develop, inform and oversee the implementation of the School’s

Sustainability Strategy.

With support from SiAG develop the ARC Project to inspire a culture of sustainability within the GSA and Glasgow’s creative community.

Design and establish a set of tools to help you to communicate complex messages effectively including a website detailing effective resource use.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

These key principles, written at the outset, lie at the heart of our identity: Inspire, those we engage with to take positive action.

Enable and Empower, alternative options; we are not here to scaremonger.

Assist – facilitating and encouraging personal interests within sustainability.

Practice – ‘practice what we preach’.

Visualise – published work should reflect that of GSA. It should tap into students’/staff creativity and be in line with GSA policies.

Reflective - we will always aim to better the services we provide by constantly reflecting on our work, ensuring it is relevant to our community.

5

Link - the work will provide the link between art, design, architecture and our planet.

Throughout the 15 months we have built up networks through social media and events, commissioned and created the content for the website www.gsasustainability.org.uk and experimented with printed media.

REFLECTIONS AND LEARNING:

Establishing our key principles from the beginning, rooted our identity which grew stronger as our collective journey and personal learnings unfolded.

Around six months in we saw that the two identities of ARC and SiAG were confusing in their details to perceive. To students, staff and the wider public we are all sustainability therefore we chose to go forward under the umbrella term GSA Sustainability.

This term represents the work we all do in a clear and honest way and has space to evolve into something much bigger.

We were mindful at the beginning of the project to limit printed material with its associated carbon output and short lifespan. We experimented with stamps and textile banners that could be reused

without loss of quality, alongside social media and mailing lists (which took several months to build up). However feedback from students highlighted that more printed material was essential to reach an interested audience - ‘The nature of the studio welcomes printed, visual material’.

We took the decision to print a limited amount of posters for key events whilst already fitting into pre-existing material like fresher’s guides and the student newspaper.

The evolution of the website was a slower process than anticipated with the end result helping to solidify our identity within GSA and externally. Finally people had a place to go, with lack of a physical ‘space’ what the website has proved is invaluable.

K.P.I

4246

6

Throughout the project we realised the importance of defining and honouring our values. In doing so we were able to communicate honestly and uniquely to our participants.

Contemporary sustainability as we see it doesn’t exclude people by using certain ‘stigma’ associated with environmental thinking.

Having a clear and easy ‘name’ that encapsulates do, so explanations aren’t strengthens a project from the Regular feedback understanding how we reach

to define what we necessary, beginning.

at events aids and enhances our audience.

7

8

ENGAGEMENT PROJECT OBJECTIVES:

Sustainability is currently low priority in the fabric of the GSA and society in general, however, artists are interested in sustainability and how it impacts their practice.

Working with the GSA's active Student Association and their established events, such as Freshers Week, create new events and actively engage students, staff and the wider community with sustainability issues.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

All the work we have done has involved engagement so this project stream looks at specific events that have allowed participants to experience ‘sustainability in action’.

More playful in nature, workshops and events have been designed around the ‘doing’ (physically making, eating and playing) thus allowing richer conversations to spring out of the activity.

9

Themes explored have been food waste, material reuse and nature connection. We contributed to already established events happening at GSA like Freshers and created our own like On the Verge.

REFLECTIONS AND LEARNING:

Space for discussion around sustainability was desperately needed at the GSA. It became quite clear that students were looking for flexible, positive activity outside of their academic work that they could take part in and be recognised for.

Values based action formed the heart of this work; while our hands were occupied with making, our heads could engage in relevant, honest discussion.

From the use of reclaimed materials in our studio work, to the hidden controversies of food waste and, the feelings of disconnection and disempowerment to change things.

Practical based activities during fresher’s week also helped us break down social

discomfort in new situations. These conversations have led to students feeling empowered to make their own informed, responsible decisions.

current opportunities are available.

Students would lead the creative process and have full autonomy but with the support of the sustainability team.

This in turn happened during our community event On the Verge where local residents and the GSA ate local food together and chatted about what sustainability meant to them.

Students wanted to take action but didn’t necessarily know how - with lots of amazing creative ideas they lacked the support and confidence to get them off the ground.

Combining is a key

events with food factor in participation.

Providing ‘spaciousness’ was key for encouraging discussion and action.

Any future work GSA Sustainability does should consider hosting regular, shorter meet ups where a range of

K.P.I

713

0.9t

3.4t

10

The creative community were keen to get involved in practical workshops that were relevant to their practice.

