The Big Creative UK Summit: Climate Solutions
The Big Creative UK Summit: Climate Solutions is a half-day event, taking place at City Hall, London. Delivered in partnership with Mayor of London and supported by EIT Culture & Creativity, this event will shine a light on the extraordinary breadth of work happening within the Creative Industries to reduce impact on our climate.
Come along to hear about the brilliant work being done by companies through our Creative Catalyst Challenge Fund, engage with policy makers and connect with creative businesses and investors. Hosted by journalist and presenter Qasa Alom, and featuring an address from Justine Simons OBE, Deputy Mayor for Culture and Creative Industries.
Ticket Options
Featured Speakers
Javier Arias
Director of Business Creation at EIT Culture & Creativity
Justine Simons OBE
Deputy Mayor of London for Culture and the Creative Industries
Mete Coban MBE
Deputy Mayor of London for Environment and Energy
Javier Arias
Director of Business Creation at EIT Culture & Creativity
Javier Arias is Director of Business Creation at EIT Culture & Creativity, where he drives the strategy for incubation, acceleration and scaling up of ventures in various culture and creative industries and sectors.
With over 15 years in commercial and marketing roles, Javier is a growth-oriented leader skilled in demand generation and expanding businesses into new markets, including Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. His career spans roles in global demand generation, venture growth and business strategies in sectors like advertising, FMCG, international higher education and sustainable energy.
Justine Simons OBE
Deputy Mayor of London for Culture and the Creative Industries
Justine Simons is Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries. She has played a central role in the cultural transformation of London for two decades. She was awarded an OBE in 2015 by Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth for Services to Culture in London.
Justine founded and is Chair of the World Cities Culture Forum – the principal leadership network on culture and the future of cities, now grown to over 40 global cities reaching across six continents.
She led the capital’s biggest ever festival for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games with over 5000 events and is now overseeing its legacy. East Bank in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, is a new £1 billion culture and education district, the most significant for over 150 years.
She shapes London’s Investment Strategy for the Creative Industries covering film, fashion, games and design, growing their influence on the world stage. She has designed new policy innovations including the world’s first Creative Enterprise Zones, a new Culture at Risk Office to protect fragile cultural infrastructure, established the London Borough of Culture and hardwired culture into London’s planning system with the first Cultural Infrastructure Plan.
Justine established the Fourth Plinth as the UK’s biggest public sculpture prize, is co-chair of London’s Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm and chaired the Mayor’s Suffrage Statue Commission placing the first statue of a woman in Parliament Square, suffrage campaigner Millicent Fawcett. She positioned culture at the heart of the Let’s Do London recovery campaign, attracting 800,000 visitors and bringing London back to life post pandemic.
Mete Coban MBE
Deputy Mayor of London for Environment and Energy
Mete Coban MBE became the Deputy Mayor of London for Environment and Energy in July 2024, overseeing the Mayor’s world-leading climate action plan for the capital.
Before becoming Deputy Mayor, Mete was a Councillor and Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment, and Transport in the London Borough of Hackney, delivering a £61 million Green New Deal to tackle the climate crisis. He is best known for pioneering Hackney’s Community Energy Fund, providing clean, green, community-owned energy to 39 not-for-profits.
Mete is widely credited with making politics more accessible to young people as the Founder of the youth-led charity My Life My Say. He led the Give an X voter registration campaign, which resulted in over 488,000 newly registered voters ahead of the UK General Election in July 2024.
Welcome: Qasa Alom
Keynote: Justine Simons
Panel: Impact Investment
Break
Keynote: Mete Coban
Challenge Fund: Round 1
Lightning Talks: Doing Things Differently
Break
Keynote: TBC
Fireside: Hosted by Innovate UK
Wrap Up
Marketplace & Networking
Event Ends
Who are Creative UK?
Creative UK powers the creative economy. The independent network of the UK’s Creative Industries. Together, we are the world-class investors, innovators, inventors, and entrepreneurs who drive change for growth.We are here for those who dare to imagine.
Creative Catalyst Challenge Fund Recipients
The Creative Catalyst Challenge Fund, funded by Innovate UK and powered by Creative UK, is dedicated to advancing research and development of innovative products, systems, or processes that help decarbonise and reduce waste within the Creative Industries. We're excited to champion projects that drive sustainability, ultimately leading the sector toward a greener future and net zero emissions.
We are incredibly grateful to Creative UK for the fantastic Challenge Fund grant! This generous support will allow LaundRe to continue our journey towards delivering circularity right here in the UK. With this funding, we will collaborate with UK textile recyclers and industry partners to bring our ReBorn process to life, transforming discarded jeans into ‘as new’ garments.
Most importantly, this award brings us closer to our vision of delivering a sustainable, denim refinishing solution in the UK. Thank you, Creative UK, for believing in our mission and supporting our ambition to deliver a new groundbreaking circular solution.
Salli Deighton Founder of LaundRE
Frequently Asked Questions
Have a question?
What is your approach to accessibility?
We celebrate difference – respecting the humanity and creativity in everyone. We are committed to improving diversity and inclusion across our organisation and industry by championing a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, identities, talents and physical and cognitive differences.
You can read our full accessibility statement here
The Big Creative UK Summit: Climate Solutions aims to provide an accessible experience for our speakers, performers, and guests. We try to make sure that there aren’t any barriers that make it difficult or impossible for anyone to engage.
We recognise there are many and varied requirements and if there is something we have missed, please bring this to our attention by emailing events@wearecreative.uk
Is there any help available to people facing a significant financial barrier to attending The Big Creative UK Summit: Climate Solutions?
- Full Name
- Contact Information (Email & Phone Number)
- Organization or Affiliation (if applicable)
- Reason for Interest in Attending the Summit
How can I get involved as a speaker, performer or partner?
Great question! We'd love to hear from you. To get involved as a speaker, performer or partner please email events@wearecreative.uk
What sustainability measures are being taken?
Creative UK has recently partnered with tech start-up Zerofy, a UK-based sustainability and decarbonisation software platform. Zerofy will support our organisation’s mission to realise our Planet pledge, placing sustainability measures at the core of our business and creative operations.
You can read more about our partnership here.
Below are some ways you can help to make your participation in the Summit more sustainable.
Domestic Travel
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Coaches are the greenest way to travel.
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Coach is the cheapest form of transport and London Victoria is only a 35 minute tube journey from the Barbican centre.
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Record your train journey on the Trainline pledge website - every journey recorded will result in a tree planted.
International Travel
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Skip airport queues and reduce your carbon footprint.
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Flying economy class emits over 60% less emissions than business class.
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When all other possibilities for carbon reduction have been explored, look to off-set your remaining carbon emissions.
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Although some airlines offer you the choice to opt in to carbon off-set online, we recommend avoiding these.
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Hold an internationally recognised certification (VCS, Gold Standard).
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Do more than switch one fossil fuel for another.
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Be monitored to ensure carbon reductions are achieved.
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Cause no harm to local communities.
Recycling & Food
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Vegetarian and vegan meals have a lower ecological, carbon and water footprint.
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Browse the selection of vegetarian/vegan meals on each eatery's menu.
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There will be recycling bins around the venue, but it is your responsibility to ensure your waste goes into the correct bin.
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There could be samples and freebies at the event, so bring a bag with you to avoid any single use carriers.