In 2007, innovative online and new media resources extended the impact of Channel 4's programmes, giving viewers the opportunity to interact with people and subjects featured on screen, and inviting them to create their own content. Big Art Mob, an initiative in conjunction with Arts Council England and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, aimed to create the UK's first comprehensive survey of public art in the UK using photos uploaded to the site from contributors' camera phones. By recording the wealth of artworks in public places, it served as the focus of a dynamic national conversation about the role of art in people's lives, in preparation for a peak-time series, Big Art, in 2008. In another example of new media extending the value of the on-screen experience, the Empire's Children website encouraged viewers to research and add their own and their family's personal stories of Empire to those featured in the series of the same name, making a unique social history resource for others to share and learn from.

Channel 4 takes seriously its responsibilities to minimise the impact of its activities on the environment. In 2007, both a new environmental policy statement and an in-house campaign increased employees' awareness of the environmental impact of their everyday decisions at work. Water and energy-conserving measures included reducing thermostat settings, replacing roof-top chillers with more efficient models, incorporating water-saving devices in toilets and fitting LED lighting in communal areas. Channel 4 continued to monitor both its environmental impact and the effectiveness of its mitigation measures.

Channel 4 commissions programmes from more than 300 production partners each year - more than any other broadcaster - and in 2007 strengthened its central role in promoting the health and diversity of the UK's creative sector by committing to work with small and medium size companies, where emerging talent and innovation are often to be found. At least a fifth of commissions will now be from companies with an annual turnover of less than £2m.

Channel 4 also supports talent development and company growth through direct funding, training, and development schemes in partnership with suppliers based in the nations and regions. This targeted support helps ensure a lively creative sector outside London, and provides Channel 4 with programmes that give a fuller picture of life in the UK. About a third of Channel 4 programmes - by volume and by value - were made outside London in 2007.

Identifying and nurturing new talent is one of Channel 4's major off-screen roles, brought together under the 4Talent brand. In 2007, a £10m programme of talent initiatives aimed to bring new talent into television, encouraged a more diverse talent base in the industry, and helped individuals with bursaries and valuable work experience, with ring-fenced strands for drama, documentary and comedy on Channel 4. These took many different forms. For example, the online documentary resource FourDocs partnered with Mediabox, a Department for Children, Schools and Families fund, to give ten disadvantaged young people aged 13 to 19 the opportunity to write, direct and produce their own short documentaries. The winner was Georgina Studd, who has cerebral palsy; Georgina became the youngest disabled person ever to have a documentary broadcast on Channel 4.

4Talent joined forces with organisations like the NSPCC and Cancer Research to produce films that gave young people a platform to address difficult issues as diverse as teen identity and the dangers of smoking. And the Richard Whiteley Memorial Bursary, established after the popular presenter's death in 2005, gave young people from Yorkshire a start in broadcasting with entry-level opportunities.

Channel 4 also built on the range of opportunities available to its own employees to put their expertise at the service of charities and young people by partnering with the Media Trust to launch their Youth Mentoring Programme.

More information about the range of Channel 4's talent programmes is available on channel4.com/4talent.

Channel 4 continues to lead other broadcasters in the on-screen portrayal of minority groups. In 2007 it invested over £700,000 in schemes to improve the representation of ethnic minorities and those with disabilities both on and off screen. These included a traineeship at Channel 4 News, three one-year Deputy Commissioning Editor attachments, a researchers' training programme which included new media experience, and supported placements for disabled producer-directors. A new 12-part documentary strand, New Shoots, gave disabled directors the opportunity to gain a first major broadcast credit. More information about these and other schemes are available on channel4.com/about4/diversity.

Channel 4 is committed to ensuring that its own organisation reflects the make-up of modern Britain. In 2007, a comprehensive Summer School provided a diverse range of students with short-term attachments in different departments at Channel 4's Horseferry Road headquarters. Diversity awareness was built into induction training, and an independent audit into the make-up of the organisation's current workforce and the impact of its HR policies and practices enabled Channel 4 to identify areas for further improvement.