The practical, simplistic nature of the workshops provided a time for rich, relevant and focused conversation to emerge.

11

1.

12

FACILITATION PROJECT OBJECTIVES:

A GSASA 2011 study showed that ‘creative practitioners are seeking new ways of working and they have an interest in the environment.’ Streams of the ARC project should therefore:

“Improve artist’s range of work and provide inspiration for new projects, enabling the communication of sustainability messages to the wider community.”

“Increase opportunities to volunteer as green champions for students and staff.”

It is common place in Universities nationwide to run volunteering schemes for their own ‘green initiatives’ but it became quickly apparent, that creative practitioners would need something more unique.

Instead the team sought to facilitate existing ideas of students, by offering a platform and support for student ideas to emerge. Examples of this include GSA Bee Keepers’ Association and individual liaison with students.

“Normalise the conversation of saving energy and water within the GSA community, including studio, office, kitchen and gallery spaces.”

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

There was an initial teething period where the team experimented with different forms of engagement in order to understand how these interactions could take place in the context of an institution like the GSA.

13

REFLECTIONS AND LEARNING:

Connecting with students beyond our ‘delivered’ events, thoroughly strengthened the teams capacity to create student relevant projects as more natural conversations could emerge, thus allowing for honest feedback.

The development of these relationships showed us that many students are already exploring themes within sustainability and that we need to collate and promote this information to strengthen the culture of sustainability with the GSA. Initially students showed interest in specific volunteers roles, but once these roles had been designed based on feedback, the academic year was well underway and students felt otherwise committed. Students already have

enough in their workload so engagement must be relevant either directly to their course or to a personal interest.

Academic staff need more support or training in providing sustainability based advice to students.

The conversation of saving energy and water within the GSA community needed to precede a more general sustainability conversation. Opening up a dialogue about the philosophies behind the sustainability agenda and how it is linked to creative practice helped the team to establish a foundation, and also respect - where conversations about resource efficiency can now take place with more conviction.

Any student volunteer roles should be available for involvement from the beginning of the academic year and be directly relevant to creative practice.

Staff time should be set aside to provide support for students and academics in the context of sustainability.

This kind of service could become a cultural norm within the GSA.

K.P.I

140

3.2t

14

Continue tackling energy and water saving with creative approaches linked to operational changes that are installed in collaboration with the Estates department.

Collate, document and promote existing student projects to encourage a culture of sustainability within the GSA. Student projects thrive from having an enthusiastic and committed leader!

2.

3.

15

16

CREATE + SUSTAIN PROJECT OBJECTIVES:

It is now, more than ever, a crucial time for artists, designers and architects to ask themselves; what is the social and environmental impact of the work we create?

With a myriad of sources and inspiration to draw from it can be a difficult journey: one where developing an understanding of sustainable practice is equally confusing. Considering this;

“Improve artists range of work and provide ideas/inspiration for new projects, helping artists communicate often complex sustainability messages simply to the wider community.�

Over several months we heard from a range of speakers who have spent much time exploring ideas of sustainability whether directly or accidentally. The events themselves also explored the nature of the spaces which are needed to let these conversations flow.

Through collaboration and sharing all the responses about the edge between creativity and sustainability we hope to have nurtured ecological consciousness and mindful making.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Create + Sustain offered support to creative practitioners in their sustainability journeys by inviting creative professionals to join us in exploring these questions.

17

REFLECTIONS AND LEARNING:

We noted that there was a real need within the GSA to provide space for discussion about complex ideas and contemporary questions. The speakers we invited filled a gap where we ourselves felt underqualified to explore certain ideas. Moreover talks and discussions were not only support for students, but also acted as a kind of training programme for the ARC team.

The philosophical and academic approach to topics and discussions complemented the more practical and playful events during Fresher’s, Re-fresher’s and Go Green Week, whilst the events themselves helped to distinguish the project and give it credibility. Giving the series of talks an identity in itself allowed the team to build incrementally on past work .

This stream of the project presented opportunities to collaborate with other departments within the school and continues to do so.

Management and use of digital booking tools such as Eventbrite can give an untrue sense of attendance and lack of commitment from bookee’s.

Inviting prominent speakers helped us to btuild a network and strengthen our potential audiences.

More careful organisation could be applied to facilitating the post event discussion spaces to thoroughly integrate the ideas and carry them forward into current dialogues.

Using both formal and informal spaces to support different types of speaker and therefore discussion.

