Our approach to environmental engagement is both practical and creative. On the practical side, we are constantly working to reduce our environmental impact and make our touring practices as environmentally responsible as possible. On the creative side, our annual nature theme gives selected musicians an opportunity to creatively respond to issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss.

Musicians and nature

Musicians work in a very particular field - that of imagination and feeling - and are therefore in a unique position to inspire reverence and engagement with the natural world among the wider public. We are committed to providing opportunities to explore and facilitate this work. Our residency takes place at Cove Park - one of the UK's leading artist residency centres, nestled into a hillside overlooking Loch Long and the Firth of Clyde, and surrounded by forest. While our annual nature theme (the inaugural theme in 2022 was Birds) provides strong creative parameters, the residency gives musicians time, in a thought-provoking and inspiring location, to absorb, process, and creatively respond. Listening is a core theme behind our approach to collaboration, and this theme extends to going on sound walks and tuning into the surrounding environment in different ways. We also initiate wider discussions with Making Tracks Fellows, both to increase their awareness of existing strategies for environmental engagement among musicians and to develop new ones.

Making Tracks by Train

Since the relaunch of Making Tracks in 2019, we have been working on reducing our environmental impact, with a particular focus on developing more sustainable touring practices by switching from plane to rail travel. Projects like Making Tracks typically fly artists to the UK from all corners of the globe, but we recognise that this model is no longer sustainable, and that carbon offset schemes are not a viable solution. Rail travel has a much smaller carbon footprint, allowing us to significantly reduce project emissions at source. In 2019 we implemented a flight ban on any selected artists travelling to the residency who were based less than 15 hours away from the UK by rail. In 2022 we announced that all musicians selected from mainland Europe would now be asked to travel to the Making Tracks residency by train. As part of this, we pay a daily stipend for each day they spend en route, and use the journeys to start conversations about music and the environment. We now also limit the number of artists selected from outside Europe to a maximum of one per year. These changes have helped us to reduce our transport-related emissions by 79% since 2019.

The practical changes we’ve made don’t stop with trains. Making Tracks' delicious residency menu is fully vegetarian and vegan, while we also provide partner venues with 'green riders', route our tours as efficiently as possible, and are working towards eradicating single-use plastics.

More information and resources

• Read our 2022 Transport Emissions Report.
• Read our 2019 Transport Emissions Report.
• Read an article by our director, which asks if there's a 'best way' to offset flight-related emissions (disclaimer: we no longer use conventional carbon offsets).
• Download our 'Green Rider' template for artists.