Environmental Responsibility
We want to reduce our environmental impact in practical and meaningful ways, while recognising that environmental action must work alongside accessibility.
For Corali, this means making lower-impact choices where we can, while ensuring that our dancers, participants, artists and audiences continue to have the support they need to take part. Essential taxi, car and support-person travel, for example, may be an important access requirement.
What we’re already doing
Environmental responsibility is already part of the way we work. Over the past few years, we’ve made changes across our organisation, travel, productions and partnerships.
Environmental responsibility is part of our strategic planning, funding applications and day-to-day decision-making. It is regularly discussed at board meetings and considered when we plan our work.
We use a green supplier checklist to help us make more responsible purchasing decisions. We have changed some of our suppliers and services as a result, and our finance processes are now fully paperless. We also aim to reduce waste, printing and unnecessary use of resources.
We encourage staff, artists, participants and audiences to use public transport, walking and cycling where practical. At the same time, accessibility comes first. We recognise that taxis, cars and support-person travel may be essential for some learning disabled dancers and participants. We also support independent travel training where it is wanted, safe and appropriate.
Where possible, we reuse and adapt costumes, sets, props and other materials across different productions. Materials we no longer need are repurposed or donated where possible rather than thrown away.
Our staff, associates and trustees have taken part in environmental learning, including Carbon Literacy training, and we continue to take part in conversations about environmental responsibility across the arts sector.
What we’re working towards
Our next step is to build on what we’re already doing and make our environmental work more consistent, measurable and embedded across Corali.
Between now and 2030, we’ll focus on the areas where we can make the biggest difference: travel and touring, production, partnerships and creative practice.
From 2027, we’ll strengthen the way we measure our environmental impact. We will create an environmental baseline using data from 2024–2026, improve the way we collect and monitor information, and use this evidence to identify our three most significant areas of environmental impact. By autumn 2027, we aim to have meaningful targets in place for reducing our impact or improving our practice.
From 2027, we will create a travel and freight plan for each new national or international tour. We’ll consider things such as grouping tour dates together, staying longer in one place, using equipment locally and reducing repeat journeys. By autumn 2027, we also plan to introduce a Corali Green Rider, setting out our environmental approach when working with venues.
By 2027, we will begin formally considering climate-related risks such as extreme heat, severe weather and transport disruption. We will develop practical guidance to help us protect the health, access and wellbeing of our dancers, staff and audiences and keep our work running when disruption occurs.
From 2028, we will use the Theatre Green Book framework for major new productions and aim to meet at least its Basic production standard. For productions using this standard, we will aim for at least 50% of on-stage materials to be reused or recycled, with at least 65% stored or used again afterwards. We’ll also keep a record of production materials and review what we learn after major productions and tours.
By 2028, we will start publishing an annual Environmental Responsibility update. We’ll share what we have achieved, key environmental information, challenges we have faced and what we plan to focus on next. We will also look at accessible ways of sharing this information, including visual or Easy Read formats where appropriate.
Our environmental documents
Environmental policy: Read about our overall approach to environmental responsibility.
Environmental Action Plan 2026-2030: Read about our actions, targets and timelines in full.
Environmental Checklist: See the practical steps we use to support more environmentally responsible choices.