Green Events and Green Tourism

An International Guide to Good Practice

Hugues Seraphin, Emma Nolan, Hugues Seraphin, Emma Nolan

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9780429817151
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

As the appetite for leisure travel and events continues to grow at an exponential rate, the impact on the environment and local communities is becoming an increasing concern, not least by the users of the services. Green approaches to tourism and events are growing in popularity and present an opportunity to both identify solutions to significant environmental and societal problems and new approaches to business.

Green Events and Green Tourism looks at key frameworks, guidelines, principles and benchmarks that support the application of sustainability in practice. The five sections of the book cover themes of governance, accreditation, certification, innovation, priorities, trends, ambitions and consumer behaviour, and the chapters include examples of best practice in the organisation of music and arts festivals, special interest tourism, the green management of outdoor sites and the management of sports events. Readers will benefit from insightful case studies from around the globe.

Part I

Sustainability initiatives and governance

1 Strategies and best practices for greening festivals

Rachel Dodds

National context

Currently in Canada, although there have been many highlighted approaches to making meetings and events more environmentally conscious, there are no certifications or benchmarks for the greening of festivals.

There are also no federal mandates for festival sustainability practices and very little provincially. In the province of Ontario, for example, the Ministry of Tourism Culture and Sport, through the Celebrate Ontario 2015 programme, provided project-based funding to new or existing Ontario events ‘to enhance programmes, activities and services and support innovations that will lead to long-term improvements, sustainability and the attraction of additional tourists’. Although there was a recognition of sustainability, Celebrate Ontario 2015 did not fund the development of best practices or provide technical and educational support to festival operators for reducing waste, energy or carbon. In 2017, there were multiple funding opportunities to have or augment events to celebrate Canada’s 150 birthday through Heritage Canada, however, there was no focus on increasing environmental management or reducing negative environmental effects.

The business case for organisations going green is quite clear (Graci and Dodds, 2009; Ottman, 2011; Walsh and Dodds, 2017) and there have been some efforts by individual organisations that have highlighted the need for festivals to become more sustainable The now dismantled Icarus Foundation produced a guide in 2009, for example. Within the festival and event context, however, much of the materials are more strongly focused to Meetings, Incentive, Conferences and Events (MICE) rather than outdoor festivals (Dodds and Graci, 2012). In principle, many of the initiatives to becoming more environmentally and socially responsible can be applied to both festivals and events such as, facilities management, however, there are very few examples of best practice or adaptive management approaches that a festival organiser can adopt. There are also few examples of programming to support a festival organiser looking to adopt best practice to make their festival more sustainable.

Priority issues

Festivals of all kinds are important, both to Canada and to the economy of its many provinces, as they attract visitors both domestically and internationally. In Canada there are over 250 events that attract over 10,000 festivalgoers per event and these do not include the mega events (>one million). In the province of Ontario alone, there are over 3,000 events that happen across the province and these festivals/events contribute over $1 billion of economic impact on a yearly basis (Festivals and Events Ontario, n.d.).

Economically, these events bring thousands of visitors who contribute to the local economy and community. Socially and environmentally, however, events and festivals can be a burden on local communities if they are not managed with a sustainability mindset. Research into the environmental footprint of events show that both small and large festivals can have a negative impact on the environment and society. One example is CO₂ emissions. Emissions range from using cars to attend events, congestion, consumptive behaviour and therefore waste from food and beverage and sewage (Stone, 2009). Another example is waste, where Walzer (2014) suggests the average amount is 1.1 kg per person per day and Cierjacks et al. (2012) estimates that the average festivalgoer produces 2.67 kg of waste per day.

Although there is some literature on the potential benefit of greening festivals (Dodds and Graci, 2012; Mair and Jago, 2010, 2012; Gibson and Wong, 2011), there is little actual research into best practices or determining the key elements needed for achieving standards.

Trends

A number of efforts were made to provide context to this case. The first step was to conduct background research to better understand the motivations and barriers to implementing sustainability practices within the festival industry.

The second step was to undertake research on festivals globally to ascertain best practice, what a sustainable festival consisted of, and key elements needed to assist festival managers to undertake sustainability efforts. In addition to a wide Internet search of festival best practices and sustainability measures, a total of 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 festival managers across Ontario. Interviews were analysed using grounded theory to determine the significant themes or issues. Key findings outlined that while there are some notable best practices for sustainability among festivals (Mariposa Folk Festival, Hillside Festival, some municipal Ribfests), there are many festivals within Ontario that are not practising any sustainability efforts. The results show that while many festival managers are interested in incorporating sustainability initiatives into their festivals, there are multiple barriers to successfully doing so, Volunteer burnout and lack of manpower makes it difficult for many festival organisers to prioritise sustainability initiatives. Additionally, insufficient resources and funding opportunities for festivals create a strain on managers that does not support the work needed to introduce more sustainability into their festivals. Finally, there is a need for legislation or mandates from municipal, provincial and/or federal agencies to ensure that sustainability objectives become part of the overarching outcomes of festivals, as currently sustainability is not a key priority for most festivals.

