{"id":9964,"date":"2023-09-22T19:04:36","date_gmt":"2023-09-22T17:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/?p=9964"},"modified":"2023-11-15T20:07:20","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T19:07:20","slug":"raving-towards-sustainability-how-are-european-festivals-doing-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/9964\/raving-towards-sustainability-how-are-european-festivals-doing-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Raving towards sustainability: How are European festivals doing it?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the European festival season for this summer comes to an end, the crowds disappear, leaving behind a huge environmental impact. With the European Green Deal<\/a> aiming for a climate-friendly Europe by 2050, festivals can play a major role in this goal, particularly in realms such as transportation, energy consumption, food, and accommodation.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Across the continent, festivals like the UK’s\u00a0Glastonbury<\/em>\u00a0or Lowlands<\/em> and DGTL Amsterdam<\/em> in the Netherlands have taken significant strides in integrating sustainability into their events. The efforts range from promoting the use of renewable energy sources and minimizing single-use plastics to offering green camping and innovative waste management strategies. The European Festival Association (YOUROPE<\/em><\/a>) plays a crucial role in advocating for sustainability within the festival industry. Representing 118 festivals and associated members from 29 European countries, one of its objectives is to \u201cfoster event operations that are safe, responsible, fair, future-fit, and on all levels sustainable\u201d.<\/p>\n

Partying with Purpose<\/h3>\n

One of YOUROPE<\/em>\u2019s members, Austria\u2019s Frequency Festival<\/em>, first introduced its \u201cGreen Team\u201d in 2013. The team is primarily comprised of young volunteers tasked with waste collection and post-festival clean-up. In return for their efforts, they receive green festival passes. This trend of young people wearing uniform shirts and acting as role models for others can be seen across Europe. But can partying and raising awareness for sustainability align?<\/p>\n

\"\"

Utrecht relies on companies for waste disposal, while at certain European festivals, young volunteers take on the task. \u00a9\ufe0fEva Unterrainer<\/p><\/div>\n

According to Fabienne Dietzen: yes. She volunteers for Viva con Agua<\/em><\/a>, an NGO based in Hamburg. The organization promotes sustainability by collecting festival cups in Germany and Switzerland and using the proceeds to fund global water projects. Dietzen, who volunteered at the Southside Festival<\/em> in Germany had a positive experience there: \u201cYou get to know lots of new people and can do something good in a very fun way\u201d. She also acknowledged the rising awareness for water stations at European festivals: \u201cWe only work at festivals with deposit systems. There are more free refill options for those cups as well now\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ideals vs. Reality<\/h3>\n

However, while such initiatives appear promising, their practical implementation often faces challenges. A former Frequency<\/em> Green Team staff member observed: “Festivalgoers often treat the event as a break from reality, disregarding the environmental impact. It’s frustrating for the team to clean an area, only for someone to litter right after\u201d. Nonetheless, the volunteer added, that some visitors even offered the Green Team their help. They also got asked for garbage bags a lot, because at Frequency Festival<\/em> 2022 waste disposal was constrained to just one garbage bag per person. The lack of accessible waste collection stations further exacerbated the issue. \u201cPeople leave everything, even tents, and pavilions. Those big items all must go somewhere and there is not enough space for disposal\u201d, the volunteer says. Unfortunately, in 2023, the festival’s Green Team was not established, and attempts to contact the festival operator went unanswered.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Utrecht city center: abundant waste containers. Some European Festivals: not so much. \u00a9\ufe0fEva Unterrainer<\/p><\/div>\n\n

Second Chances and New Beginnings<\/h3>\n

Interestingly, the tons of waste left behind after festivals also benefit some sustainable developments. Some things festival visitors leave behind become valuable resources for other people. Tents, chairs, sleeping bags, and other items, often in excellent condition, can be salvaged by anyone once the campsite reopens to the public. These items can either be sold or repurposed, while closed goods like tin cans and bottles can be consumed or recycled.<\/p>\n

