Here at HOME we know that supporting our environment requires sustained action, and we are committed to reducing our environmental impact year on year, continuing our commitment to securing a green future. Our vision is to be a best-practice arts and cultural venue, with environmental, social and economic sustainability at the heart of what we do. We contribute to the conversation and action on local, national and international levels; whilst innovating, testing and championing models of environmental best practice.
We recognise both the imperative and the opportunity in responding to the global challenges of climate change and securing environmental sustainability, acknowledging that rapid and urgent action is needed across all sectors of society. Our change begins at HOME with every member of the organisation held accountable. We talked to Cultural Governance Alliance to share how we are actively embedding cultural change at every level of our organisation in order to tackle climate emergency.
Our Environmental and Sustainability group comprises staff members from across the organisation, who are dedicated to bringing a variety of environmental innovations and practices to HOME, driving change, developing initiatives and inspiring both individual action and collective change. We are continually working to grow our green community, by further raising awareness of our efforts towards practical, creative and lasting sustainability actions.
We actively encourage our staff and visitors to travel to and from HOME sustainably. We’re ideally located to be reached by public transport, cycling, or on foot. Located just off the Oxford Road corridor, it is now even easier to reach HOME without a car. Improved cycle routes and Dutch-style bike lanes ensure a smooth journey, and we have Sheffield stands available to secure your bike on site, with many more located in the surrounding area. As part of Corridor Manchester Sustainable Travel Group, we partner collaboratively to promote and support low-carbon initiatives in the area and be a driving force of positive, influential and sustained change.
We operate a Sustainable Travel Policy and partner with TfGM (Transport for Greater Manchester) Travel Choices to advocate best practice for staff travel. We’ve twice been awarded Gold in TfGM’s Travel Choices Accreditation scheme in recognition of our efforts and commitments to help reduce congestion, enhance the health and wellbeing of our staff, and improve air quality in Greater Manchester. We also actively engage with and support Greater Manchester’s Clean Air ambitions in line with Zero Carbon Manchester 2038.
We have a number of different measures in place to make sustainable workplace travel easy and effective. Lockers and showers encourage staff to walk or cycle to work, and bike maintenance and training workshops are held regularly to sustain and support green travel choices. Our bike pool allows staff to cycle when making local journeys for work, and our cycle-to-work scheme enables carbon-neutral commuting whilst supporting active travel too. Our team are automatically enrolled to receive free legal support for cyclists from Serious Cycle Scheme. We advocate the use of Skype and video-conferencing to reduce long-distance travel and actively encourage travel by train, and European travel by Eurostar.
