Culture Declares Emergency are a growing international movement of individuals and organisations in the cultural sector declaring climate and ecological emergency. This means telling the truth, taking action and seeking justice. We, Midlands Arts Centre, declare a Climate and Ecological Emergency. We pledge to work with and support our community and local government in tackling this Emergency, and we call on others to do the same.

These are our intentions:

We will tell the Truth

Governments, and their public broadcasters and cultural agencies, must tell the truth about the Climate and Ecological Emergency, reverse inconsistent policies and communicate the urgency for far-reaching systemic change. We will communicate with staff and customers and support them to discover the truth about the Emergency and the changes that are needed.

We will take Action

Governments must enact legally binding policy measures to reduce emissions to net zero by 2025 and to reduce consumption levels. We pledge to work towards reducing our emissions year on year. MAC is apolitical and so is our response to the Climate Emergency. We will seek to engage our local representatives in our environmental activities where appropriate and facilitate conversation between them and our artists and audiences. We will actively work to imagine and model ways that our organisation can regenerate the planet’s resources.

We are committed to Justice

The emergency has arisen from deeply systemic injustices. Arts and Culture can imagine and forge shifts in the ways we relate to one another and the world, in our values and behaviours. Through our arts programme and communications strategy we will enable dialogue and expression amidst our communities about how the Emergency will affect them and the changes that are needed. We believe that all truth-telling, action and democratic work must be underpinned by a commitment to justice based on intersectional principles, led by and for marginalised people.