Announcement Winner for the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe Sustainable Practice Award

Creative Carbon Scotland along with The Centre for Sustainable Practice in the Arts have this morning released the winner for the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe Sustainable Practice Award at Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre.

In a ceremony hosted by celebrated comedian Holly Burn, VOU Fiji Dance was presented with the award for their 2016 production at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Are We Stronger Than Winston? The company received a hand-crafted award piece made from sustainable materials by local artist Coral Mallow at the ceremony, which was attended by many Fringe participants, as well as art industry and sustainability sector professionals. They will also be featured in the Center for Sustainable Practice’s Quarterly magazine.

With more applications than ever before, the judges agreed to shortlist 24 productions and choose 7 finalists. This unusually large selection reflected the high quality of the productions as well as their scope across all areas of sustainability. Judges assessed shows based on their artistic quality, their engagement with themes relating to social, economic and environmental sustainability, and their thoughtfulness around decisions relating to sustainable practice.

Director of the Centre of Sustainable Practice in the Arts, Ian Garrett, said:

“I’m thrilled and gratified to see how the award has been growing since its establishment in 2011 and how high the quality of the applying productions has been this year.”

The award winner, VOU Fiji Dance’s production of Are We Stronger Than Winston?, was created in response to the cyclone Winston, which devastated the South Pacific Islands in February this year. The dance piece depicts the horrors of the natural disaster, as well as the locals’ resilience in dealing with the strongly-felt impacts of climate change. They convinced the judges with this direct approach to the theme of sustainability in its form of human adaptation to a changing environment, as well as their excellent and moving performance. Moreover, they are conscious of their carbon emissions through travel and aimed to offset this by planting trees in their homeland. The company concluded their spring European Tour with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe run, appearing at Greenside @ Nicolson Square from August 5th to August 13th.

During the ceremony, Philip Brady, director of carbon-neutral printing company PR Print and Design and key supporter of the award, announced the finalists, with each runner up company recognised for their sustainability choices:

· Bird, Sita Pieraccini in association with Feral

For expressing the fragility of life in a dangerous environment through consistently expressive physical movement, sound and high production values. Engages by provoking questions rather than providing answers.

· Eden, Less Theatre

For its intentional and considered use of found objects in a way that transforms them into magical characters and for making a strong connection with the environment and waste as exhibited in material choices.

· Generation Zero, Lamphouse Theatre

For its exploration of a future where climate change has restricted our travel and lives, and the emotional impact of such a societal shift. A production where the ramifications of living unsustainably were at the heart of the plot.

· The Story of Mr B, Shake Shake Theatre

For using delightful and inventive upcycled puppetry to explore the human role in nature, and the importance of harmony in the world. It created an approachable context for children to understand the cycles of nature, and our need for it.

· World Without Us, Ontroerend Goed, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Vooruit, Richard Jordan Productions

For a purely executed, uncompromising look at human transience and how that manifests in the unsustainability of our built world

· Romeo & Juliet, The HandleBards

Receiving a special commendation for their continued excellence in sustainable practice.

The Edinburgh Fringe Sustainable Practice Award is a collaboration between its founder, the Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts (CSPA), and Creative Carbon Scotland (CCS), working together with media partner the List magazine and sponsor PR Print & Design, supported by the Arts & Business Scotland’s New Arts Sponsorship Grants programme.

Philip Brady, Director of PR Print and Design said:

“Our business has strived for the last 10 years to highlight the importance of sustainability. We are delighted to be associated with this initiative and look forward to continuing our journey with this sustainable Fringe award and Creative Carbon Scotland.”

We are delighted to be associated with this initiative and look forward to continuing our journey

 

Arts & Business Scotland Chief Executive David Watt said:

“We’re delighted to be able to support the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe Sustainable Practice Award through the New Arts Sponsorship Grants programme as an excellent example of partnership working within the sector with a focus on environmental sustainability.”

Director of Creative Carbon Scotland Ben Twist said:

“The Fringe Sustainable Practice Award celebrates all the things that we are interested in: high quality artistic work that is produced sustainably and engages with themes of sustainability in the widest sense. We’re thrilled to collaborate with all of our partners to shine a low-carbon light on the great work in this field by more and more companies every year.”

Each year the award is given to a production that exhibits high quality artistic integrity and engages the company and audiences with the issues of sustainability in all of its forms. It celebrates different approaches to sustainable practice both in content and in the production of shows, and rewards those that take responsibility for their social, environmental and economic impacts and think creatively about how the arts can help grow a sustainable world.