Capitalising on the use of public spaces to capture an unsuspecting audience.

Seeking support from experts in various fields to communicate a full spectrum of ideas within the culture of sustainability in order to normalise this conversation within the GSA community

K.P.I

615

18

There is potential to further utilise the knowledge that was shared at these events. Captured information could be made accessible to our online audience.

4.

19

20

reSOURCE PROJECT OBJECTIVES:

reSOURCE was designed in response to the challenges we faced delivering the proceding objectives in the initial part of the project: “Improve artists practices by instilling sustainability into their sourcing of

materials, their work environment, and within their subject matter.”

Allow users to feedback on savings made.”

“Create and provide content for a website showing artists how to reduce resource use, providing information on the carbon cost of using materials.

“Recruit, organise and support community members to help us engage the student and staff community across the GSA.”

reSOURCE has responded to this and has supported participants on their individual journeys by applying a ‘carbon costing creative practice’ process to existing / developing work.

The process itself has been a research project and the work reported on acts as a feasibility study for a possible arts specific Carbon Calculator.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

In response to these objectives, we attempted an ‘Eco-Crit’, like the Studio Crit, but with a sustainability slant.

Searching for members of staff and students to contribute to this, we came to understand that the project needed focus and to be an opportunity for support, as opposed to critique.

Participants have gone on a journey of understanding within their own practices, but have also made waves by seeking out information from manufacturers/suppliers.

21

By going through the motions of facilitating a mixed group of creative practitioners to carbon cost elements of their practice, we have learnt what kinds of information is needed, and where the gap in data availability is.

REFLECTIONS AND LEARNING:

reSOURCE took a quantitive approach in an ephemeral environment which provided a valuable juxtaposition for participants and team members.

The projects initial intention was challenged as more data than could be found, was needed to generate comprehensive calculations. However the values based principles that emerged through reSOURCE conversations proved fulfilling and complemented the calculation process.

Though the process was about developing a dialogue to reflect on knowledge gained, the bulk of the calculation work happened at the end of process. It would have been interesting if calculations could have happened earlier to build in time for participants to discuss their results.

The learning environment created by monthly meetings meant that energy was varied depending on attendance. The process as a whole encouraged the team to develop and reflect on their facilitation skills.

generic limitations would have to be set (i.e. everyone carbon costing one piece only).

Participants were invited to set their own limitations, with some exploring the carbon cost of a week in their practice and others exploring the cost of materials in one piece. This enabled a more personal connection to the process, however it made for an unfair carbon comparison at the end.

A carbon costing specialist could work alongside the facilitation team.

Meetings could be more dynamic, inviting students to bring physical work along earlier on in the process and increasing physical movement within the spaces.

In order to generate a fair comparison,

K.P.I

16

0.02

0.005t

22

Commissioning of research into more specific data would be beneficial.

One to one sessions could be introduced earlier on in the process to strengthen understanding of the task.

Some participants found it difficult to fit the process around their practices.

Time management and clarity with what it means to undertake the process could be emphasized further, though an accurate understanding of this was unknown at the start of the project.

23

S ENERGY + RESOURCE EFFICIENCY

CO CARBON REDUCTION

WELLBEING

EST

WORKSHOPS OPPORTUNITIES SiAG HONESTY

SUSTAINABILITY CO-ORDINATOR

EXHIBITIONS IDENTITY COMMUNICATION

ENGAGEMENT

STUDENTS

GSASA

SPACE

HA RE

HOLLISTIC FACILITATION EVENTS

SPEAK

CREATE + SUSTAIN

reSOURCE 24

S A V E ENERGY

S A V E FOOD

COUNTING STRATEGY

INFORMATION

EXTERNAL ARTS

STATES GLASGOW’S CREATIVE COMMUNITY

RE-USE COLLABORATION

GARNETHILL COMMUNITY ACADEMIC DEPARTMENTS

SUPPORT

STAFF CURRICULUM

HALLS OF RESIDENCE CONSCIOUSNESS

AKERS

CROSS DEPARTMENTAL

KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE

25

5.

26

S A V E ENERGY PROJECT OBJECTIVES:

by 2020, the project will tackle this by working with staff and students across campus and in halls of residence to save energy and reduce emissions.

Furthermore, the project will instil this behaviour and encourage students to take it with them beyond their first year in halls.

“We will aim to reduce electricity usage by 5% over the life of the project by encouraging behaviour change and better use of resources.”

