Sustainability, ecological awareness, and circular principles are widely practised within Sri Lanka’s creative sector, rooted in traditional craftsmanship, long-standing artisanal communities, and culturally embedded resource-conscious practices - but remain often without recognition.

Building on the momentum from the project launch in 2024, when the first digital map was constructed with 150 creative listings - and an exhibition held in Colombo - the project expanded in 2025 into a multi-regional creative engagement, with over 210 creative map listings. Through collaborations across four regions of Sri Lanka, the project facilitated meaningful creative engagements through exhibitions, talks and workshops that brought together diverse practitioners, community groups and local industries.

The Routes We Take programme successfully showcased the rich artistic and cultural landscape of Batticaloa, providing a platform for local artists to connect, collaborate, and share their work with the broader community.

Moving forward, building on these experiences can further promote the arts, support emerging artists, and ensure that Batticaloa’s cultural heritage continues to thrive.

Lakshanya Muthulingam, Head of Programmes, DreamSpace Academy.

The regional creative engagements in 2025 enabled a web of connections between creatives - increasing their awareness of each other’s practices, and generating interest from different stakeholders to connect and collaborate. The engagements drew local creatives, schoolchildren, university students, creative collectives, local businesses and other regional organisations eager to learn about the project’s ethos of bridging sustainability with the creative industries, and how this could be explored through the project’s activations.

Each regional engagement brought out its own interpretation and collaborations along the intersection of creativity and sustainability. A notable observation across the regional engagements was that initiatives across this intersection are still relatively new to these regions, highlighting the need for more opportunities for dialogue and collaboration.

The project had great success with the Southern Province event, where the regional engagement focused on this intersection in collaboration with the tourism industry. This created a platform for both tourism stakeholders and creative practitioners to explore meaningful avenues for collaboration to develop more impactful and community-rooted tourism experiences for both locals and tourists.

Overall, each regional engagement highlighted how local creatives interpret the connection between creativity and sustainability in diverse ways, largely shaped by regional contexts and cultural experiences rather than broader global narratives.

Artist, Mahesha Kariyapperuma, noted that: "The stagnant cultural landscape was one of the reasons why I really hoped to exhibit in Kandy one day and through The Routes We Take project, we were able to exhibit at our home city for the first time. This experience has now led to us creating our own artist collective in Kandy."

Having the opportunity to then travel and speak for the Jaffna engagement allowed me to see many cultural similarities. I got to experience modern cultural art and design and was able to have an amazing learning experience through the professional artists of Jaffna.

Mahesha Kariyapperuma, Artist, White Shadow Art.

The Routes We Take project leaves the Creative Green digital map in its legacy - ready to continue showcasing more creatives working with ecological and community awareness at heart.

The growing map currently holds over 210 listings of creatives in diverse fields such as visual arts, performance, homeware, graphic arts, and is open for many more to join and spread the message.

The Routes We Take map stands as a living resource that strengthens visibility, fosters collaboration, and reinforces the role of creativity in shaping a more sustainable and connected Sri Lanka - both locally and globally.