Animation Ireland is taking a proactive stance towards fostering awareness and understanding of sustainable practices in our industry. By embracing, adopting, maintaining and continuously improving sustainable practices in our business, we can help preserve natural and physical resources, so that they will remain available for the long term. We would encourage our members, companies and contributors to join us on this journey.
We are not sustainability experts. This document is a guide and signpost for our members on the path toward sustainable practices in their companies and productions and it aims to help steer our industry towards a more sustainable future.
The information here is not intended to be the ultimate repository of knowledge on sustainability but rather a quick guide giving a glimpse of what can be achieved individually and collectively. We intend to provide first steps, guidance and promote awareness on sustainability around productions for all in Animation Ireland.
As an industry, we have a unique opportunity to make a significant impact. You can be a steward of change, an advocate for consciousness, and a pioneer of a greener industry.
What is sustainability?
Animation Ireland is focusing on four pillars of sustainability; environmental, social, economic and cultural.
Environmental sustainability focuses on reducing the negative impact of human activities on the natural environment, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, minimising pollution, protecting biodiversity, and conserving natural resources.
What Animation Ireland is doing:
→ Calculate our carbon footprint in order to take the necessary steps to reduce emissions
→ Coordinate initiatives/activities to adapt/create a carbon calculator for the Irish Animation industry
→ Support the translation and dissemination of a “Green Animation Production Toolkit”
→ Stay up-to-date and educated on latest tools and resources in the industry and ensure our membership are informed about them
→ Allow community sharing among studios so our members will have the knowledge and resources to start their sustainability journey, no matter the size of the studio.
Social sustainability focuses on promoting social equity, justice, and well-being. It includes ensuring access to basic human rights, providing a safe and healthy work environment, promoting diversity and inclusivity, and fostering strong community relationships
What Animation Ireland is doing:
→ Research and creation of the Core Competency Frameworks
→ Management of the National Talent Academy for Animation
→ Animation Ireland’s Industry and Education committee and the NTAA are doing ongoing work and research to bridge the gap between college graduates and junior roles in studios.
→ The NTAA helps professionals in all aspects of their career whether they’re a recent graduate or a senior looking to move career paths or progress elsewhere.
→ Animation Ireland sponsors a variety of networking events for the Animation community, such as, funding the venue for the bi-annual Women in Animation meet-up, Brown Bag Film’s Animation Come Dancing, Animation Dingle, as well as hosting the Irish Animation Awards and Animation Ireland Meitheal Conference.
→ Advocates for grants and funding initiatives that incentivise studios to increase their hiring. (regional uplift development, etc)
Economic sustainability focuses on creating a thriving economy that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It includes responsible resource management, sustainable production and consumption practices, and ethical business practices.
What Animation Ireland is doing:
→ Animation Ireland are organising workshops in order to help studios with compliance for funding.
→ Actively communicating with policy makers and participating in industry and government talks to ensure that monumental changes aren’t made that could have a negative effect for the animation industry.
→ Constant communication with stakeholders to ensure the triumphs of Ireland’s animation industry are being highlighted and awareness of the needs of the industry are being discussed to action change
Cultural sustainability focuses on preserving and promoting cultural diversity and heritage, including language, customs, art, and traditions. It recognizes that cultural diversity is an essential aspect of sustainable development, and that it plays a crucial role in shaping human behaviour, values, and beliefs.
What Animation Ireland is doing:
→ Animation Ireland are in the process of updating their GEDI policy and will have a list of achievable goals and deadlines for these upon completions
→ Through the Sustainability committee, review these targets at the end of each year to ensure we have fulfilled these promises and continue to add to them for consistent and continual improvement in the areas of GEDI.
Not sure where to start? Here’s what we did:
- Educate and communicate
Education is key to encouraging your team or crew to make sustainable choices. Having a sustainability champion in your company can help to keep everyone on track with the sustainability agenda. They can be responsible for communicating on the importance of sustainability and the specific actions everyone can take to make a difference.
Posters and infographics can be a great way to communicate the sustainability message to your team. You can use them to show everyone where they can make changes and how these changes will have a positive impact on the environment.
- Calculate your production’s carbon footprint
Use a carbon footprint calculator to help you measure your carbon emissions and identify areas where you can reduce your impact on the environment.
An increasingly common resource in production is Albert. This industry-backed calculator allows you to forecast your carbon emissions during pre-production and track your actual emissions during production. It can also provide you with recommendations on how to reduce your carbon footprint and the data can help identify areas where you may need to make further improvements and celebrate your successes along the way.
→ For guidance and tips check out our case studies from studios such as Brown Bag Films and Cartoon Saloon to see what their journey working with Albert was like.
Other tools:
Albert might not be the right fit for your studio or your commissioning broadcasters and there are various territory based alternative models available. For example, EcoProd, Maim and Scope 3
Start with the small stuff! Encourage sustainable practice such as turning off lights, taking public transportation and recycling, set achievable targets for your team and celebrate these achievements! Taking these two steps alone makes sustainability a lot less daunting.
Animation Ireland encourages studios to educate and engage their staff and stakeholders, to collaborate with local suppliers that are using sustainable practices or request that your current suppliers use renewable energy, source materials responsibly, and minimise waste.
Once your studio begins to meet goals and targets, regularly assess your sustainability practices, evaluate their successes and failures, and make adjustments as needed to achieve your sustainability objectives. This will help you identify areas for improvement and celebrate your successes!
Again, we are not experts in the topic of sustainability, however, our sustainability committee is doing the work and the research to put all the information in one place to help make your studio’s sustainability journey a little bit easier. If you have any questions or queries on any of the above information or feel as though you would like to become a champion of sustainability for Animation Ireland please email support@animationireland.com
Some further links
https://www.sustainablemedia.ie/
https://www.screenireland.ie/filming/sustainable-filmmaking
https://www.ecoprod.com/en/home/ecoprod.html
Videos:
1. Climate change: Earth’s giant game of Tetris
2. What really happens to the plastic you throw away
3. Netflix, Nature and Net Zero
4. Explaining the Circular Economy and How Society Can Re-think Progress