Culture, Communities and Climate Extremes
This half-day, in-person workshop at the Royal Geographical Society will focus on how cultural venues can support their communities and audiences in preparing for and managing weather extremes resulting from the changing climate.
Building on arts and cultural organisations’ experiences of the summer heatwaves, it will look at what makes an effective cool space and at heat risk in the surrounding neighbourhood, including who is least able to cope.
The aim of this workshop is that participants leave with immediate actions, a six-month plan, and points for their organisation’s risk register.
The session will be led by Roland Smith, climate and sustainability specialist at Julie’s Bicycle, with contributions from Westminster City Council and Rachael O’Sullivan of Royal Ballet and Opera and Westminster Culture Sustainability Group.
What You’ll Learn
This hands-on workshop steps beyond surface discussions and focuses on operational realities. Attendees will explore:
- What makes an effective cool space: Practical standards for hosting communities safely during heat events—including free access, accessible drinking water, clean facilities, clear local signage, evening opening hours, and staff training to spot signs of heat illness.
- Understanding neighbourhood heat risk: Mapping urban heat islands and identifying who in the surrounding community is least able to cope during heatwaves.
- Operational embedding: Integrating climate adaptation and heat response directly into existing maintenance schedules, day-to-day operating plans, and organisational risk registers.
Who Should Attend?
This session is designed for teams working across public-facing arts and cultural venues, including performance spaces, galleries, museums, libraries, and civic community hubs.
To get the most value from the collaborative planning exercises, we strongly encourage organisations to send a paired delegation: one representative from facilities or operations alongside one member of senior management.
Open to all arts and cultural organisations, including National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs) and independent venues alike.
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