“Halls residents will be more energy conscious and are more likely to transfer knowledge when moving in to private flats.”

The SAVE Energy project split in to two areas: halls or residence and campus.

tackling energy efficiency on campus via behaviour change alone almost impossible.

The buildings in the GSA’s property portfolio are of varying age, style and quality. Coupled with the constant evolution of the campus, we found

However, to ensure the conversation about energy on campus was happening we provided platforms for staff and students to engage in the topic.

Through campaigns, face to face engagement, inter-flat competitions and the installation of energy monitors we worked with students in the halls of residence to reduce their energy consumption. This resulted in students becoming more energy conscious and saving money.

In 2012 the Glasgow School of Art used over 2.4 million kWh of electricity, resulting in the emission of 1415 tonnes of CO2e into the atmosphere.

In line with the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Act, which aims to reduce the country’s emissions by 20% PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

27

REFLECTIONS AND LEARNING:

The energy project stream was, on reflection, one of the more difficult to tackle. We never met our targets and there were a number of reasons for this; the campus is constantly evolving with buildings regularly being acquired and put out of use, the campus has a unique and dynamic property portfolio with each building fabric being different making it difficult to make uniform changes, the movement and number of building users are constantly changing making it difficult to compare energy consumption data.

Furthermore, the addition of the Reid building which uses almost the same amount of energy as all other buildings combined, played a big part in us missing out on our targets.

From not being able to work with

building users due to remote censoring, to the building management system not working, or being unable to install the SAVE campaign for aesthetic reasons – we felt we were unable to tackle this project stream to the best of our ability.

In any future bids, energy targets should be thoroughly researched to be made more realistic and achievable, and within the team’s capacity.

Energy efficiency is currently part of the estates department remit but is not, as we understand it, a major priority. Therefore, we believe that to reach the given targets a full time energy efficiency post based within the Estates department would be required.

relevant required targets.

Hosting regular events to keep the conversation about energy moving forward will play an important part in the School’s process of change.

Big energy savings are not made through behaviour change alone. It must be coupled with the installation of energy efficiency measures such

Looking at ways in which the School can communicate its energy consumption to staff and students will complement the foundations of our work.

Stronger support from organisations would be in order to achieve

K.P.I

134

as double or triple glazing, heating controls or draft proofing, which would require a significant amount of capital.

3.64t

6171kwh

28

29

30

S A V E FOOD PROJECT OBJECTIVES:

Food waste from non-commercial kitchens at Glasgow School of Art currently enters the landfill waste stream. This food waste is not covered by current legislation which states that:

“Food businesses which produce over 50 kg of food waste per week need to present that food waste for separate collection�.

Considering this; design a measurable food recycling system for office kitchens and halls of residence,

diverting waste from landfill.

In conjunction design a campaign to encourage positive action, challenge attitudes to food waste and exchange knowledge around using, sourcing and recycling food.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Working in conjunction with operations staff a system was designed that tried to consider the needs of all parties: users deposit food waste into small caddies that keep bad smells out of bigger bins, cleaners collecting waste record the level of the caddy so waste can be measured.

With this information we have been able to acknowledge positive action and thank everyone involved in the system. Food waste from the GSA is now taken to an anaerobic digestion facility which turns the waste into energy.

31

The food waste campaign ties into the greater S A V E campaign which uses a combination of posters, visual stimuli and info cards to communicate through.

We have also based events around the cycle of food which has proved successful in engaging people with these issues.

REFLECTIONS AND LEARNING:

The Save Food stream evolved slowly through a process of trial, observation and refinement. The success of the system was due to all parties playing their role and in turn receiving positive acknowledgement for their part.

This took several months of observing each party’s needs; meeting with cleaners, janitors and users face to face. Integral to the success has been the ability to record the amount of food waste saved and celebrate this accomplishment.

This ensured the system became integrated, particularly as it nurtured the relationships made with cleaning staff.

Experimental in nature; we built food waste into two of our engagement events namely On the Verge and This is Rubbish.

Raising awareness around food waste needs to be playful, open and honest.

encouraged viewed from

Serving actual food in delicious ways and demonstrating circular systems at events.

Scraping scraps into caddies then taking them directly up to a compost bin and holding a composting workshop helped us open up these issues in ‘real’ terms with solutions at hand. Involving students in the gathering and preparation of food waste in our exotic excess café has meant they’ve taken these issues to heart.

