Festival Vision: 2025 will bring the whole live events industry together in leadership to take action on climate change.
Vision: 2025 aims to make the vision of a pioneering sustainable event industry a reality, by providing leadership, raising awareness through campaigns, creating new up-to-date and free-to-use practical resources for events and companies, and providing opportunities to share learning. Working together we can make significant changes and inspire millions.
As an industry significant steps forward have been taken, technology is changing, and there are many examples of innovation across the sector. It is now time to gather and share all of the most up to date information available so all event professionals can make the best decisions for their events and businesses.
The project is lead by industry steering group Powerful Thinking, a not-for-profit project that has been working within the festival industry for ten years to help better understand and minimise environmental impacts.
Festival Vision:2025 will provide comprehensive free-to-use and practical sustainability resources for the whole live events industry, including a second-edition of the seminal environmental report The Show Must Go On.
The first edition of the report delivered to the COP21 climate change talks in Paris in 2015 as a festival industry response to the global issue. The Show Must Go On laid out the impacts of the environmental industry for the first time and launched Festival Vision:2025: a commitment for events to cut their impacts by 50% by 2025 in line with government targets using the clear roadmap and advice provided by the report.
"Experimentation in new practices is a hallmark of many festivals today. In a world grappling with the climate and ecological emergency Vision 2025 has created direction and a community for festivals with a commitment to the earth." Alison Tickell, Julie's Bicycle
It's now 5 years on and over 70 festivals have take the Vision:2025 pledge and are actively working to cut their impacts. The Show Must Go On report has become the foundation for the sector’s discourse about sustainability. It is typically a source for facts for articles about sustainability in the industry, and has been downloaded thousands of times. Festival organisers have repeatedly cited it as the most read environmental resource in surveys.
“This is more than resources – it's a movement. It’s time to act decisively on climate change - we have the opportunity for the festival industry to come together as companies, events and individuals to co-fund the best possible up-to-date resources, share information and support each other, to catalyse action on travel, waste, plastics, energy and emissions.” Chris Johnson (Powerful Thinking, Shambala Festival)
Powerful Thinking will invigorate the Vision:2025 with an updated edition of The Show Must Go On Report in early 2020 to provide new and comprehensive information and guidance for events and companies. Alongside the report we’ll run an industry campaign to make sure it reaches the people who can use it to make a real difference.
The Show Must Go On Report will be written collaboratively by a working group of leading experts and consultants in resource management, waste, energy, travel, food, and water, led by creative industries environmental charity, Julie’s Bicycle.
A substantial cross-industry steering group is engaged to create the report, including Festival Republic, the Association of Festival Organisers (AFO), the Production Services Association (PSA), the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), the National Outdoor Events Association (NOEA), the Nationwide Caterers Association (NCASS), Kambe Events, Plaster Creative Communications and Smart Power, amongst many other key industry bodies and individuals.
In a Nutshell: What will Festival Vision: 2025 provide?
- An ambitious framework for change in our industry and the support and expertise to achieve this.
- A second edition Show Must Go On Report bringing together the latest information on best practice, case studies, and technology; providing robust advise and guidance for decision-makers (see below for more info).
- Festival Vision: 2025 membership offers event professionals the opportunity to join a community of like-minded festival organisers working together and sharing knowledge of how to make events sustainable.
- Regular industry bulletins sharing resources, news, innovation in supply chain and best practice.
- Free access to expert industry knowledge, resources and advice
- An annual industry event to bring organisers together to discuss specific issues around sustainability.
As a not for profit organisation, we need funds to be in a position to deliver on behalf the industry, and together we can generate amazing resources and support a community in an incredibly cost-effective way compared to working individually.
Central to Vision: 2025 is a new edition of The Show Must Go On report to be published in 2020:
- Powerful Thinking will research, write, design, publish and distribute this free to use, practical & comprehensive advice on how to make events sustainable in key areas: energy, resources (waste), water, food and drink, travel & transport and governance.
- Case studies of best practice in the industry and examples of events who are leading the way.
- Industry thought-leadership on climate change
The Show Must report will take several forms to maximize engagement:
- Printed report (available to buy in advance)
- Free downloadable online PDF
- Bitesize chapter guides and case studies online
- options for translation into other languages under the creative commons.
“The Show Must Go On report offers clear evidence and direction for meaningful action on climate change. This issue is bigger than any one of us can tackle alone, and we look forward to sharing this journey to become a pioneering industry through our environmental practices.” Melvin Benn, Festival Republic
Be part of the vision of a more environmentally responsible festival industry - and align your company or event (or yourself) with what is set to be the most read report on event sustainability this decade.
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