The concept of ‘home’ is powerful and plays an important role in all forms of storytelling, particularly in television narratives - be that featured in property or home improvement shows - in long-running dramas or soaps - or in lifestyle or consumer programmes. But how these stories are told, and the information that’s conveyed, will inevitably need to reflect the changes taking place on the home front. In adapting to climate change, consumer demand and government legislation is shifting and homes are becoming more energy efficient due to the ways they are built or modified.

These societal shifts and the accompanying changes to our homes will be one of the most significant transitions since the Industrial Revolution, generating compelling human stories on themes such as community, skills and inclusion.

This is why Nesta has created Greener Homes, a programme focused on enabling producers and content creators to tell stories about reducing domestic carbon emissions more creatively and more effectively.

The next two decades are going to bring substantial adjustments for all of us when it comes to our homes. Households account for 26% of total emissions in the UK, on a residency basis; reducing domestic carbon emissions will create smarter, cheaper, cleaner, healthier and greener places to live.

The UK’s independent Climate Change Committee assesses that increasing heating efficiency and replacing fossil fuels (such as gas and oil) with renewable energy will be necessary in almost all homes, ultimately contributing to a more sustainable future for everyone. But while significant progress has been made, the UK still has a long way to go towards reducing carbon emissions in order to meet the legally binding goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 (2045 in Scotland).

At Nesta, we recognise that entertaining TV and digital audiences when it comes to mitigating and adapting to climate change is a challenge. Through the power of Nesta’s innovation expertise, we are working with the TV and digital content sector to inspire and enable the best, most distinctive and engaging ideas around greener homes. Informed by the Climate Content Pledge, we are exploring ways that greener, more sustainable, lower carbon living - for everyone - can be seen more often on our screens. Crucially, we are interested in stories that will appeal to a wide range of audiences in the UK.

• Knowledge building - Working in collaboration with screen sustainability experts, Picture Zero, Nesta is bringing the Greener Homes offering to the TV and digital sector through free, inspiring and information sessions, created specifically for creative content production and/or development teams, with on-hand expertise from Nesta. Together, we have also created a resource-rich online handbook - a free online resource created to inspire and enable new on-screen stories relating to reducing emissions from our homes.
• Creative concept development funding - Providing initial seed funding for compelling creative ideas addressing Greener Homes themes that might otherwise be overlooked
• Project co-funding - Offering match-funding for high potential broadcast or digital projects that address Greener Homes themes that have confirmed funding interest from a platform or broadcaster that might not otherwise get made
• Evaluation - Measuring the efficacy of the Greener Homes programme, in alignment with the Climate Content Pledge, to learn what’s working and what’s not

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To book a Greener Homes briefing for your creative content production and/or development team, or if you already have a creative concept in development or production for TV or digital that incorporates themes of home decarbonisation and would like to find out more about Greener Homes funding, please get in touch at [email protected]