Artica Svalbard Qualifies for GCC Active Membership 2025–26

We are pleased to announce that Artica Svalbard has qualified as an Active Member of the Gallery Climate Coalition for 2025–26.

To achieve Active status, organisations are required to demonstrate that they have implemented environmentally responsible practices in line with GCC guidance, including measuring and reporting emissions, setting reduction targets, and taking practical steps to reduce environmental impact.

Active Membership is not a certification of sustainability, nor a claim of perfection. Rather, it reflects an ongoing commitment to assess, report, and reduce emissions while adapting practices and seeking new solutions over time. Like many organisations, we continue to navigate the challenges of balancing international cultural exchange with environmental responsibility, particularly within the context of operating in the High Arctic.

At Artica Svalbard, this work forms part of our broader environmental approach, A Living Responsibility, which recognises sustainability as an ongoing process spanning ecological, social, psychological, and cultural dimensions. In recent years, we have worked to reduce our energy-related emissions through measures including improved energy efficiency within our residency apartments and refining how we calculate and monitor local energy use.

As an organisation supporting artists, writers, and researchers travelling to and from Svalbard, we recognise the importance of continually questioning how and why we work, while developing models that encourage longer-term engagement, slower travel, and deeper place-based exchange.

We encourage peers and colleagues across the arts sector to explore the work of Gallery Climate Coalition and consider how collective action can support more environmentally responsible cultural practice.