YOUROPE releases first ever European Green Festival Roadmap

6th July 2023

The European Festival Association has released details of the European Green Festival Roadmap 2030, which aims to give European festivals and events a reliable guide for sustainable actions, including measures they will need to accomplish the inevitable process of transformation by the end of the decade.

YOUROPE is proud to present the European Green Festival Roadmap 2030 as part of its three-year project Future-Fit Festivals (3F). These guidelines on sustainable events are based on the requirement of the EU Green Deal – cutting emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030. It also considers the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and industry requirements. The roadmap is the result of a collaboration with experts from A Greener Future (AGF) and Greener Events Norway as well as YOUROPE’s GO Group (Green Operations Europe) think tank.

The European Green Festival Roadmap 2030 supports the festival sector in finding appropriate measures to fight emissions and other harmful environmental impacts. To bring about the necessary change towards more sustainable events, it is important to set clear goals, think large and long-term.

For this purpose, the roadmap provides a comprehensive framework for the ambitious sustainable improvement of cultural events. In seven fields of action, the suggested actions range from management structures to specific practical measures in the creation and production process. The roadmap is public and free to use for any (European) festival or cultural event.

Holger Jan Schmidt, general secretary of YOUROPE, said: “Improving our festivals and increasing sustainability throughout the industry is an ongoing topic for YOUROPE and also for me personally. That’s why it’s a particular pleasure to present the European Green Festival Roadmap as the icing on the cake of tools we recently published – all are open source, accessible to everyone and transferable to other cultural areas. We believe that the roadmap is a big step in the only right direction. Also, it serves as an excellent basis for further exciting and helpful projects.”

Claire O’Neill, CEO of A Greener Future, said: “After nearly two decades working with festivals worldwide for sustainability, we’re really happy to harness and share learnings in this European Green Festival Roadmap with YOUROPE. The roadmap helps prioritise and simplify the actions individual festivals need to take, and shines a light on areas for collective effort by the industry and beyond.”