Initially gaining support from all parties was difficult as we were asking participants to change their activity in an already tight workload. This eased through a continued process of support and acknowledgement.

Face to face, informal meetings meant we received honest feedback and fostered friendly relationships.

Basing events around food waste and gathering volunteers to help collect, prepare and compost, deepens connection to the issue.

Celebration and thanks for the continued positive carbon savings

K.P.I

618

1.37t

5.67t

32

individual the collective

action whole.

Less emailing in the beginning, and more face to face meetings would have strengthened the system faster and saved time.

33

34

EXTERNAL ARTS PROJECT OBJECTIVES:

In 2011 a feasibility study was carried out within Glasgow’s creative community to help determine what sustainability issues practitioners were concerned about the most.

Central to artists’ concerns were three things: ensuring greater energy efficiency in their work place, the carbon cost of their materials and processes, and access to easy ways to improve resource efficiency.

“The project will therefore normalise the conservation of and social behaviour around energy and resource efficiency, reducing electricity consumption by 2,500 kWhs and the amount of materials sent to landfill by 1 tonne.”

While each studio had differing priorities, through the installation of energy efficiency measures and helping to coordinate the reuse or recycling of materials, we produced three great case studies for reference.

Alongside improving the efficiency of the buildings we worked with studio tenants to raise awareness of and discuss solutions to the issues.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Working closely with the Glue Factory, WASPS Hanson Street, and Broadscope Studios we helped determine each studio’s individual needs and responded accordingly.

35

REFLECTIONS AND LEARNING:

Working with external organisations to help improve their energy and resource efficiency was a rewarding experience for the team. We are now comfortable liaising with and nurturing client relationships, managing a time/ budget specific project, and choosing and installing energy efficiency measures for commercial properties.

Being able to provide the studios we worked with support, advice and a budget towards an issue with which they required help was, while physically demanding, fulfilling and rewarding. Due to the complex nature of the project we became aware early on that the project was going to be time constrained - we were only able to work with three studios, out of the five we were originally tasked

with. And, only after going through the full process with one studio were we really able to effectively work with the next. This process included; finding and recruiting suitable organisations, liaising with the site manager/main contact to set up meetings and determine needs, producing an action plan and options document, purchase and installation of chosen measures, and follow up meetings with tenants.

An initial meeting to discuss what options are available to the studio must be held.

A concise plan of action is useful for both parties and should be set in place from the beginning - be aware that things will generally take longer than expected and that contingency time should be built in. This was primarily down to our

K.P.I

25

0.51 t

3.72t

1690kwh

36

work having to fit around the general day to day operations taking priority.

The working relationship with the client must be respectful and sensitive.

Technical experience or the ability to call on someone who has it, is useful as installing energy efficiency measures is fairly hands on.

It’s useful to have knowledge of the space prior to the initial meeting, as we did with the Glue Factory. If this isn’t possible a longer initial meeting must be set up.

Any future work done could be around establishing a consultancy type organisation which aims to carry out similar work providing advice, support and funding specific to Glasgow’s creative community.

37

38

RE-USE PROJECT OBJECTIVES:

The GSA disposes of around 230 tonnes of waste a year, and has a high demand for the purchase of virgin material.

The landfilling of reusable materials is an issue both within the GSA and creative sector as a whole, and is seen as unpreventable due to the premium of space within studios, galleries and arts organisations across the city.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

By encouraging a culture of reuse at the GSA (through the end of term reuse collection and free shop, regular swapping events, and use of online swapping platform WARP it) we have shown that with time, effort and space, resource efficiency is possible within the creative sector.

Additionally, by igniting a conversation around reuse and signposting creative practitioners towards the right information we have provided them with the inspiration and tools to begin using resources more efficiently and effectively.

39

“We will collect 700kg of textiles, 50kg of small WEEE and 200kg of books to give out at ‘free shop’ during Fresher’s Week. We will also divert 500kg of wood and 500kg of scrap metal from landfill.”

REFLECTIONS AND LEARNING:

We feel this project was a great success, particularly in terms of normalising a culture of reuse at the GSA. The evolution of our regular swap shop events, aptly nicknamed Rummage, provided the students (and some staff) with an opportunity to both donate and pick up new items on a monthly basis.

The purchase of WARPit formalised and encouraged the schools’ interdepartmental and intercity reuse efforts, allowing the School to monitor and calculate the savings made.

While the project was deemed a success, we sometimes found it difficult to penetrate everyday capitalist culture, with some staff and students simply not understanding or adhering to the ‘donate and reuse’ concept.

