Climate Beacons lighting the way to Net Zero

Climate Beacons for COP26 is a collaborative project between partners that brings together environmental and cultural organisations across Scotland to help get the public involved in conversations about climate change in a way that is relevant to the local area.

Each partnership represents a 'Climate Beacon', currently in seven locations spread across Scotland, in Argyll, Caithness & East Sutherland, Fife, Inverclyde, Midlothian, the Outer Hebrides and Tayside, all of which have been up and running since June 2021. Climate Beacons came into the spotlight in 2021, when Glasgow hosted the UN Climate Change Conference COP26, and is a great example of Scotland's achievements when different sectors and organisations come together to tackle the climate emergency.

Their ambition is to bring together the wealth of knowledge and resources from cultural and climate organisations by hosting activities like workshops, climate cafes, photography competitions, exhibitions, and discussion forums at local cultural organisations such as libraries, museums, and art centres. For example, the Caithness & East Sutherland Beacon set up a travelling cinema, radio broadcasts and podcasts to demonstrate the role of peatland restoration and other topics relevant for the local area.

These events and activities play a crucial role in immersing the general public in important topics relevant to the local community and engaging them in meaningful discussions around climate change in a welcoming and inclusive space.

There are the seven Climate Beacons:

The Argyll Beacon 

The Argyll Beacon is a collaboration between Cove Park arts residency centre and Argyll and the Isles Coast and Countryside Trust (ACT). They focus on Scotland's rainforest, as most of this unique temperate habitat sits within Argyll, and the Beacon is helping raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity.

The Caithness and East Sutherland Beacon

The Beacon is a partnership between Timespan arts centre and museum, Lyth Arts Centre and the University of Highlands and Islands Environmental Research Institute. This Beacon focuses on climate colonialism, land justice and redistribution, and the crucial role of the area for peatland restoration.

The Fife Beacon

The Leven Programme, ONFife (Fife Cultural Trust) and Levenmouth Academy come together with others to channel the arts and build on climate action in Fife. This collaborative effort is highlighting the area’s industrial heritage and showing the world how we can transform into a resilient, low carbon community of the future. They aim to improve the economic and environmental regeneration of the area.

The Inverclyde Beacon

The Inverclyde Beacon is a partnership between Beacon Arts Centre, Belville Community Garden Trust, RIG Arts, and Inverclyde Libraries. It focuses on the roles of climate change mitigation and adaption as part of Scotland's most economically deprived area's recovery from Covid-19.

The Midlothian Beacon

The Midlothian Beacon is a collaboration between the National Mining Museum Scotland and the British Geological Survey that is creating a transformative journey following the flow of water, from Scotland's past legacy of fossil fuels towards a future of decarbonisation, connecting local and international cultures through art and science.

The Outer Hebrides Climate Beacon

The Beacon is a partnership between An Lanntair arts centre, Taigh Chearsabhagh museum and arts centre, Ceolas traditional music and arts centre, Community Energy Scotland, Western Isles Libraries, TSI Western Isles, NatureScot, Adaptation Scotland and the wider Outer Hebrides Community Planning Partnership Climate Change Working Group. This group focuses on how the islands adapt to the worsening impacts of climate change while celebrating their unique natural and cultural heritage.

The Tayside Beacon

Working collaboratively, Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre, the James Hutton Institute, V&A Dundee, Dundee Museum of Transport and other partners in Dundee, Perthshire, Angus, and Aberdeen are using design-led thinking to explore a range of issues across the Tayside bioregion encompassing urban and rural areas as a microcosm of Scotland.  

To find out more about the impact of Scotland’s Climate Beacons, the partners involved in bringing the project to life and to take part in their upcoming events visit the Creative Carbon Scotland website.