Festivals and environmental sustainability: The Green Travel & Transport walkshop
At the Arts Festivals Summit hosted by the Edinburgh International Festival, EFA organised its annual workshop on “Festivals and environmental sustainability” on 29 April 2025. The session emphasised the leadership role festivals could have in campaigning, by setting examples within their own work to shift events towards carbon neutrality, and by collaborating.
Environmental sustainability has taken centre stage on the agenda of festivals: in the logistics, programming, educational activities, and many other levels. Festivals are in prime position to raise awareness and concern for our natural environment among their team members, partners, and audiences. Arts and cultural organisations and festivals can trigger emotional connection, stimulate critical thinking, and motivate collective action. EFA is committed to offer learnings and exchanges on sustainable practices within the festival sector, aligning with broader global and European climate initiatives.
This year’s “Festivals and environmental sustainability” workshop focused on Green Travel and Transport to share practical ideas and inspiring experiences of how to (and how not to) travel lightly on festival journeys. Mega, maxi or mini, greenfield, townscape or city, shared their best practices, and inspired festival leaders with their ideas along the way. Speakers included: Rozan Dikkat (Enjoy Jazz Festival - Germany), Megan Best (Native Events – United Kingdom), and Tijl Couzij (Into the Great Wide Open – The Netherlands).
The second part took participants out for a walkshop. Participants were invited to talk, to walk, to feel better together. For one hour, festival directors have been picking up trash while walking in the city of Edinburgh. They were also given some questions to think about where they were on green actions and discuss this in smaller groups. At the end, 5 big bags full of rubbish have been collected. Some of them were so deeply committed that they couldn't be stopped. They could have gone on cleaning the whole city.
“We wanted, through this action, to set an example and demonstrate that festival directors are not only aware of the urgent environmental challenges we face, but are also ready to take concrete steps toward sustainability,” said Audrey Brisack, Director of Network and Communication at EFA. “By actively contributing to the green effort, we hope to inspire other cultural institutions and festival makers to rethink their practices and join us in building a more sustainable future for the arts and for the planet.”
The workshop was facilitated by Peter Florence and Tamar Brüggemann, chief elves of the European Festivals Forest. The European Festivals Forest is a carbon sequestration initiative in Iceland. This collaborative effort among festivals aims to plant trees that offset emissions generated by festival activities. Each tree helps sequester carbon over a long-term cycle, showcasing how festivals can directly contribute to environmental restoration while engaging audiences in climate action. As an associate partner of the European Festivals Forest, EFA informs its community about the initiative through all its communication channels, reaching festivals and the cultural sector at large.
The next workshop will be held at the Arts Festivals Summit in Budva Montenegro taking place from 16 till 19 May 2026, hosted by Theatre City Budva. It will unfold EFA’s green plan action for 2025-2028 that is now in the making.
More info
Arts Festivals Summit 2025
Arts Festivals Summit 2025 | Edinburgh 27 - 30 April, hosted by the Edinburgh International Festival, Festivals Edinburgh, and the City of Edinburgh.
Sustainable Festivals
EFA is committed to offer learnings and exchanges on sustainable practices within the festival sector, aligning with broader global and European climate initiatives.