A Sustainable Approach

Since being audited by Global Action Plan in 2008, we were awarded National Union of Students Green Impact Bronze and Silver Awards in 2011 and 2012, and a Platinum Award in 2014.

In collaboration with our partners at the Manchester Museum and Manchester Art Gallery, the Whitworth has a Green Policy and Action Plan and submits an annual sustainability report to the University of Manchester.  This describes the work we do to embed sustainability across the many different areas of gallery activity, from exhibitions and programming, to options for staff and visitor travel, locally sourced products in our café and shop, promoting energy saving and ensuring we all ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’.

In response to targets set by University and external funding bodies, such as Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund, the brief for our new building was to cut energy consumption and carbon emissions by 10% whilst increasing the building footprint by 30%.  We continue to monitor our building performance as well as improve the biodiversity of our surrounding landscape.

All gallery staff have committed to 2 days sustainability work per year within the gallery environment, and the Whitworth is the only UK gallery to have created the dedicated posts of Cultural Park Keeper & Landscape & Sustainability Technician – part of their remit is to raise awareness, educate and inspire our many and diverse visitors in all things ‘green’.  You can follow their progress on the green blog, twitter and instagram