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. 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, bringing compelling human stories on themes such as community, skills, and inclusion.

This is why Nesta has created Greener Homes, enabling producers and content creators to tell stories about reducing domestic carbon emissions more creatively and more effectively through inspiring, impartial and accurate information tailored for the TV and digital content sector.

The next two decades are going to bring substantial adjustments for all of us when it comes to our homes. 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 climate action 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. With the Climate Content Pledge in mind, we want to explore options for a greener, more sustainable, lower carbon living for everyone.  Crucially, we are interested in the just transition required to get there and how this will appeal to a wide range of audiences in the UK.

Working in collaboration with screen sustainability experts, Picture Zero, Nesta is bringing the Greener Homes offering to the TV and digital sector in two ways:  

• Briefings - Free, inspiring and information-rich sessions, created specifically for creative content production and/or development teams, with on-hand expertise from Nesta.
• 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. The handbook contains: 
  • insights about how to tell more effective climate stories, particularly narratives relating to the home
  • a wealth of impartial information from trusted sources, be that government guidelines, financial support or easy-access explanations about greening our homes
  • the opportunity to ‘ask an expert’ about home-related questions. 

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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, please get in touch at [email protected]