People are generally unable to reuse items due to a lack of time and storage.

Space played a crucial role in the success of the reuse project – quite early on we received a small room which allowed us to store surplus items for reuse and without this we would have been unable to run our reuse and swap events as successfully as we did.

The project required close liaison with the Estates department, plus regular nurturing of that relationship. Estates deal most immediately with waste and play a key role in any policy or operational changes, we therefore had to work closely with them to encourage and promote reuse.

K.P.I

587

3.2t

15.5 t

40

Running a reuse project requires a great amount of dedicated manpower – the events which were the most seamless were those where we had the help of volunteers.

Once the system had been designed each reuse event ran fairly smoothly and you can see from our data the events which were promoted the most had the best results.

While volunteers were keen to get involved and were easy to recruit, our management of them was quite poor, mainly down to a lack of experience in (and time for) volunteer management.

In order for participants to invest more in the ‘donate and reuse’ cycle; the promotion, structure and communication around reuse events must voice this.

6.

41

42

43

SUMMARY OF REFLECTIONS

By raising the profile of sustainability within the GSA and Glasgow’s creative community we feel we have laid the foundations for a really strong sustainability movement at the Glasgow School of Art.

Through our work we have sporadically used the term ‘Creative Sustainability’, which we define as a unique model of engagement. It reflects the dynamic ways in which we have engaged with our community; academic, practical and playful. It also brings in the other six values we have recognised as being essential to the integrity of our work – these can be found in the introduction.

We feel the project has a symbiotic balance of quantitative and qualitative elements. Through exploring both, in the context of a CCF project, we believe our work is breaking boundaries and is quite radical in terms of its output, content and learning.

4.6t

25.7t

TOTAL K.P.I’s

6960

44

Due to receiving the funding three months later than planned we constantly felt like we were playing catch up.

This was further exacerbated by Jenny and Kathy working part time and taking on separate full time project streams within the project (i.e. due to the volume of work they were unable to job share).

The project could easily be split in to three sections: the first where we established our identity, forged relationships and found our networks, the second where we determined the project streams and set the wheels in motion, and the third where we executed the work and carried out most of the activity.

The area in which we work is not one which is easily separated from who we are – it is inextricably linked to our values as individuals. In order to sustain ourselves we had to create coping and support mechanisms such as self-counselling. It has been inspiring and empowering to collectively support one another in our journeys.

“Sustainability is now in the collective conscious at GSA.”

“Climate change is a cultural issue.”

7862kwh

45

46

47

PHOTO CREDITS

1. Textiles sketchbook, SDC Project – Katie O’Brien 2. Workings on post-it notes - Emeric Martin 3. Group photo, the Beekeepers of GSA – Emeric Martin 4. Alistair McIntosh lecture – Muhammed Indrees Ahmad 5. The Seona Reid Building at night – McAteer Photography 6. On the Verge – James Farlam All other photographs were produced by the ARC team.

48

THE ARC PROJECT WOULD LIKE TO THANK

John Thorne

Ranjana Thapalyal and Madeleine Sclater

Tim Sharpe and all of the Sustainability in Action steering group

reSOURCE participants

Lucy Holmes Elliot, James Farlam and Eva Dolgyra All at the Project CafĂŠ

Sam de Santis Fiona Sloan and Phillippa Claude Will, Matt, Kirsty, Rebecca, Paul and all at the Glasgow School of Art Students Association

Glue Factory, WASPS Hanson Street, Broadscope Studios and MAKLab

May and Miriam from Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

Ellie Harrison

Glasgow University Environmental Sustainability Team

Betty Gilchrist and the cleaning staff

Satish Kumar

All at The Bike Station

Barrie Stewart and all in the Estates Department

Alastair McIntosh

Playdead

Rachel Duckhouse

Gabriella at Risotto Print Studios

Austin and all at Where the Monkey Sleeps

Jonathan Baxter

All at Snook

Jo Tomlinson

Nic Green

Mackintosh Environmental Architecture Research Unit (MEARU)

Katie Dixon

Cameron McLaughlin

Sam Cook and Emma Levy

Jane Sutherland and the Garnethill

Gemma and Ben at Creative Carbon Scotland

All our student volunteers

Community Council

Phil Nowotny and Caro Kemp from CCF

Neil McGuire

Matt Green, Uula Jaro, William Greensmith, Nicholas Oddy and Alec Farmer

Ian Grout