Organizers of festivals or other similar events are largely aware of the options available, but in most cases local conditions, “business as usual” or budget are the limiting factors to make events less harmful to our environment. However, those who take the time to educate themselves will quickly realise that in most cases, all it takes is a little care and willpower.

The good news is that we are seeing an increase in awareness among young people attending these festivals, who are demanding that the organizers implement more nature-friendly solutions. This is why the development of a “Manual for organizing an environmentally friendly, climate-friendly and green event” was one of the unmissable tasks of the Game On project. One of the project partners, the Latvian Fund for Nature (LFN), has taken on the task of developing this guide for festival greening, based largely on its own experience and expertise. The handbook focuses mainly on the organization of festivals, but it may also be useful for other types of events (conferences, weddings, sporting events). The project partners, who are active in 8 countries, have been given the freedom to adapt the content of the handbook to the legislation and cultural particularities of their own countries, while maintaining a common guideline.

This handbook is unlikely to magically change the world in an instant, but it provides solid support to organizers who are willing to take steps towards eco-friendly events. Since every event requires fundamental resources such as water, energy and various materials, which produce a large amount of waste and greenhouse gases that are damaging to the climate, the handbook offers five “chapters” with various ideas for those interested.

Accelerated climate change is a man-made problem that has become one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. Research into eco-friendly and climate-friendly events has been ongoing for a long time, and a number of events have already put in place measures to make their events more sustainable. A useful tool in this regard is the carbon calculator, so we can calculate the carbon footprint of our own event to identify where we need to take action. All we need to do is provide some basic information about the event on this link and we will get the right advice.

In general, many parts of the world, including Romania, are now open to “festival greening”, but in many cases lack of information or financial resources do not allow the implementation of these initiatives. Many are trying hard to make their events a greener experience, and hopefully we will see spectacular results soon.

It was a positive experience for us that the Association of Hungarian Festivals in Transylvania held a workshop dedicated to festival organizers on the 27th of April 2023 in Sfântu Gheorghe, where participants shared various professional advice and ideas related to festival organization. The event was attended by organizers and representatives of 18 Transylvanian festivals. Kamilla Pápay, on behalf of the Milvus Group, presented the “Festival Greening Handbook”, developed within the Game On! – Don’t let climate change end the game project. The feedback showed that small initiatives are already being taken at several festivals in the country, and the participants of the meeting were open to implement eco-friendly solutions at their own events even at this year’s festivals.

Thank you for your interest and we hope to see more and more eco-friendly events. We wish you all a successful summer and festival season!

P.S.: We are the ones who need to change, not the climate!