National Lottery funding will help Dance Base adapt to climate change

A new National Lottery-funded pathway programme is helping cultural and creative organisations across Scotland adapt the buildings they own to the impacts of climate change.

The fund, co-designed and managed by Creative Scotland and public sector infrastructure body, the Scottish Futures Trust, is providing eight organisations with a total of £347,520 to make practical improvements to the buildings they own, and adapt to the impacts of climate change while generating learning to inform future investment in Scotland’s cultural and creative estate.

The fund focuses on adaptations that will increase the resilience of properties facing growing risks from heavier rainfall, stronger winds, rising temperatures and changing weather patterns.

When launched in February 2026, the programme attracted strong interest from across the sector, with 38 expressions of interest from 37 organisations spanning 19 local authority areas. And following a competitive two-stage process, 16 organisations were invited to submit full applications, with eight projects selected for funding.

The projects demonstrate the wide range of climate risk affecting Scotland’s cultural and creative estate and the practical measures organisations are taking to ensure buildings remain safe, welcoming and operational for artists, audiences and communities.

Across the projects, organisations are responding to practical pressures already affecting day-to-day use, from studios becoming too cold or too hot to use, damp, damaged access routes and drainage pressure caused by heavier rainfall.

Dance Base has been awarded £57,556 to facilitate a programme of draught proofing, insulation and infra-red heating works, supporting us to respond to the impact of increasingly variable, unpredictable and extreme weather events. The works will enhance our ability to efficiently control fluctuating internal temperatures, for the benefit of our building users and are scheduled to take place ahead of our Autumn term, in the first two weeks of September.

The other seven projects are:

• Community Circus Paisley, Renfrewshire – £11,200
  An automatic accessible entrance door will reduce exposure to increasingly extreme temperatures, wind and rainfall, helping keep the building comfortable, accessible and usable during changing weather conditions.
• The Highland Council with Eden Court, Inverness – £69,600
  A heat transfer system will help manage overheating in the cinema projection room and cold conditions in adjacent studio space, supporting more stable temperatures and continued use.
• Scottish Historic Buildings Trust with Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh – £79,994
  Basement works at the Glasite Meeting House will help manage moisture, damp and water ingress linked to heavier rainfall, reducing risks to the building fabric and gallery use.
• WHALE Arts, Edinburgh – £50,500
  Rainwater harvesting will help WHALE Arts respond to heavier rainfall and periods of water scarcity, improving the resilience of a community-owned arts centre.
• The Bothy Project – Sweeney’s Bothy, Isle of Eigg – £4,506
  New drainage will help protect the access path from increasingly wet weather, frost and surface water damage, supporting safe year-round access to the remote artist residency.
• Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre, Dundee – £24,145
  Window protection works will strengthen the listed building’s original glazing against increased storm exposure, wind and temperature fluctuations, helping maintain safe use of the venue.
• Forgan Arts Centre, Newport-on-Tay – £50,020
  Roof and rainwater goods improvements will help the building cope with more intense and prolonged rainfall, reducing water ingress and supporting continued community arts use.

Culture Secretary Màiri McAllan said:  “As climate change brings more frequent extreme weather to Scotland, we are feeling the impacts of conditions such as floods, droughts, wildfires and accelerating coastal erosion.

“Adapting cultural buildings to these conditions is an important part of safeguarding Scotland’s heritage, economy and community wellbeing.

“This fund will help preserve vital spaces for creativity, culture and community – to ensure they are more resilient to our changing climate, and can thrive for generations to come.”

Marc Cairns, associate director at the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT), said: “Climate change is already affecting Scotland’s cultural and creative buildings, from increased rainfall and damp to overheating and temperature fluctuations. Through this pilot, SFT has been working with Creative Scotland to help organisations take practical action now, while generating valuable learning to inform future investment in Scotland’s cultural estate.

“These projects demonstrate that adaptation can take many forms – from improving drainage and making gutters and downpipes bigger to reimagining approaches to heat and introducing better ventilation. Together they will help ensure cultural spaces remain open, accessible and resilient for the communities that depend on them.”

Karen Ridgewell, Climate Emergency & Sustainability Lead at Creative Scotland said: “It’s clear that the changing climate is already impacting cultural and creative organisations and their communities. These eight pathfinder projects will respond to climate risk in their own unique way, and the lessons learnt from them will be impactful and far reaching. They highlight the increasing need for us all to adapt to the impacts of the changing climate.

“We’re grateful to everyone that submitted an Expression of Interest and Stage 2 application and look forward to sharing the findings of the monitoring and evaluation of the project to further develop the future of climate adaptation in the culture and creative sector.”

Image: Visit by Culture Secretary Màiri McAllan to Dance Base in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket. From left to right: Marc Cairns (Associate Director, Scottish Futures Trust), Peter Reekie (CEO Scottish Futures Trust), Màiri McAllan MSP (Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic), Karen Ridgewell (Climate Emergency and Sustainability Lead, Creative Scotland), Jeanie Scott (CEO, Dance Base), Tony Mills (Artistic Director, Dance Base), Han Joyce (General Manager, Dance Base). Picture Phil Wilkinson / Scottish Futures Trust.