Creating a sustainable future for people and the planet is the greatest challenge, and opportunity, of our times. The Queen’s Hall is playing its part in solving this most important question which affects all of us.
To do this, we are focussing on the three pillars of sustainability – economic, environmental and social – and use them to inform all our decisions.
That is where both the challenge and the opportunity lie.
The challenge is to understand the needs of each pillar, find imaginative responses to them, and the resources to action them.
The great opportunity is that if enough of us take up this challenge we have the first opportunity in our history to achieve a truly sustainable human presence on this planet, creating a balance between the three pillars of sustainability for everyone.
You can read our Sustainability Policy by clicking on the link here or by downloading the Word document below.
In relation to the social pillar:
The Queen’s Hall, as a hub for live events, is a place that brings people together, explores culture, and provides entertainment. We aim to deal fairly with our customers and staff, both socially and economically, while also considering the financial sustainability of the Hall.
In relation to the economic pillar:
The Queen’s Hall is an independent charity which reinvests any profit it makes back into the running of the venue. For major expenditure we rely on support from donors and trusts, with less than 6% of our regular income coming from a City of Edinburgh Council grant.
Economic sustainability means managing the business efficiently and the ability to secure grant funding.
In relation to the environmental pillar:
The Queen’s Hall is concentrating on its carbon footprint as this is by far our largest environmental impact, though other impacts are not ignored. You can download the latest carbon footprint assessment for 2023 as a Word document below.
Our current carbon footprint for each audience member’s visit is about 5% of an average person’s total daily carbon footprint.
This is not huge, but we need to improve, and have a plan to reduce it - ‘Towards Net Zero’ - which you can download as Word document below.
Let’s do this together
At The Queen’s Hall we are working hard to improve our sustainability, but cannot do this alone.
We have signed the Edinburgh Climate Compact along with many other Edinburgh organisations. Our aim is to challenge each other and help reduce our climate impact.
We are also a member of the Green Arts Initiative which supports arts and cultural organisations to reduce their impact on the climate and environment, and to be at the forefront of creating a sustainable future for our sector and beyond.
We would be very interested to learn from other organisations’ experience and to share how we are making improvements to our sustainability.
If you would like to exchange ideas or want more information, please email info@queenshalledinburgh.org in the first place putting 'Sustainability' in the subject line, and we will forward your email to the right person.
