Com­mu­ni­ca­tion

An event that is proud of its green choic­es and val­ues active­ly com­mu­ni­cates about its actions to every­one: the media, the audi­ence, the part­ners, as well as the staff and the vol­un­teers. The audi­ence can be told what choic­es have already been made on their behalf and also what is expect­ed of them. Tell the audi­ence. for exam­ple. that bot­tled water is not sold at the event and vis­i­tors are hoped to bring their own water bot­tles, which can be filled with clean Finnish tap water at the venue’s water points.

For com­mu­ni­ca­tion itself to be respon­si­ble and trans­par­ent, the event orga­ni­za­tion must also com­mu­ni­cate about things that did not go quite as planned. It is eas­i­er to tell about neg­a­tive envi­ron­men­tal impacts if you also tell how the sit­u­a­tion will be improved next time. An increased car­bon foot­print does not nec­es­sar­i­ly tell about reck­less­ness in envi­ron­men­tal work, but rather about the event orga­ni­za­tion’s will to devel­op its activ­i­ties.

Events are com­mu­nal meet­ing places with influ­enc­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties. Events can affect both the vis­i­tors’ atti­tudes and spark wider inter­est in act­ing respon­si­bly. Thought-pro­vok­ing com­mu­ni­ca­tion on sus­tain­abil­i­ty is also a good way to attract atten­tion to respon­si­ble part­ners.

The use of dig­i­tal com­mu­ni­ca­tion chan­nels has reduced emis­sions caused by print­ed event prod­ucts, but it is still worth not­ing the envi­ron­men­tal load of elec­tron­ic com­mu­ni­ca­tion. Dig­i­tal emis­sions are caused by the pro­duc­tion and use of appli­ances and net­works and data cen­tres need­ed for data trans­fer. The ICT sec­tor is already esti­mat­ed to con­sume 10 % of the world’s elec­tric­i­ty.

Do this

Begin­ners

Do not be shy to com­mu­ni­cate! Inform about the event’s envi­ron­men­tal instruc­tions or sus­tain­abil­i­ty pro­gramme on your web­site and social media.

Com­mit employ­ees, sub­con­trac­tors and part­ners to respon­si­bil­i­ty in inter­nal and stake­hold­er com­mu­ni­ca­tions.

Make the nec­es­sary signs and guides for the venue from durable mate­ri­als so that they can be reused year after year.

Advanced

At the event, com­mu­ni­cate via info screens or fes­ti­val apps instead of print­ing fly­ers and brochures.

Change paper tick­ets for food, drinks or admis­sion to elec­tron­ic iden­ti­fiers in mobile devices or fes­ti­val bracelets.

Ensure that any guides or signs, for exam­ple signs at sort­ing points and assigned smok­ing areas, are vis­i­ble from crowd and placed high enough in large-scale events.

Next Lev­el

Remem­ber to use the sus­tain­abil­i­ty cri­te­ria also when acquir­ing dig­i­tal com­mu­ni­ca­tion appli­ances.

Make an artist inter­view on social media about an artist tour­ing by train or an artist using recy­cled mate­ri­als.

Make a vis­i­tor sur­vey, and ask the audi­ence what they think about the event’s sus­tain­abil­i­ty mea­sures and whether they have sug­ges­tions for improve­ments for the event orga­niz­er.

Read how Mulperi Media orga­nized their com­mu­ni­ca­tion on respon­si­ble cig­a­rette stub­bing at Var­jo fes­ti­val.

Com­mu­ni­cat­ing Respon­si­ble Stub­bing Out

More Infor­ma­tion & Tips

For many events, respon­si­bil­i­ty is an impor­tant val­ue, and they com­mu­ni­cate it in an exem­plary man­ner. Read more about how the fol­low­ing events tell about their respon­si­bil­i­ty activ­i­ties on their web­sites: Ilosaarirock, Flow Fes­ti­val, Euroson­ic, Sham­bala Fes­ti­val.