The third step was to search literature and existing green festivals to determine if there were any guides, certifications or benchmarks available for Canadian festivals. The search found none but did find many international examples of festival awards although no certification or global benchmark.

The fourth step was to examine global best practices found in step two. Festivals were contacted to ask about their practices and success factors. Although the response rate from international festivals was low, there was still significant information found online about what elements constitute a green festival and what aspects festivals consider in terms of sustainability.

Government policies

From a global best practice analysis, it was found that there were few standards. In the USA, A Greener Festival (AGF, see Further resources) outlined key elements to help festivals become greener. Globally, a standard through the International Standards Organization (ISO) has developed a guideline called ISO20121. This certification provides requirements for an event sustainability management system for any type of event or event-related activity, and provides guidance on conforming to those requirements (ISO, n.d.).

Canadian examples of guides or overarching strategies for festival greening are absent. Some festival and event organisers are trying to green their events to minimise their impact on the environment, however, it is not commonplace and few efforts are funded or run by government. The former Rideau Canal Festival was funded by the Ontario Government to create and implement a GHG reduction approach for the management and delivery of the festival. The Rideau Canal Festival’s guide provided strategies, tools and expectations for three phases of the festival – planning, physical organisation and the event itself. Pride Toronto was funded by the Trillium Foundation to undertake sustainability efforts, yet success was not achieved and funding withdrawn (Dodds and Graci, 2012). In other provinces in Canada there are examples of municipal efforts and results have been positive. For example, Vancouver and Calgary both have a municipal 80/20 goal (to divert 80 per cent of its landfill by 2020). These efforts have translated into some festivals within these cities having a higher focus on environmental management from a waste diversion point of view, often achieving 90 per cent or higher diversion rates (e.g. Vancouver Folk Festival, Vancouver International Marathon, Vancouver Car Free day, Calgary Stampede, Calgary and Vancouver Canada Day celebrations). These municipal efforts are not commonplace, however, and did not exist in the province of Ontario.

In terms of voluntary codes in Canada, there was only one. A Canadian not-for-profit organisation, the Icarus Foundation (2008–2013), published a ‘Green Festivals and Events Guide’ that provided a voluntary step-by-step approach to executing the reduction of waste, water and energy, and the use of fair trade or organic food using local suppliers and locally sourced products.

Case study: an analysis of tourist perceptions of destination attractiveness

From the literature, and reviewing global best practices, key themes were identified that contributed to a sustainable festival. These themes or elements included facilities, communications, community, energy, employee/volunteer engagement, food and beverage, procurement, transportation, venue, waste and water. Each of these elements includes key tactics to achieve greener festivals. For example, short, medium and long-term criteria are available to achieve higher levels of sustainability and best practices for each element were found. Additionally, resources and incentives do exist, however these are not necessarily easy for festival operators to adopt.

This research found multiple best practices and examples to showcase how festivals could be more sustainable (please see http://greenfestivals.ca for a full collection of case studies, resources as well as checklists to become more sustainable). This guide was then adopted by Festival and Events Ontario, a non-profit organisation representing all festivals across Ontario (www.feo.org).

The most common sustainability areas focused on by festivals is recycling and to some extent greater overall waste diversion. The next most common element is sustainable transportation initiatives such as bicycle parking or shuttle buses to reduce car traffic.

Although it is important to determine a benchmark and outline good practice, this study also sought to determine the key elements that are needed in order for festivals to achieve success. The following five key elements should be considered to ensure sustainability can be incorporated and achieved within a festival context.

1. Time and chains of command must be considered. Although festival managers may be keen to make changes, often the decisions that have the most sustainability impact also need substantial lead time and buy in. For example something simple, such as putting in place a vendor contract to ensure environmental compliance or changing cutlery to be compostable must be done at the time the vendors are first contacted which is often months before the festival date. Additionally, if a festival has an organising committee, they also must be consulted, which leads to additional lag time as these tend to meet infrequently and change must be streamlined in accordance with other priorities. Another issue for time is that changing something such as a venue requires more than just the festival organiser. For example, if the festival is located in a park, municipal recreation as well as zoning personnel must be contacted, which also leads to additional timing considerations.

2. Having a lead or key person dedicated to sustainability is essential. Although for many festivals this person may be a volunteer, passion or commitment to sustainability is imperative. This person is the one who will coordinate and engage others to assist in sustainability initiatives and will take the time to ensure that such initiatives are implemented. A lead or dedicated person also ensures that sustainability is integrated into festival planning (Dodds and Graci...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright page
• Table of Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• Notes on contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• PART I Sustainability initiatives and governance
• PART II Sustainable music and arts festivals
• PART III Sustainability and special interest tourism
• PART IV Green management of outdoor sites
• PART V Sports events and sustainability
• Index