Climate change (for the better)
Helping Julie’s Bicycle realise their digital vision
Julie’s Bicycle is a uniquely-named climate not-for-profit mobilising the arts and culture to take action on the climate and ecological crisis.
In October 2006, Alison (not Julie) got on her bike to meet some friends from the music industry for dinner at a restaurant called Julie’s. That night together they dreamed up a vision of the future where festivals were powered by solar, venues were off-grid and covered in flowers, museums were community energy providers, artists were united as beacons for change.
WAO are currently helping JB with two strands of work. The first strand, which we can discuss here, involves digital transformation that includes hiring a digital product team. If you, or anyone you know, might be interested in applying for any of the roles, check out JB’s recruitment page. The first position is currently live, and more positions will be released over the next few weeks and months.
The second strand, led by Outlandish and to which we’re contributing, involves work with a large commercial music organisation. We’ll be able to share more details on that in due course.
At a crossroads
Since 2007, JB has helped organisations in the arts and culture sector calculate their carbon emissions. The tools developed achieve this, Creative Green Tools, are used by more than 5,000 organisations and sit alongside high-impact programmes and policy change.
These tools have, however, been developed piecemeal and in response to rounds of funding over the last decade or more. While they are looked after by a specific member of the JB team, they have been developed by freelancers based on the needs of particular projects and programmes.
Now, at a time when the urgency of the climate crisis is being felt everywhere, JB is creating their first digital team. This team will not only improve and expand Creative Green Tools, but potentially create new products and services.
Bringing this development in-house can be scary for not-for-profit organisations like JB. They are funding their mission, so making bold changes requires not only business modelling and securing funding, but ultimately a vision and a leap of faith.
Digital supports everything
As we stand now, almost a quarter of the way through the 21st century, there is no such thing a “non-digital” organisation. But the level of capacity organisations have to develop their own products and services differs wildly.
To grow sustainably, JB are aware that they need knowledge and expertise they don’t currently have in-house. So, after some initial scoping, JB have hired WAO to help them not only hire a digital team, but bring in processes and workflows that will help their talented team thrive.
Turning capacity into action
Since its inception, JB has been an effective, impactful organisation pushing the arts and culture sector towards a more sustainable way of being. With additional digital skills, and WAO’s help, JB is looking to turn its research, tools, and capabilities into products and services that work at scale across complex sectors.
WAO is pleased to be working alongside Julie’s Bicycle. Our members can see the vision that JB’s staff has been sharing. From tour and festival planning to museum and gallery retrofitting, Julie’s Bicycle is a beacon for the arts and culture sector, and we are happy to help Julie’s Bicycle prove that climate consciousness can work at scale.
