The Green Events and Innovations Conference (GEI15), the foremost conference for sustainable events, is delighted to announce the renowned musician, producer and visual artist Brian Eno will be joining the event for a special keynote conversation with Grammy award-winning artist Jacob Collier.

Brian Eno returns to GEI after taking part in an inspiring talk with Norwegian pop artist Aurora last year on “Directing the energy of music for the benefit of the planet”. This year, he and Collier will be exploring the concept of “Music as a social synchroniser” for the event, which will take place on February 28, 2023 at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London.

The keynote will see the artists explore the social function of music and how it changes us, how it offers us a local counterpoint to the big things happening in the world, and why it is so important in a community. The whole question of where music comes from, and how it arises not just from the minds of individuals, but from whole societies, traditions and living ecosystems, is a way to also connect it to the big question of the climate crisis and music’s response to it.

Eno and Collier join a stellar line-up of speakers bringing passion, expertise, and insights to GEI15. Andy Cato, regenerative farmer, cofounder of Wildfarmed and one half of Groove Armada joins Dale Vince, founder of the world’s first green energy company Ecotricity, and chairman of Forest Green Rovers FC, the world’s greenest and only vegan football club according to UN and FIFA. Writer and producer Mark Donne and Carly McLachlan, deputy director of Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, reveal new data from their current Massive Attack and ACE funded research. Hannah Cox, director of betternotstop, talks getting audiences to take their tents home with Kendal Calling. Organiser Rosanna Machado shares the social and environmental actions of HM the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant and Mark Stevenson author, prog rocker and founder of CUR8 deep dives about carbon removals. Award-winning creative Zed Anwar shares creative communication of climate issues including his WWF campaign concept about brands becoming extinct. Adrian Bossey, chair of the Association of Event Management Educators (AEME) leads a panel of experts to unite sustainability theory, research and practice. And more speakers will be revealed soon.

Eno is a renowned musician, producer, visual artist and activist who first came to international prominence in the early seventies as a founding member of British band, Roxy Music, followed by a series of solo albums and collaborations. In April 2021, he launched EarthPercent, which raises money from the music industry for some of the most impactful environmental charities working on the climate emergency.

Collier has already received a seemingly endless list of accolades including five Grammy wins – which saw him become the first British act in history to win four Grammys for each of his first four albums – along with 11 Grammy nominations including Album of the Year in 2021.

GEI15 brings together leaders and innovators in the global live and events sector to network and accelerate environmental and social best practices, and to inspire collective action in the fight against climate catastrophe. Sessions will cover events adapting to climate change impacts and risks, transport, energy, food and beverage, academia working with industry, calculating, reducing and removing CO2 emissions, climate justice, design and materials usage for circularity, green innovation technology, and more. The event closes with the International AGF Awards celebrating achievements of the greenest festivals, venues and events in 2022.