So, what sustainable actions can European festivals take to be better next summer? One key step is to strategically place waste collection stations throughout festival grounds and actively promote their use. Attendees should also be motivated to participate in waste reduction efforts, creating a culture of responsibility and sustainability within the festival community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the European festival season for this summer comes to an end, the crowds disappear, leaving behind a huge environmental impact. With the European Green Deal aiming for a climate-friendly Europe by 2050, festivals can play a major role in this goal, particularly in realms such as transportation, energy consumption, food, and accommodation. Across the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3251,"featured_media":9967,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[231,445,35],"class_list":["post-9964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cbj","tag-europe","tag-festivals","tag-sustainability","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRaving towards sustainability: How are European festivals doing it? - International Journalism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Raving towards sustainability: How are European festivals doing it? - International Journalism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As the European festival season for this summer comes to an end, the crowds disappear, leaving behind a huge environmental impact. With the European Green Deal aiming for a climate-friendly Europe by 2050, festivals can play a major role in this goal, particularly in realms such as transportation, energy consumption, food, and accommodation. Across the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/9964\/raving-towards-sustainability-how-are-european-festivals-doing-it\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"International Journalism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-22T17:04:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-15T19:07:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2023\/09\/frequency_festival_campsite.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1066\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Eva Unterrainer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Eva Unterrainer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/9964\/raving-towards-sustainability-how-are-european-festivals-doing-it\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/9964\/raving-towards-sustainability-how-are-european-festivals-doing-it\/\",\"name\":\"Raving towards sustainability: How are European festivals doing it? - International Journalism\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/9964\/raving-towards-sustainability-how-are-european-festivals-doing-it\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/9964\/raving-towards-sustainability-how-are-european-festivals-doing-it\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2023\/09\/frequency_festival_campsite.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-22T17:04:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-15T19:07:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/#\/schema\/person\/a425f86e3792d802008528358ef84215\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/9964\/raving-towards-sustainability-how-are-european-festivals-doing-it\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/9964\/raving-towards-sustainability-how-are-european-festivals-doing-it\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/9964\/raving-towards-sustainability-how-are-european-festivals-doing-it\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2023\/09\/frequency_festival_campsite.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2023\/09\/frequency_festival_campsite.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1066,\"caption\":\"Frequency Festival\u2019s Last Day: St.P\u00f6lten, Austria, a battlefield. \u00a9\ufe0fEva Unterrainer, August 2023\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/9964\/raving-towards-sustainability-how-are-european-festivals-doing-it\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Raving towards sustainability: How are European festivals doing it?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/\",\"name\":\"International Journalism\",\"description\":\"HU School voor Journalistiek Nieuwssite\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/#\/schema\/person\/a425f86e3792d802008528358ef84215\",\"name\":\"Eva Unterrainer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6068c9fe885d64cebd4e13412098eae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6068c9fe885d64cebd4e13412098eae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Eva Unterrainer\"},\"description\":\"Aspiring journalist based in Vienna, Austria. I like pop culture, politics and podcasts. Here I cover Erasmus+ and the EU, the active city of Bologna and festivals.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/author\/eva-unterrainer\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Raving towards sustainability: How are European festivals doing it? - International Journalism","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Raving towards sustainability: How are European festivals doing it? - International Journalism","og_description":"As the European festival season for this summer comes to an end, the crowds disappear, leaving behind a huge environmental impact. With the European Green Deal aiming for a climate-friendly Europe by 2050, festivals can play a major role in this goal, particularly in realms such as transportation, energy consumption, food, and accommodation. Across the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/9964\/raving-towards-sustainability-how-are-european-festivals-doing-it\/","og_site_name":"International Journalism","article_published_time":"2023-09-22T17:04:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-15T19:07:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":1066,"url":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2023\/09\/frequency_festival_campsite.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Eva Unterrainer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Eva Unterrainer","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/9964\/raving-towards-sustainability-how-are-european-festivals-doing-it\/","url":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/9964\/raving-towards-sustainability-how-are-european-festivals-doing-it\/","name":"Raving towards sustainability: How are European festivals doing it? - International Journalism","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/9964\/raving-towards-sustainability-how-are-european-festivals-doing-it\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/9964\/raving-towards-sustainability-how-are-european-festivals-doing-it\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2023\/09\/frequency_festival_campsite.jpg","datePublished":"2023-09-22T17:04:36+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-15T19:07:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/#\/schema\/person\/a425f86e3792d802008528358ef84215"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/9964\/raving-towards-sustainability-how-are-european-festivals-doing-it\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/9964\/raving-towards-sustainability-how-are-european-festivals-doing-it\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/9964\/raving-towards-sustainability-how-are-european-festivals-doing-it\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2023\/09\/frequency_festival_campsite.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2023\/09\/frequency_festival_campsite.jpg","width":1600,"height":1066,"caption":"Frequency Festival\u2019s Last Day: St.P\u00f6lten, Austria, a battlefield. \u00a9\ufe0fEva Unterrainer, August 2023"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/9964\/raving-towards-sustainability-how-are-european-festivals-doing-it\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Raving towards sustainability: How are European festivals doing it?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/#website","url":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/","name":"International Journalism","description":"HU School voor Journalistiek Nieuwssite","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/#\/schema\/person\/a425f86e3792d802008528358ef84215","name":"Eva Unterrainer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6068c9fe885d64cebd4e13412098eae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6068c9fe885d64cebd4e13412098eae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Eva Unterrainer"},"description":"Aspiring journalist based in Vienna, Austria. I like pop culture, politics and podcasts. Here I cover Erasmus+ and the EU, the active city of Bologna and festivals.","url":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/author\/eva-unterrainer\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3251"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9964"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10141,"href":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9964\/revisions\/10141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}