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Sustainability in Programme Editorial

The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is committed to informing and inspiring listeners about how they, as individuals, can take steps towards more sustainable living.  Our audiences are increasingly aware of the challenges facing our planet from climate change and the loss of biodiversity.

A  indicated as many as 77% of the public say they are 'concerned' about climate change, with 65% thinking Britain is already experiencing its effects (Ipos Mori, July 2023). As programme makers it’s important we reflect this in the content we make and see it as a creative opportunity to support and connect with audiences about a topic they really care about, as well as remain relevant to the reality of their lives.

As part of our commissioning process all our producers must have a conversation with their commissioner about how sustainability and/or the environment can be reflected on air.

To reinforce our commitment to sustainable content, we are creating new processes to track the sustainability of our radio production, there will be more on this here soon.

Find out more about what sustainability and climate themes mean to our audiences and how you can best engage them.  Engaging Audiences with Sustainability. Below are some ideas for how all genres can include, explore and portray climate themes and sustainable behaviours in different ways. This is a thought starter, neither prescriptive nor exhaustive. It’s also important to remember that not everybody needs to feel the same way. The vast majority of people care about the environment, but not everybody is ‘signed up’ to the same actions. It can be a point of narrative tension.

Explicit and implicit inclusion - what we mean

Every programme is unique and we do not expect all our content to directly deal with climate change or sustainability. In fact, a powerful way to engage with the environment is through non-specialist content that takes sustainability into everyday experience.

Producers should therefore explore the different opportunities to reflect climate themes authentically in the editorial of their programmes:

• Explicitly: through specific examinations or debate of environmental themes, either as the main subject or just incidentally, in passing.
• Implicitly: through portrayals of sustainable behaviours that aren’t directly commented on. 

Considerations for all genres

Sustainable behaviours that could be featured implicitly, referenced in passing, form a theme or subplot, or be central to the editorial:

How are people getting around? Consider:

• Sustainable ways to travel such as electric cars, bikes or public transport.
• Active transport like cycling and walking.
• Think carefully about glamourising unsustainable choices around travel.

What are people eating/cooking and what’s their relationship with food? Consider:

• Sustainable choices for food, or being offered, debating or discussing vegetarian or vegan options.
• Ways to reduce food waste and composting.

What are people’s homes like and energy use? Consider:

• Enhanced home insulation and alternatives to gas boilers (such as heat pumps).
• Turning the heat down and wearing jumpers.
• Low energy lights, green tariffs, switching off appliances.
• Solar shading (blinds etc) to cope with higher temperatures.
• Solar panels and wind generation (on houses and in the landscape).

What stuff do people wear, have and buy? Consider:

• Buying less and more sustainable products.
• Recycling or repairing and reusing broken items.
• Reusing outfits. Wearing or buying second hand clothes and other items.
• Reusable shopping bags or carrying reusable water bottles and travel mugs.
• Background advertising with sustainable themes (e.g. generic ‘green’ products or campaigns).
• Think carefully about glamourising unsustainable and high carbon lifestyles.

What’s people’s relationship with nature and access to it? Consider:

• An appreciation of nature and the natural world – from window boxes to the great outdoors.
• Planting and restoring nature.
• Access to green spaces.

What do people do for work and with their money? Consider:

• Jobs or work scenarios related to environmental sustainability.
• Jobs or work scenarios that will be affected by the transition to net zero – e.g. oil and gas workers, farmers, boiler fitters.
• Sustainable investments and pensions.

What do people talk about and do in their communities? Consider:

• Sharing, discussing or debating a particular facet of climate change, potential solutions or an area of concern with friends, communities and colleagues.
• Involvement of/with local groups and politicians on the subject.

Is climate change impacting them already? Consider:

• Extreme weather events (flooding, heat waves, wildfires, droughts, intense storms).
• Events being cancelled or altered or travel plans changing because of extreme weather or air pollution.
• Relocation due to climate impacts.
• Asthmatic characters coping with the impact of air pollution, or other physical health impacts of climate change (such as heatstroke and heat exhaustion).
• Mental health impacts of climate change – climate anxiety, stress and grief for the loss of the natural world (particularly relevant for young people, and for those who have experienced extreme weather like flooding).

Examples in scripted content

The potential is huge in scripted. What do your characters think about the environment and climate change? How does that inform their behaviour and world view? What does this mean for where and how they live? For what they do? What does their world look like?

Not all jokes need to be green, but comedy can be a way of exploring climate themes – such as Romesh Ranganathan regularly referring to his veganism. Other comedians’ work on this topic to check out includes Dr Matt Winning and Mark Thomas.

Implicit

The Archers on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 4 is the longest running continuous drama in the world.   The farms featured in fictional Ambridge, in Borsetshire in the English Midlands, are at the forefront of a thriving and exciting food and agriculture sector.  They produce British food sustainably and with the latest systems which protect and enhance the environment.

The flagship farm, Brookfield, has invested in renewable energy by installing solar panels on the roof of a farm building which provide the power for its milking parlour.  The Brookfield dairy herd is also reared and fed through a restorative pasture-based system where the cows feed mainly on rich, green Borsetshire grass.

Explicit, incidental

The Archers has recently staged an entertaining ‘soiled pants’ competition which saw characters burying their undies to test the quality of the soil.  The more holes in their pants, the better their soil as the bacteria and organisms mulched through the cotton.  This was a fun story with a serious message about the health of our soil. This story produced increased traffic on our social media channels.  The earth was scientifically measured, testing the quality of the soil and in the fierce competition between farms, characters talked about caring for the soil and a sustainable future for farming.

Explicit, main theme

The Wilsons Save the World - Radio 4 family sitcom about living ethically and sustainably with all the contradictions and hypocrisy that modern life throws at us. Starring Marcus Brigstocke and Kerry Godliman. Three series with last airing in 2020. 

Examples in non-scripted content

Science and docs have long been a way of explicitly exploring the climate and environment, but there are lots of other ways to approach the topic in unscripted programmes including in conversation, arts and entertainment reporting. For example how bands are touring differently or how artists are changing their practices to be more eco-friendly.

And as climate is part of all our lives, it is part of your presenters’ and contributors’ lives too. What do they think about the environment and climate change? How does that inform their behaviour and world view? What does it mean for where and how they live? For what they do? Is this relevant to the story that you are telling?

Implicit

Mary Ann Hobbs’ Music of the Natural World where Hobbs hears about nature’s symphonies from the musicians and bio-acoustician Bernie Krause.

Explicit, incidental

Radio 1’s Life Hacks discussing eco-anxiety as a feature as well as Radio 1’s One Minute of Me – Environment Special. ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 2 and The One Show collaborated on Sow Grow Show celebrating people who are using their voice to make positive environmental change.

Explicit, main theme

Radio 4’s Shared Earth celebrates the natural world and explores what we can all do to help conserve wildlife and reduce our footprint on the planet.