- Posted on August 14th, 2025
Northern Stage – Reducing Energy and Empowering Change
For Arts Council England and Julie’s Bicycle’s annual report 2023-24, we feature over 50 practical examples of cultural organisations taking climate action including in depth case studies like this one. Check out the full interactive report here.
This case study was written by Michael Bell, the Facilities and Environmental Sustainability Officer at Northern Stage – a contemporary theatre based in Newcastle upon Tyne. They outline their strategic approach to reducing energy consumption and emissions, embedding sustainability into their culture through staff engagement, improved communications, and Carbon Literacy training, leading to tangible reductions.
Monitoring and Internal Communications
Upon joining Northern Stage as Facilities and Environmental Sustainability Officer, I was quickly introduced to the Theatre Green Book and began collecting organisational data around sustainability. It was clear that our energy usage was by far the main contributor of carbon emissions and so this became my first priority.
Initially, I began implementing the actions I could control, such as putting the building management system to better use, but it became clear that to achieve significant annual energy reductions it would require the efforts of both staff and visitors.
I started to send monthly internal energy reports which detail how much energy we use each month in comparison to the year previous, as well as a monthly waste audit. Rather than simply sending figures with generic information, I tend to compose my emails in a more engaging and theatrical way, using personality and humour, in the hope that staff don’t just glance over them – and this approach seems to have worked!
Alongside this information, I would post any other environmental news from within the organisation and the outcomes of our Environmental Green Group meetings. I used this monthly update email as an opportunity to provide guidance for saving energy, e.g. information about night usage within the building and the importance of turning off lights and shutting computers down, etc.
I wanted to provide staff with a clear understanding of how much energy we were using – partly to prevent energy waste, but also to incorporate conversations around sustainability as part of working at Northern Stage, something which would continue and become an everyday aspect of working in the theatre.
Culture and Strategy
It was clear that we needed to share the responsibility to reduce our carbon emissions, but also, sustainability needed to become part of the culture and mindset at Northern Stage. I knew that a focus on our communications was vital.
Since publishing the reports and guidance on energy efficiency, we have seen an annual reduction in energy usage in 2023-24. The reports have generated discussions and changed behaviours across the entire company, and supported our business case for making capital investment in the upgrade to our building management system. All of this work combined has contributed to our journey towards achieving intermediate level in sustainable operations.
The reports and guidance provided by the Theatre Green Book helped us to audit and improve our communication and sustainability. Myself and Peter Robson, Head of Commercial and Operations, are currently providing Carbon Literacy training to all staff to educate, inform and inspire change company-wide.
Our fabulous comms department have now incorporated sustainability into their strategy, with a dedicated page on the website and regular social posts and blog posts.
We have recently invested in planters and a living wall for our Café Bar and give away cuttings from these plants to visitors for free. The social media post about this attracted a very high level of engagement and they were gone almost instantly!
The team are currently in the process of creating a permanent display for the foyer to share some of our sustainability achievements and aspirations with audiences.
Our environmental actions have been welcomed with fantastic feedback from staff, visitors and other organisations. After reading my Earth Day blog post on Northern Stage’s website, the Theatre Green Book contacted me to publish a case study on single use plastic glasses.
I was asked to be part of a working group to help develop the Theatre Greenbook 2 and was invited down to the National Theatre for the launch.
Earlier this year, we took part in the Indigo Act Green survey and asked a segment of our audience their opinions on sustainability and our progress so far. Of those asked, 78% of our visitors feel that Northern Stage place importance on climate change.
Additionally, we recently conducted a company-wide meeting to discuss the Theatre Green Book and share how the actions that we have all taken has led to the fantastic achievement of Basic Level in Sustainable Buildings and Sustainable Operations.
I’m so proud of the work we’ve completed so far and feel as though this continued approach to discussing environmental sustainability and being transparent with the work we are doing has inspired collaborative actions – all of which have helped Northern Stage to achieve so much within a relatively small period of time. I look forward to seeing what we accomplish next!
Written by Michael Bell – Facilities and Environmental Sustainability Officer
“I am incredibly proud of the progress our team at Northern Stage have made in reducing our carbon footprint and increasing sustainability across all areas of our operations. By taking a people first approach – conversational and engaging but backed up by data – Michael and the team have created new routes into discussing sustainability across the organisation allowing us to expand the impact of our interventions. We know our audiences expect us to be taking sustainability seriously too and working with Theatre Green Book has given us a the tools to be able to demonstrate our progress, share it with audiences and invite them to come on the journey with us.”
– Kate Denby, Executive Director Northern Stage
Header image: Esmé Kingdom, Kirsty MacLaren and Tamara Fairbairn in Protest at Northern Stage – Northern Stage – Credits: Oluwatosin Daniju