Audience Expectations

The cultural sector is recognised as having a vital role to play in tackling the climate crisis, and audience research from Indigo’s influential Act Green survey consistently backs this up.

The results of the 2024 Act Green survey show that 72% of audiences think cultural organisations have a responsibility to influence society to make radical change in response to the climate emergency. However, only 16% of respondents think cultural organisations currently place great importance on tackling the climate emergency.

This research, run by Indigo Ltd for a third year, reveals that cultural audiences and visitors are concerned about the climate emergency, and want to see the organisations they visit playing more of a role in tackling it as well as communicating their efforts to their audiences. Indigo Ltd gained 17,450 responses from 112 cultural organisations, the largest number of participating organisations to date.

Key findings

• 86% of cultural audiences are worried about the climate crisis.
• 93% have made changes to their lifestyle
• 72% think cultural organisations have a responsibility to influence society about the climate emergency
• 89% expect organisations to be reducing and recycling waste.
• 68% expect organisations to provide information to help audiences act more sustainably.
• 64% expect organisations to work with suppliers who share their values on environmental issues.
• 49% expect organisations to be joining together to campaign, lobby and influence.
• Getting audiences involved is key in initiatives to tackle the climate crisis
• 74% said a sustainability accreditation would make them view an organisation more positively.
• 62% said availability of public transport is the key consideration when thinking about how to travel to an organisation
• 70% would act more sustainably either to support an organisation or if it was made easy for them.
• 50% would support a fundraising campaign to help an organisation redevelop outside space to promote biodiversity.