New report backs toolkit developed by UoG lecturer to help outdoor events go more green

A University of Gloucestershire lecturer has been at the forefront of a landmark pilot project that has found overwhelming support for national standards around ‘green’ practices in outdoor events.

Andrew Lansley (pictured), Senior Lecturer in Music Business, worked in partnership with not-for-profits Julie’s Bicycle and Vision for Sustainable Events to deliver the Arts Council-funded Green Events Code of Practice (GECoP) pilot.

The pilot was launched to address the lack of national standards on sustainable practices for event organisers by promoting best practices in areas including governance, energy, travel and transport, food and drink, waste, water and influence.

Andrew developed the main event assessment method against GECoP, the Donut Advisory Toolkit for Events (DATE), from a collaboration between Cheltenham Festivals, Cheltenham Borough Council, Vision for Sustainable Events and disability-led Attitude is Everything.

The toolkit is already in use nationally through Outdoor Arts UK, making it one of the most widely used assessment toolkits in the UK, and has recently been listed by the Arts Council as one of their Investment Principles Resources.

The University, which has a long-standing commitment and track record in performance and innovation in sustainability, worked in collaboration with the Gloucester Culture Trust, lead organisation for Together Gloucester, to drive the pilot in Gloucester. Utilising the DATE toolkit, students from the University’s Business School partnered with 10 cultural organisations in the city to participate in the GECoP pilot and foster development of sustainability expertise.

Analysis of the pilot project nationally, published in a new report, found significant demand for the development of consistent, national minimum environmental standards at events such as music festivals, sports fixtures and community gatherings.

All 10 participating local authorities and 96% of participating event organisers expressed support for nationwide criteria, which they believe would help them meet their environmental goals more effectively.

Other key findings from the pilot included: 92% expressed a commitment to adopt additional sustainable practices in the coming year; seven out of 10 participating local authorities made changes to policy or procedures for more robust environmental requirements; 60% of event organisers implemented new environmental measures as a direct result of the pilot.

Connecting cultural sector and emerging graduates

Andrew Lansley, Senior Lecturer in Music Business within the University’s School of Creative Arts, said: “The national pilot was important because there has never been an attempt to test standardisation of progressive events frameworks into practice.

“We found that 100% of local authorities and 96% of event organisers support the principle of nationwide minimum events standards, which is a resounding response from those working at the front line of events sustainability.

“I’m already working with three of the cities involved with the pilot to integrate the toolkit and framework into their systems and the team is working towards launching Phase II of the pilot with the aim to share learnings and scale implementation nationally.”

Phil Hindson, CEO of Gloucester Culture Trust, said: “Together Gloucester is a city-wide initiative dedicated to fostering collaboration. The pilot has enabled us to create links between the cultural sector and emerging graduates, highlighting the sector’s role in leading the conversation around sustainability especially in the context of the climate emergency.”

Sean Bulley, Event Operations Director for Pride in Gloucestershire, said: “We worked with University student Iona Harding as part of the pilot. This collaboration is helping us reflect on our impact and equipping us with tools to build a more sustainable future for our community. It was so rewarding to sit down with other organisations from across the city’s cultural and leisure sector to share experiences, challenges, and successes in sustainability.”