Can the creative industries seduce us into sustainability?

Shock them? Seduce them? Educate them? All of the above? When it comes to getting people to accept the reality of climate change (and the urgent need to be doing something about it), politicians have got themselves into a bit of a pickle by depending too much on the science.

Scientists would love to think that evidence alone would be sufficient to guarantee people’s buy-in. To their growing horror, however, people’s scepticism about climate change has deepened even as the evidence has hardened.

Bottom line: science alone is not enough. The truth has not set us free. And nor will it.

This is where the Creative Industries can play a vital role. When it comes to shocking, seducing and educating, there’s no limit to the creativity that can be brought to bear on influencing people’s attitudes and behaviour.

Delighting people with new designs for everyday appliances; inspiring them with spirit-lifting music; building empathy with brilliant documentaries; ‘selling’ sustainability through viral marketing; fashioning fair-trade clothing; creating a new ‘app’ to help people make better use of public transport – or even their legs: there’s a wealth of ways to mobilise the talents and resources of all the different sectors that make up the Creative Industries.

But these are not industries that see themselves at the cutting edge of today’s sustainability agenda. Indeed, it’s probably fair to say that the majority of the very large number of SMEs involved have very little awareness of their own sustainability-related performance. Let alone what they should be doing about it.

So Forum for the Future and the Creative Industries knowledge transfer network are setting out to address this. Today we’re launching anationwide campaign designed to make the sector champions of a sustainable future.

We’ll be working withthe industries to examine how the UK’s creative businesses can use their skills to tackle issues like energy, climate change and social justice and help other sectors innovate. We want to inspire them with new business opportunities and also help them understand the rewards they can reap by improving their own sustainability performance.

Lord Puttnam, the distinguished film producer, will give a keynote speech at our launch event in London where some of the sector’s leading lights will take part in a round-table debate on how the Creative Industries can lead us to a sustainable future. We’ll follow it up with regional workshops where professionals from different parts of the sector can collaborate on how to turn these ideas into reality.

The Creative Industries are a vital part of the UK’s economy, generating almost £68 billion in 2007, and have huge power to change our world for the better. But it’s going to be difficult to ask them to play their part in shocking, seducing and educating the general public unless they first get their heads around the basics.

The round-table debate takes place on Wednesday June 16th and will be streamed live from 4pm at www.creativeindustriesktn.org/live/

Transcripts of the debate and a video of its highlights will be posted after the event on a website where industry professionals can follow the project and debate the issues it raises. http://creativeindustriesktn.org/beacons/pg/groups/689/sustainability/

For more information on the project click here.