UK-based A Greener Festival (AGF) is providing guidance to help Mexican music events develop a sustainable future.
A collaboration has been formed between the group, Edinburgh Napier Uni and the British Council’s Cultura Circular project which is a fund for the development of sustainable festivals. The main objectives of the project are to promote cultural exchange between Mexico and the UK and strengthen the development of festivals through a sustainable culture.
As part of these activities the ‘Cultura Circular Toolkit’ was created to support training for 30 Mexican festivals for the British Council and new guidance produced especially for the Mexican festival and event industry. The toolkit has been specially designed to help festivals develop a sustainable future, utilising AGF’s unique knowledge base and green event standards and supported by academic theory. The toolkit also recognises that festivals can be a driving force for change in the fight for a united sustainable future globally.
The toolkit is designed to accompany the professionals who work in the production and promotion of cultural festivals who seek to include and improve their strategies in favour of the environment, reducing the negative impact when putting on the events.
AGF director Teresa Moore said: “Today’s festival needs to be viewed as an ecosystem of sustainable practices where every aspect of the event supports its sustainability goals.
“The Cultura Circular training and toolkit development has been an exciting project to work on. Facilitated by the British Council our collaboration with Edinburgh Napier University provided a fantastic opportunity to bring together latest practice and thinking about the issues and challenges involved in creating sustainable events.
“Through the training developed and delivered earlier this year we were able to learn about the Mexican context, the particular challenges they face in making their events greener as well as sharing our knowledge, practice and solutions from around the world. The online Sustainability Toolkit allows us to extend this work even further and reach many more festivals in Mexico.”
Lorena Martínez Mier of the British Council said: “Festivals are a key sector for influencing audiences and bringing the conversation of sustainability and climate change to their spaces. This toolkit will allow us to expand the conversation to other festivals in Mexico and Latin America to foster a sustainable cultural sector.”