By Sarah Pickthall

The roundtables were a useful starting point in allowing disabled music creatives to surface and share:   

• Where they have been part of – sustainable solutions that are also accessible 

• Where they are already taking climate sustainability action, sometimes unknowingly 

• Where they might like to shape their own sustainability solutions as part of their professional lives 

Climate confidence – education, training and resources 

It was clear from respondents that a way to build confidence around sustainability issues would be to offer bespoke training in sustainability and climate impact – sometimes called climate literacy. This would allow disabled music creatives to feel better equipped to balance accessibility needs with environmentally sustainable goals. 

Ideally this should: 

• Be through disabled-led training that appreciates disabled music creatives’ lived experiences and points of view 

• Unpack the language and terminology appreciating different learning styles, energies and preferences

• Support disabled music creatives to access regular discussions together on how they can find solutions and act upon them in their professional practices

‘Often the resources you need are out there, but you need help to find them, and navigate your way through them, to get your hands on the right things when you need them most!’ 

Podcasts, short online seminars and summative one-pagers were felt to be the most accessible and environmentally friendly learning methods, compared to paper-based materials or in-person training events.  

‘Talking together as a very different group of disabled musicians in the Roundtable has been hugely informative in itself. More of this please!’ 

There was also interest in discussing how to weave sustainability through a creative process from start to finish. We dive into this further through case studies. 

‘It would be great to have help to learn how to integrate sustainability into our creative process from the ground up, and then we could advocate confidently.’ 

Respondents also spoke about the need for venues and festivals to have training around access and environmental sustainability as one. 

‘I think there needs to be a basic education around both access and sustainability for venues and festivals and all the staff working there too: a basic understanding of everything you could consider when it comes to considering access and environment together with frameworks and headings that everyone can understand.’ 

Transport solutions 

Transport continues to be a complex area when considering access and climate sustainability for disabled music creatives. 

They’ve said they need to: 

• Feel that providers and programmers are aware of what’s difficult for disabled musicians and to adjust appropriately 

• Start to share with each other the ways they were harnessing more sustainable transport measures where they could 

• Explore ways to offset their travel impacts but with event organisers’ support 

‘I didn’t realise that my new electric Motability van was actually a climate sustainability solution in itself as well as being accessible to me, saving me energy and making everything possible!’ 

It was felt that car-pooling should be made easier and more widely promoted for live events and festivals, particularly when it can be more accessible for disabled music creatives: 

‘I have always car-shared. It makes sense financially for me, but it also relieves a lot of the anxiety, and allows me to have more control to stop when I need to along the way. Sustainability. It’s good to realise that this sustains me and in turn, the planet.’ 

Communal catering 

Awareness around essential dietary needs for disabled music creatives was felt to be poor. The people we surveyed didn’t view this as an issue to be tackled by the event provider. 

Some of the conversations shared possible solutions to this. One solution could be collective meal making on festival sites.  One roundtable participant performing at a festival in Europe (Scandinavia) was delighted by the centrally managed catering so that all those involved in the event could eat together on site. 

This was seen as not only sustainable but more readily accessible, conserving vital energy that the participant often had to expend in seeking alternative accessible food options beyond or outside of a festival site. 

Photo credit: Melissa King

‘It makes a huge difference to not having to go off site for food, to know that you are being catered for.’ 

Using local produce and involving local people was also a way to be more sustainable, and to accommodate dietary requirements within an inclusive community festival ethic as shared in one of our case studies. 

Resources and repurposing 

Purchasing equipment has always been subject to the financial constraints that disabled music creatives face. Often, more environmentally friendly resources are beyond what’s financially possible. 

‘It’s fairly easy to find sustainable alternatives but it just always seems to be more expensive.’ 

‘There are ways you can do merchandise DIY if you are creative: I know a band who used plain t-shirts from charity shops to put their logo on.’ 

‘Even something simple like a social media post of you recycling, or using eco-friendly materials for merch, or showing diffused light panels or waste reduction is a good thing – it shows you are modelling good practice.’  

A Green Rider 

During the consultancy and in follow-up conversations, despite disabled musicians having mixed success with their access riders, the use of a Green Rider was shared as a step towards a mutual agreement that focuses on sustainability.  

Perhaps a move towards a Green Access Rider would be the next step. It could be framed and promoted so that disabled music creatives can: 

• Share their values and actions on climate sustainability and their commitments alongside their access needs and requirements 

• Indicate where and how they want the provider to support them in their climate sustainability measures and offsets, and how they can work on this together

Disabled music creatives can not only make steps to share their take on environmental sustainability and what they can commit to, but also inspire others in their communities to adopt similar practices as standard.